大象传媒

I was born in Portsmouth in February 1940, so am a real WW2 child. The first five years of my life are very coloured by what waas going on. My father, who was working for the GPO Telephones, used to send my mother , my elder brother and myself away from the bombing, usually up to Durham, where both my parents belonged and most of our relatives lived. My motheer, however used to worry that my father was not looking after himself properly because of the long hours he used to work, and would go back to Portsmouth, Eventually my brother and I were sent to stay with an aunt and uncle who lived in Wiltshire, Box village, I was about four and can remember quite a lot about our time there. I don't know how long we actually stayed, but it was the summer I can remember most, playing in the fields, making dens going to the nearby brook and watching the older children swimming. My parents used to come to visit us quite often, my mother would stay for a while but dad could just come very occasionally, for a weekend, when he had one of. I remember on one of these occassions, he came and the first thing he said was, nothing was going to get him out of his bed before he was ready to get up, having had a very bad time of it in Portsmouth, that night there was a air raid, a very rare occurance there. dad was first out of bed and down stairs organising everyone, so much for his restful weekend!!
Also while we were staying with this aunt and uncle I started school, although I was not really old enough, the powers that be let me start as I was the only child of my age, all the others were at school or much younger, I loved it, I learnt to read and the basics of knitting. The older girls in the school used to come to help the teachers with the younger children, one of these 'girls' I really liked and she seemed very special to me, I did not realise for years that she happened to be my Aunt, my mothers youngest sister, who had been brought down from Durham to live with their eldest brother and his wife, as my Grandad was unable to work due to an accident in the pit, this is what they used to do years ago, so the family kept them not the state. Even after the war, and my Aunt had returned home, we always had a special friendship, but sadly she died last year, but I still have my happy memories of a lovely young girl teaching me to read etc.. Eventually we returned to Portsmouth when the bombing stopped and settled down to a proper family life, which until then I had never experienced. I lived in Portsmouth until 1968, doing all my schooling there; living in Copnor all the that time, in Vernon Road, I don't know if there is anyone who reads this remembers us,
there were three children in the family as I had another brother in 1946. The family are now all spread out around the country, my elder brother lives in North Devon, my younger brother lives in Nth Shropshire and I live in Co.Durham. Would love to hear if anyone remebers us our family name was Calder.