大象传媒

The first impact that the War had on me and the Family was late August 1939 when we were on holiday in Cornwall.My Father was not with us due to work but suddenly out of the blue he arrived where we were staying and said that he was recalled to the Royal Navy (he was a Reservist) and had two hours to say goodbye.No telephone where we were staying so he had borrowed a car and driven sixty miles to us to say goodbye and then had to return to the barracks immediately.We never saw him again till late 1944.
Later in 1942 after being bombed out we went to live in Cornwall where I joined the local school.
The school only had two classes ,one for the youngest children ,Five to seven; and the other class ,Eight to Eleven which I was in.Schooling was basic and I was twelve months ahead of other local children.This was a disadvantage when we returned to Plymouth in early 1944 as I was then twelve months behind in my studies.
Schooling in Plymouth was difficult as you never knew when you left for school if the school was still standing or damaged.However I survived and swopped shrapnel collected on the way to school with other pupils in the playground.
We ,the family had some close shaves with bombs falling near resulting in broken roof tiles and windows and when my school was badly damaged we had several days off.
I remember playing on a new bomb site with a wrecked piano whilst Wardens were still searching for survivors and being told to clear off as they tried to dig out a elderly couple.sad times but as youngsters we took it in our stride.