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For aweek before war broke out, we hat to go to st James school london, carrying a haversac with cloths and samdwiches.
At home men were digging up concrete to erect an Anderson air raid shelter in our garden they put the concrete pieces at the side of the shelter and dad made it into a rockery, with soil for a garden on top.
On the second september 1939 we were assembeld in a classroom and the teachers got use singing christian choruses one that stuck in my mind was Juses died for all the children, all the children of the world Red and yellow black and white all our precious in His site Jesus died for all the children of the world.
We were asembled into twos and marchred down the road past a group of parents in Norland Road Market and they waved good bye to use.
We were helped into waiting coatches and were driven to a village Norton Fitchwarren in Somerset; we stoped half way and queued up in a hall where kind ladies gave use each a bag containing tea, suger, condensed milk and a packed of biscuits and told not to eat them but to give them to the people who were waiting to take use into there home's.
My sister was ten and i was seven years old in the november. We sat together with the other children, in the village hall as ladies came and picked out the ones they wanted to take care of. our lady was a Mrs Rexworthy who collected use both plus to older girls Rebecca and Rose she took use to her home near the village hall. It was a three beded house the three older girls slept in a double bed and i slept in a single bed with Mary rexworthey who was twelve years old.
quite soon at seven years, i new most of the jokes about solders, sailers and airmen and english, Scotts and Irish men and parrots.(i can not remember one of them now)
One day iwas walking past a field and saw a bull mounting a cow. I ran home and indignantly said to mr and mrs Rexworthey i have just seen a noughty big bull trying to get a piggy back on the little cow! They burst out laughing and not realising why iburst into tears because i thought they should go and tell the naughty bull off!
opposite where we lived was sida factory next to an orchard. largh apples were piled up in the yard, witch was surrounded by spiked railings. This did not deter the older cockney kids climbing over them and scrumping the apples pacing some of them on to use younger ones. We ate so many apples that we were getting sours around our mouths.
One day to men came to the school from the sida factory, and asked use not to take the apples. They gave use an appple each as we filed out, but i am a fraid it did not deter the scrumpers my sister was one of them. Unfortunatly as she climbed over the railings her skirt caught on the spike and was torn she got told of mrs R and i dont think she scrumped there a gain.
Marian had had her small bicyical sent to where we lived. i am very grateful to her for teaching me to ride it, as years later as a pupil midwife i hat to cycle to clients in S.e. London.
learning to cycle was a painful experience. I was cycling down towards the station, when on looking down i could not see Marian shadow, on looking round i saw she was way down the road insted of holding the shadle of the cycle.Panic! I veered to the right, landing in a bed of stinging nettles infront of the hedge, all my arms and leg were stung, and did I bawl.
Another incident occured with my tom boy sister riding her bike no handed down the village high streat She went between two cyclists knocking two men off of there bikes. in assembly the next morning our head teacher miss Wood said to her little splinters how dangerous cycling no handed. was Marians face was red.
We evaquees had our school in the village hall. One day we were not allowed in and were told to go and play on the village green at the back of the hall. We heard later of the derailment of a train in a field nere use it was carring troppes and meny were killed or injured.
We were in Somerset for a bout 18 mounths when our parents brought use home to London.
Our father had been invalided out of world war one at the age of 19 years. He had shrapnel in his leg and chest.
He hat to wear big boots with a caliper.
His injuries did not detter from riding a trade bicycle with alarge basket on the front. He also dug up his allotment were part of the little scrubs park had been given for growing vegetables, hensh the slogan 'dig for victory.
While up the allotment, pop just intime caught my madcap sister from going into a bomb crater on his bike.
We use to join him up the allotment after church on a Sunday. One day, we went to collect water from a tap a few allotments away pop had made a wooden bawrrow and put two large? Petrol cans in it. Marian told me to sit on the front one and she wheeld me to the tap. We filled the can, and not thinking about the wait of them now, i went to sit on one as she pulled the barrow and down i went into the mus surrounded the tap all my clene cloths getting very mudy Marian told me to stay a while for her to get back to dad and for me to come a different route saying i hade slipped up in the mud!
Our step mother purformed miracles with the rationing. sometimes Dads realations came for Sunday diner. they lived in or near Croydon. our friend Vera and i entertand them with the war the war time song and sayings from such radio shows as Itmea when we came back from evatiuation, we were introduced to seven year old Vera whos aunt and uncle lived next door above the timber yard of Y.J.Lovlls between dads two shops. Our perants and the Gilhams helps firewhatched there some times.
Vera has been along time friend and despite t
he blitz,
helped enjoy our childhood. Cow boys and indians, charades, shuttlecocks made out of acork with chicken feathers stuck in it pop was very good at carpentery, he made us wooden bats , whips and tops, bows and arows and a gun.
on saterday mornings we went to the childrens cinema in Shepherds Bush.
WE also did the shopping in the near by out door food market (mainly fruit and veg). we always carried news paper in our barscits. we would join one queue for, say, tomatoes and before getting for the front (if a long queue)we would ask the purson behind use to keep our place and go to another stoll queue witch we joined asking what the queue was for maybe red curents or black curents. If a long queue, we would ask the purson to mind our place and go back to our first queue and get the tomartoes and we would cover them with the newspaper and return to the second queue and by the fruit. We used the same practice to get greens for our selves and the
hens
with the help of Mr Gilham from the sweet shop next door, pop and he erected achicked run ontop of the Anderson shelter. They turned the coal shed just to the front side of the shelter, into a rust with boxes for the eggs to be laid and a walk way onto the chiken run.
We had a cockerel and the favirote hen was popsy. She reared quite a lot of chicks and it was a said day when old age saw her on our diner plates. Our parents pickled some of them,

The airaids had stopped for a wee while so it was thought safe to enjoy the comfort of our beds instead of the bunks and mattress in the shelter,
one night our father came and woke us up. he got my sister up, not comprehending the reason for this, she got back into bed, while h e
came around the bed and got me up. Dad got Marian up again while i got back into bed!
In the end, he carried me down stairs with step mum carrying on at him to put me down because he had his booty slppers on and might slip. It was considerd too dangerous for use to run to the air raid shelter because of the shrapnel from the mobile (pompom) guns going around the streets. I remember sitting on the bottom of the stairs, swallowing the salivla that kept comming into my mouth. nurves were on edge, i was told to stop making that gulping noise.
Another time, we went to the shelter, and before going, for an unknown reason, step mum put dads chair up against the table. Usaully the cat, Tiddles slept on it. The dog's bed was under the table but she usually came into the shelter with us.
It was a bad raid and in the morning we found a large hole had blown in the wall above where the cat usaully slept. the back door was of its hinges and the landing window and shop window had blown in.
We hat to walk to school along a street of empty, bombed houses. When i was by my self, i use to clamber over the debriy of the house to pick flowers and the pink weed from my garden.
Her name was mrs charity, and she came from her home in richmand every day. She was a good teacher, and when the day time raids were on, she would take use to the brick shelters in the play ground and read to use by the light of the torch. She enterd three of use in the eleven plus exam which i passed anough to go to high school. That year step mum sent the two of use to her aunt and uncle in South Wales for the summer holidays.
They were a lovely Christian couple and we loved them.WE would go up the hill shide to alittle chapel, and giggle every time an old farmer said ere'ere, during the prayers of the preacher. trouble was, once we started to giggle we hade difficulty to stop!
They were happy days until, the V2 rockets had come over London, our parents considered leaving us in Wales. The welsh school pupils reternd a week or two before English ones did.
I was sent to the village school much to my indignation, as i felt like a fish out of order. I only knew one child, Sylvia who lived a few houses down the road she was another class and when i was standing by my self in the playground, came and said i could join her and her friends . How ever the decision came that we would return to london and me to the Burlington High school for girls - one of the oldest and the most modern built schools in London. The air raid shelter was the reinforced cloakroom on the ground floor.
The V2 and then the V1 use to come over and we would listen to them in the shelter here the engine, one night one of the rockets engine stopped over head and we waited for it to drop on us, and then to our relief it started up again. Latter we heard it had fallen on a convent not far away.
One night, the sky was bright with fire a mile away. The gasomiter had been hit we were very fortunate not to be bombed out like some families.
We use to watch ahourse and cart full of beding going by to the shelter under Shepherds Bush Green. On arrival from being taken to a pantamime in the west end. We got of the tube train to find a mash of people lying on bunks and beded down on the platforms. We were thankful for our Anderson shelter.
As well as good times of our play and visits to the cinemas to see U films and to the theatre. We went to a Browny pack at the church half a mile away. Once a mouth was Church parade when the guides, scouts and cubs carried the flags up the ilsle to be placed aginst the olter wall.
Vera and I plagued Miss Penny, our lovely Brown Owl by asking Why cant we carry a colour light the cubs do which is not fair. We said it so often that Brown Owl and the Captain of the girl Guides decided to let us carry the guides old union flag It was with great pride and i believe I was the first brownie to carry the union flag. Latter, years on, the brownies were given a penant to carry.
We went up into Guides where we enjoyed country dancing, and did a lot of marching as well as learning the morse code and semiphore, and firstaid etc.
Our vicar the Reverend Monk enrolled our Giude company into the Society of st. George. He also had connections with the Canadian Mounties, some of whom paraded with us on the Sunday near st. georges day, one blowing his Bugle and another carrying the st.Georges flag with two Canadian mounties as escorts with us marching down the aisle behind them. Our Company also paraded in st. Paul's Cathedral with the British legiond and cadets.
I left school and worked as a shop essistant locally. One day there was great rejoicing, Flags were hanging from windows. It was the end of the war!
Street parties were held and we children sat in the street at Tressle tables laden with food with ration coupons from most of the families. Bonfires were lit and it was just great.
Later we watched the VE and VG marched passed of diferent nations who had helped us win the war!!!


By healing Maureen who became a nurse

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