大象传媒

I was not quite 9 years old when WWW2 was declared, and to be honest I don't remember being panicked by it; life did not seem to change much, except for having to carry a gasmask in a box slung my shoulder everywhere I went....and even that stopped as the months and years passed. In 1940 I was evacuated with my school (Rangefield Juniors, Downham , Bromley, Kent) to
Devonshire; a small village called Ashreighney. Our teachers (Miss Lewis and Miss Cummings) came with us and at least there was some familiar faces linked to home, but it was merely a short stay, for the predicted blitz had not started and the children returned home, one by one, until there was only a few left....I was one of the last to leave. Perhaps it was an ironic coincidence that on the night I arrived back in Downham, the first air raid commenced and taking shelter became the norm. I cannot remember ever being afraid, but that must be because my parents showed no fears. Looking back I admire their courage in their deliberate air of optimism towards me, although I now realise that was a
public attitude which hid the underlying and unspoken fears within.
Schools were closed and lessons were sporadically taken in the 'front rooms' of local houses, just to keep the children up to standard and maintain a sort of norm. When not at 'school', we children were always out looking for bits of shrapnel or other 'trophies' to collect or swap and most of us had a large map of the world on our bedroom walls so that we could follow the progress of the war by sticking pins into it. If a bomb fell and uprooted the then tarred blocks of wood which made up roads in those days, we grabbed with glee to take home for Mum to burn and save the coal ration.
When the Doodlebugs started in '44 (or was it '43?) I was evacuated again to Nottingham and once again found myself in strange surroundings - it didn't last.....three of us were billeted in one home and promptly caught nits....which, to my Mother was a fate worse than Doodlebugs, so my stay in Nottingham was short and sharp. Home to the daily drone of V1's and later V2's which, as before, we all copedand continued to live as normal life as possible.
I was lucky enough not to have lost any family members during WW2, although there were some near misses.
One thing is very clear....my sudden maturity when I had to take on chores previously not expected of me. Mum returned to work as a nurse, Dad was working all day and taking his shifts at the local ARP station 5 night a week. Both my brother and sister (9 & 11 years older than me) were working in munitions factories, so it was left to me to do the family shopping and making sure I got all the rations that were available....to lay fires for warmth when they got home and to air the blankets etc., from the Anderson air raid shelter. My brother used dto cycle to work through London every day and invariably he would get punctures in the tyre....so I had to have the bowl of water and tyre spanners at the ready when he arrived home, so that we could mend the punctures before the siren sounded arounf 8pm
Just before the war ended I was accepted by The South East London Technical Institute for a course in Cookery & Canteen Management; not exactly what I wanted for passing the Eleven Plus exam in 1941 but beggars can't be choosers, it was that or Dressmaking, neither of which appealed, but at least you can eat the daily lessons!!! Needless to say, I did not make good progress and did not finish the course.
Paid work beckoned and my working career started. I have lots of memories of those days, but that would take too long in this screed. I hope I find some kindred souls out there to do some reminiscing.
My name then was Margaret Keane and I lived in Downham Way, Bromley Kent