大象传媒

Summerfield Park was about 300 yards from home and, in those different days, I was allowed to go with my friends, without adults, even at 6 and 7 years of age. The school holidays and fine summer weather of 1941, 1942 and 1943 seemed to last forever and the park was almost the centre of my life.
In the early part of the war about a fifth of the park was enclosed by a barbed-wire fence. Within it were stationed a number of soldiers. They had to operate a barrage balloon, a searchlight and at least one anti-aircraft gun. Their living quarters were also there.
The best times were watching the soldiers handling the balloon at ground-level, either inflating it prior to launch or deflating it for maintenance.
However, I soon began to follow my friends,crawling under the barbed-wire, because they had discovered that the soldiers would often give us a six-pence(2and1/2 p new money). This was for us to go to a cake shop on Dudley Road, about 400 yards away and buy 2 cakes for the soldier and one for ourselves. Sometimes it was only 3 pence for one cake and a penny change.
I don't recall that we ever cheated on these shopping trips because we were probably aware that our adventures might be stopped, particularly if our parents found out.
Many times since I have wondered what the barbed-wire was for. Presumably it was to keep the adults in, as it never stopped us children.

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