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MEMORIES OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR..

I have lived in South Stifford all of my life and although I was only a very young boy at the time, I can remember the second world war war and what my parents told me about it afterwards.. To me at that time it was just a way of life to which I knew of no other. I thought it was just a natural thing to have to sleep in an air raid shelter, hear sirens going off day and night, see aircraft chasing each other in the skies and bombs being droped and see the search lights scanning the night sky for enemy aircraft. I also knew that all the dads and young men from the area were away fighting, I new this was true because I had seen the convoy of army tanks and soldiers going along London Road from the Purfleet Garrison to Tilbury.
Yes I knew there was a war going on, but I really was not old enough to know why or what for, but after the war ended and as I got older I got to know all about it and how the United Kingdom gained its freedom from the result of it.
Perhaps I can say that I am proud to have lived through that time which has now become history..Yes I did live through it, our house was bombed, and although I did not realise it at the time, it was hell.
My Dad was a local bus driver and as his job involved a service to the public he did not have to enlist as a Soldier, he was however a member of the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Guard. I can remember him going off to his weekly meetings wearing his ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Guard Uniform with his Riffle.
The Kit Bag, Metal Helmet and Riffle were kept for several years after the war had ended hanging on a hook in the garden shed..
Then of cause there was the Black Out Curtains that hung at all the windows. They all had to be put up at night time so that not even the tiniest chink of light could be seen from the outside.The few cars that were about had to drive without headlights and all street lights were switched off. There was a warden that used to come around the streets checking peoples windows, if he saw the slightest glimmer of light, he would knock on your front door and tell you to "Cover that Light" or would call out "Put that light Out".
Food was very scarce during the war period and everything was on ration. Each family was issued with ration books containing vouchers which had to be given up when you purchased anything, and when all your ration vouchers had gone, that was it, as the shop keepers were not allowed to sell you anything without producing your Ration Books.. I can remember mum used to save up most of her sweet rations and use them at Christmas time so we could have chocolate, a bar of chocolate was a real treat, but had to be shared between mum,dad and myself.. There were none of the expensve toys at Christmas like there are now, if children were lucky we may have got a box of pencils, a painting book, a tin of water colour paints, perhaps a jigsaw puzzle or a boxed game..but we were always very happy and pleased with what we were given because as far as I knew that was the normal way of life.
Ladies Nylon Stockings were in very short supply, they all wore stockings then, tights had not been thought of. If mum was going somewhere special and had no stockings to wear, she would draw a black line up the back of her leg to immitate the seams,so it looked as though she was wearing them.. However they did become more available later when the American Soldiers came over to England to help us win the war, as they brought with them Nylon Stockings, Chocolate and Chewing Gum.
There was no money for mum to have her hair done at the hairdressers, she had to do it herself with curlers or the curling tongs, or perhaps if going somewhere special a "Twink" ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Perm.
When I look back to those days I can understand now that times were very hard for people, there were very few cars, most people had bikes, washing was done in a heated tub known as a "Copper" there were no such things as spin dryers and no one had a fridge unless you were very well off, freezers had not been invented. televisions had only just about come on the market, and you were classed as Royalty if you had one of those. Hardly anyone had a phone indoors. Mobiles had not even been thought of. I know of only one person who had a phone in our road.. And of course computors were not known of.
I wonder what some of the youngsters today would think if they were given Bread and Dripping or Bread and Jam for tea on most days,and perahps on Sundays tinned Spam which was cut in slices and put into a sandwich.. Nestles milk from a tin was also used to spread on bread and eaten in that way. No wonder us children all had bad teeth. There was no such thing as frozen foods or ready meals.. Christmas dinner would be chicken if you were lucky. Most of the cakes were made at home by mum.Most of the Christmas Decorations were home made by sticking strips of paper in loops to form a chain.,or cutting up crepe paper into strips, twisting it and then hanging it up to form colouful garlands. We did not have a Christmas Tree until several years after the war had ended.
Many people kept Chickens in a Chicken Run in their back gardens so there was a reasonable supply of Eggs. People also had to grow their own vegtables.. Potatoes. Carots.Peas Beans etc. Everyone helped each other out if they found they had too much of a certain vegtable for themselves they would pass any surplus onto neighbours, nothing was wasted.. Clothes had to be made to last as long as possible or handed down to younger brothers or sisters, many ladies made there own clothes out of cut up old ones.Old woolen cardigans would be un-ravelled and the wool used again to knit a scarf or socks. There was no keeping up with the latest fashions in those days, you just had to do with what you had got, money was scarce, shops in short supply and there was no such thing as credit cards. In fact not many people even had a Bank Account. Once the money in your purse or pocket had gone that was it you just had to wait and go hungry until next pay day.
Everyone including children and babies were supplied with a Identity Card which you had to carry with you everwhere.These cards were issued and officialy stamped by the Goverment. Everyone also was supplied with a Gas Mask, which came in a square shape cardboard box with a cord attached to it to hang round your neck. We had a hat stand in the entrance hallway to our house and I can remember our gas masks hanging there in case of an emergancy. You had to take them everywhere you went.
In our back garden was the Anderson Air Raid Shelter which was made of Corrigated Iron and half dug into the ground with earth piled up over the top of it. Inside were two bunk beds, one on each side with a small gangway down the middle. It was very cold and damp in there in the winter, but we did have a little old black oil stove in ours and a piece of old thick carpet hang over the doorway. Lighting was by Candles. Many a cold night was spent in there listening to the gun shots and bombs being dropped, and when the "All Clear" Sireen sounded the fear of coming out to see if your own or your neibours house had been hit or damaged.,the first thing you could hear was your neighbours calling across to each other to see if they were alright, many of them were young wives with children, it must have been very hard for them as most of there husbands were away with the military fighting abroad..
With so many men in the Army,Navy or Airforce it ment that most of the local factories had lost most of their workers and they were finding it hard to continue production, so to overcome this a scheme was set up for the wives of those men to go into the factories and do their husbands jobs for them, and so by doing, keeping their jobs open for when they returned from the war, if they returned at all... The lady who lived next door to us took over her husbands job in the Wouldham Cement Factory..
We lived in Palmerston Road, and my mum had a sister that lived in London.. During one phase of the war when there had been several expectant air raids and several nights had been spent in the air raid shelter, she had a strange feeling that something bad was about to happen. She said to my dad that something terrible was going to happen and she felt she could not stay at Palmerston Road any longer, she had to get away. In fact she felt so strongly about it that she packed a case, took me with her and went up to London by train to stay with my aunt. Dad told her she was stupid going into London as that was where the Germains were aiming for.. Dad had to stay at home owing to his Bus Driver job... A couple of nights later a bomb known as a Doodle Bug fell in Palmerston Road, destroying several houses and wrecking ours. A telegram was sent to my mum, but when it arrived I have since been told that it made my mum her feel so bad that she could not open or read it.. my Aunt had to undertake this task, who read out the news informing them that a bomb had dropped in Palmerston Road, the house was damaged but Steve (my dad) was safe.. As I have said I was not very old at the time but I shall never forget seeing that house when we returned, doors were blown off , windows were out, the roof had gone and a ceiling was hanging down, the front path was covered with roof tiles.... After a few days it was made inhabital, again but only just. The windows were boarded up doors mended and the ceiling propped up, there was a huge tarpauling over the roof... dirt and dust was everywhere, crockery and ornaments were broken. The flying bomb known as a Doodle Bughad done a lot of damage. They were terrible things, you knew when one was coming over as they made a drowning noise ,but as soon as that noise stoped, the bomb fell to the ground and if you were under it, sure as fate you would be hit. As soon as one was heard everyone would look for it in the sky and pray that it would pass over before it cut out and fell.
When I look back now I know how terrible my parents and other residents in the road must have felt, just imagine purchasing a brand new house just a couple of years earlier and then having it badly damaged by a bomb....
Dad continued to live there but me and mum went back to Aunties until our own house was made suitable for us to return..and even when we did go back there was still a lot of work to be done by the builders, in fact some of the houses in the road had to be completely re-built, this is why some of the houses now at the lower end of Palmerston Road are a slightly different style to all the others..
Of cause whilst we were staying at Aunties in London there were many air rades, her house was near Tooting Bec Underground Station. And I spent several nights with Mum and Auntie on the underground stations platform which were used as air raid shelters, but I have recolections of them being quite jolly evenings as someone would start singing the wartime songs and everybody else would join in..and we were given tea or cocoa.
When the war ended I was still a young lad, and by then had some idea of what was going on, everyone seemed different after VE and VJ Day, there was a great feeling of releif and hope for the future. On VE Night people were out in Palmerston Road dancing and rejoicing in the street, we had an old wind-up gramaphone, which Dad put out on the front door step of our house, and played the recordssuch as "Land of Hope and Glory" and "Jerusalem" over and over again.
Then athere was the coming home of the soldiers, perhaps one at a time, or maybe three or four of them in a small group. Flags were put out on there houses and across the road with "Welcome ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½" wrote on them, a party would be held in that house that night and all the friends and Neighbours invited...but in contrast there was the houses where husband, dad or brother did not return as so many soldiers lives were lost.. They were all brave men who done thier duty and served there country, they experienced war, that we hope this country will never see or go through again.
Even after the war had ended there were still many reminders of it, ration books were still in use for several years as everything was still in very short supply. A lot of buildings remained in ruins and deralict especially in London, some of which were not re-built for many years , then there were Army Huts at Purfleet and even at the school I attended there was a brick built Air Raid Shelter in the Playground. The shelter had an iron door at the entrance which was aproached down a long brick passageway, it had a roof of solid concrete and there was a small tunnel escape route in one of the walls. It was pitch black inside. I can remember while I was at the school we had to have air raid practice and all had to go out into the Shelter..Then there was the building of the Prefabs at Stifford Clays and South Ockendon to house all the families that had been bombed out of their homes in London. Most of iron gates etc remained missing, as during the war all such iron was collected up by the Goverment to be melted down and made into guns and helmets etc.
Our own anderson shelter remained in the our garden for several years after the end of war, being left there "just in case". It was eventualy dug out and reconstructed as a garden shed and was painted green. and of cause for many years after there was the "National Service" when every young man at the age of 18 got his call-up papers to do his two year service in the Army, Navy or Airforce, and it was no use saying you was not going to go, because you just had to, you had no choice.
Thousands lost there lives in that war and never came back home, and it is for that reason we must never forget these anniversaries of war in this country, and our future generations must always remember, and never forget the sacrifice that this Country gave in obtaining our Victory..... I lived through that war, our house was bombed, it was hell, Pray God that todays and future generations will never experience such an event or know what it was really like, but may it always remain in history books and on film to be remembered for ever.
PETER VALENTINE. South Stifford.

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