Saffron Walden on Alert

When I was about 9 years old I was evacuated to Saffron Walden at the time when the doodle bugs were flying around.

I was sent to a children’s home run by a Mr & Mrs Shapiro. It was a Jewish home; there were about fifty children of all ages.

I was pretty good while I was at the home. I just didn’t like warm milk, which was given to us every day after school in the dinning room. I always tried to pour mine out of the window and down the drain - the other children kept watch for me.

I remember this one time, when the nurse forced fed me semolina I had never had it and didn’t want to try it but she insisted and when I finished it, she said "there, it wasn’t that bad was it” and I promptly brought it all back in her lap.

Oh but the really scary story I would like to share with you is this…….

It was a lovely Sunday morning the sky was a beautiful blue and the sun was shinning brightly. I believe it was the month of August. We were playing in the gardens and we heard a few bangs but there was a war on so we weren’t worried. About half an hour later we heard loud shouts and whistles and the wardens running up the streets to all the houses. We were told that an ammunition dump was going off and it was near two mustard gas tanks—it was a very dangerous situation.

Everyone was told to put on there gas masks and go to the shelters. All the children were split into two groups. We all went over to the doctor’s house. It was a large house and the little ones went into the cellar and us older ones went to the shelter at the bottom of the garden.

It was like a trench in the army. We all piled in and were told to pray and that’s when we heard a loud band—we were told to put on our gas masks. Well there we were all praying and shaking with fright huddled together for about 15 minutes.

Then we heard shouts and whistles and a warden came down and said “all clear” they had moved the ammunition and we were going to be alright. We went back to the home to have tea. Our prayers must have been answered.
Thank god!!

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