大象传媒

i MISSED EVACUATION FROM lONDON WITH MY SCHOOL AS MY FAMILY WAS ON HOLIDAY ON THE SOUTH COAST.
sO - AS WAR WAS DECLARED, WE WERE EXPECTING TO BE BOMBED STRAIGHT AWAY! AND SO MY PARENTS DROPPED ME OFF WITH RELATIVES WHO LIVED IN CHICHESTER, FOR 'SAFE KEEPING'! i WAS THERE FOR 6 WEEKS BUT SO FAR lONDON HAD NOT BEEN ATTACKED, SO MY PARENTS TOOK ME HOME TO LONDON! tHERE WERE VIRTUALLY NO CHILDREN AROUND, BUT GRADUALLY SOME OF THEM RETURNED, ENOUGH TO OPEN UP A ONE-ROOM-SCHOOL...... EVENTUALLY THE BLITZ ON LONDON BEGAN IN EARNEST..IT WAS VERY FRIGHTENING....
I WAS 13 YRS OLD AND HAD NO MORE FORMAL EDUCATION. WE SHARED A BOMB SHELTER WITH OUR NEIGHBOURS WHO HAD THEIR GARAGE REINFORCED. FOR SEVERAL WEEKS WE SAT UPRIGHT ALL NIGHT IN CANVAS CHAIRS, NODDING OFF BETWEEN AIR RAIDS. THE NEIGHBOURS HAD A 2 YR OLD DAUGHTER AND SHE SLEPT IN A STRING HAMMOCK RIGGED UP CLOSE TO THE CEILING. SHE KEPT REPEATING "GO AWAY HITLER"!!!!
WE ALSO GOT SHOWERS OF METAL ON THE ROOF FROM THE ARMY GUN EMPLACEMENT WHICH WAS ABOUT A MILE AWAY - - MY FATHER WOULD GO AND STAND OUTSIDE TO WATCH, MUCH TO MY MOTHER'S FEAR. . . . . . . . .
MEANTIME DURING THE DAYTIME WE TRIED TO LIVE AS NORMAL AS POSSIBLE....MY PARENTS FOUND ME A TUTOR WHO GAVE ME LESSONS IN SHORTHAND AS I WAS DETERMINED TO BE A SECRETARY! i BECAME QUITE PROFICIENT AND WAS HANDED A DIPLOMA!
aT AGE 14 I APPLIED FOR A JOB IN THE NEXT TOWN AND ACCEPTED - EARNING FIVE SHILLINGS PER WEEK-THE HOURS WERE 8 TO 5PM SIX DAYS PER WEEK.......
oNE LUNCH TIME i REMEMBER STANDING BY THE RAILWAY BRIDGE AND WATCHING THIS TRAIN SLOWLY MAKING ITS WAY INTO WATERLOO - CARRYING WOUNDED SOLDIERS FROM EVACUATION AT DUNKIRK - THEY WERE ALL BANDAGED UP AND SOME BRAVELY WAVED!! i REMEMBERED THINKING i WAS WATCHING HISTORY . . . . . EVENTUALLY THE BOMBINGS BECAME MORE FREQUENT - NIGHT AND DAY AND MY PARENTS DECIDED I SHOULD BE EVACUATED TO RELATIVES IN NORTHAMPTONSHIRE . . . . . . . .AND SO MOTHER PAID FOUR POUNDS TO A TAXI DRIVER WHO TOOK US ALL THE WAY........ABOUT 65 MILES......TO THIS SMALL TOWN NORTH OF BEDFORD. . . . . .THIS IS WHERE I AM GOING TO END, FOR THE TIME BEING, BUT THE NEXT SEVERAL YEARS HAD ME LIVING IN FIVE DIFFERENT HOMES AND THREE DIFFERENT JOBS....... WITH A THREE YEAR RETURN TO WORKING IN LONDON, EVACUATING ONCE AGAIN AFTER THE VIS PLAGUED US NIGHT AND DAY. . . . .