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I was born in 1940 and lived in London with my parents during the Blitz. I was obviously only a baby through the war years, but do have a few recollections:

· Sleeping in a metal cage under a table during air raids
· Going to see house No 34 in our road that had been bombed flat. We lived at No 10 about 80 yards away
· After the war handing over ration book tokens to buy sweets

At the age of 5 I was diagnosed with a juvenile form of tuberculosis and sent to live with my grandparents in Hastings on the South Coast because the air was cleaner). I did not attend school during this period and when I returned to London, aged 7, could hardly write my name. Fortunately I caught up and was able to pass the 11 plus exam.

Although the standard of living was much lower, there are some aspects of life that today’s children sorely miss. I clearly remember as an 8-9 year old walking with other children half a mile to school across a common each day. Our parents thought nothing of it and we were never threatened in any way

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