大象传媒

Returning to Coventry after 2 years evacuation

When I returned from Wales to Coventry in 1942 to start school during 1943, there was one occasion when the sirens sounded (what an awful, dreaded sound that was), mother dressed me in my warm navy blue siren suit with a hood and which zipped up. It was made of pure wool and extremely cosy. We would run up the dark street as no lights were lit during Wartime, to find safety in the Public Air Raid Shelter. Oh! How I hated being woken up to go to that Public Shelter. Even the houses had blackout material at the windows before the curtains were drawn shut and the Air Raid Warden would walk up the street and knock on your door if a chink of light peeped through a crack! Anyway, we had just left the front gate and we heard an enemy plane, machine gun bullets were blazing away and mum pushed me against the neighbour鈥檚 front wall, fell onto me and we lay there until it had passed over. I literally, had my breath squeezed out of my body. Mum then told me why she had to shove me down so violently. She saved my life!

My first day at Infants鈥� School during the War Years

I began Infants鈥� School during the war in 1943. Mother had cut down an old coat or jacket to make me a purse with a shoulder strap that I wore over my body and across one shoulder. This was to take my dinner money and milk money to school and also to keep a clean handkerchief in it. Whilst on rations, the government allowed school children to have one-third of a pint of milk to drink each day. The crates were kept outside. We used to have some severe winters then, so the milk would freeze in the bottles. The teachers would remember to bring in the crates to line the corridors near the cast iron radiators. They would mainly defrost but there would always be some part of the milk frozen so we had milk lollipops to suck on then. Another thing was to sew my mittens onto a long piece of elastic and thread this through my little coat so that I would never lose my mittens. Clothes were on rationing and this device was really clever. Rationing meant each person had a Ration Book and so many coupons were for clothes. Once something was purchased the shopkeeper cut out the appropriate ration coupons. You only purchased really needy items. Adults clothing would be unstitched and pressed and children鈥檚 clothes could be cut out and sewn up. Nothing was ever wasted. Most people had a sewing machine, I believe.

On my first day at school, we were given little slates, which had wooden borders around them; then we were given pieces of slate to write on the main slate. This was to practice our figures and letters on. To erase the writing we had damp cloths that wiped the slate clean and we waited for the slate to dry off. Then we could begin again. Well the next thing I remember is that Mrs Robinson said, 鈥淲ho can count to twenty?鈥� I put up my hand, only to find myself called out to the front of the class, to count in front of everyone! I would learn not to put up my hand so readily again. However, Mrs Robinson asked next, 鈥淲ho can count to one hundred?鈥� A little boy put up his hand, and of course, he had to go to the front of the class and count to one hundred. What a lucky escape I had had! If a lot of whispering went on, Mrs Robinson would call out 鈥淗ands on head, class鈥�. Then she would tell us that there should be no talking in class. How different when the 鈥�40s are compared with the millennium. A shameful thing that happened to me was to stand in the corner with my face to the corner. Years before, a child would have had to wear a Dunce鈥檚 Hat and stand in the corner. Thankfully, that was out of fashion when I attended Mrs Robinson鈥檚 class. Why was I sent into the corner, I cannot remember now - probably for talking or it may have been for not knowing a correct answer.

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