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World War 2 through the eyes of a child

My name is Joyce Dorothy Maureen Carter nee Diaper born on 6th February 1937 at 44, Millbank Street, Southampton, I lived with my family as shown below:-

JOHN WILLIAM ROBERT m MATILDA DIAPER
(Father) (Mother)

ROSE EMELY JOYCE D.M. JOHN WILLIAM ROBERT DOREEN PHYLISS JOSEPH BARRY ARTHUR
(Sister) (Me) (Brother) (Sister) (Brother born after the war)

During the war we lost three of our homes due to bombs
1st Millbank Street
2nd Bevois Valley Road
3rd Ancaster Road

The only recollection I have is the later. On the night after the bombing, we returned from the communal shelter to find the most terrifying sight I have ever remembered. All our belongings were strewn all over the road and the back of the house was reduced to rubble.

For the next few months my Sister Rose, Brother John and myself was evacuated to my Aunt Dolly’s house in Gosport, Our parents quickly found us another home to live in and we came home to take up residence at 42 Northumberland Road. We thought we were very lucky because we had our own Anderson Shelter. This meant no more running to a communal shelter with the fear of bombs dropping all around us.

We were very fortunate because our Father was considered to be a key worker. He worked for the local shipyard repairer, who was heavily committed to repairing all military ships.

The only draw back to this was, because Southampton was a major port the German’s tried constantly to bomb the docklands. Our family lived in trepidation of loosing our Dad every time he went to work.

I can remember, very vividly the day Southampton High street was set alight with the bombs the German’s dropped. Seeing the devastation at first hand with all the horror that the bombs left behind. The only shops I can recall still standing, was a wine shop and Woolworths. I am sure this picture will never leave me.

My favourite memories during the war are when the Americans came to help us. Our home was just a few streets away from the Dibals wharf where the soldiers and their equipment embarked to go to the war.

Every day we would have new troops out side our home. We would supply them with tea, and sit and listen to their tales of their loved ones. They would also tell us stories of their homeland.

We also spent our days with the American troops either playing lotto or singing song as they played their harmonicas. I was given a lotto game by one of the Americans so that I would remember him. Another gave me a New Testament signed by Rossevelt. I think this was a standard issue to all of the troops. I have kept it safe to this very day. The other treat we had was lovely thick bars of chocolate that we ate with much relish, because all our food was rationed we did not get the luxury of chocolate in our shops.

One of the Americans gave my brother and I a ride in his tank, it was great fun all though it was very noisy. He dropped us off just before he embarked for the front, with a promise to write to me. I received only one letter from him, which I replied to but unfortunately I did not hear from him again so do not know his fate.

I was also invited to a lovely Christmas party at the American camp on Hoglands Park, along with all the other children of the area. We were given a slap up meal, and the troops played lots of fun games with us. We all left the party with a big present, which was a wonderful treat for us. I remember how special it was because my Mum had found me a very pretty blue dress with lots of frills to wear. This was a fantastic day not only did I get to wear a special dress, I also had a day of fun which was in very short supply during the dark days of war.

It’s funny how little things that we had to endure during the war years left a scar on me for the rest of my life. My Mum always did the best to clothe us with good quality clothes, clothes were rationed or not freely available, Mum would attend the local Conservative Party jumble sales at Chilworth, she would only buy us the very best second hand clothes for us to wear. To this day I can not go into a charity shop and buy second hand clothes for myself to wear. I can only wear new clothes.

Life became a little better when we had nightly bombing raids whilst we lived at Northumberland Road. This was because all we had to do when the sirens wailed, was to get up and go to our Anderson shelter at the bottom of our garden. We had made this very comfortable with make shift beds, which meant we could at least try and have some sleep. Unfortunately most children found themselves dropping off to sleep when they went to school the next day due to the lack of sleep.

I recall once I did not hear the sirens (or did not want to). All the family rushed down to the shelter only to find I was missing. My Dad came back in doors to fetch me and by the time we reached the shelter the bombardment had started. My poor Dad had a very lucky escape, just as he had pushed me into the shelter a large piece of shrapnel fell and missed him by inches. I never stayed in bed again when I heard the sirens.

Mum and Dad did their very best to feed us and we always had nice clean clothes to wear, but life was very hard. Every thing was either rationed or just not available in the shops. They kept our spirits up by my Mum playing the piano and my Dad playing the accordion. We would always have a singsong before we went to bed. Other times we would play a game of cards or some other parlour game. Our parents did their very best to make our lives bearable.

We also had a wonderful community spirit that pulled together, and every body would be on hand if any body needed help. This also gave us children a sense of security during very turbulent times.

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