Friends Reunited with Memories of Air Raids on Norwich

This story was submitted to the People’s War site by Jenny Christian of the 2nd Air Division Memorial Library on behalf of Edna Gray and Sheila Rayner and has been added to the site with their permission. The authors fully understand the site’s terms and conditions.

Edna Gray and Sheila Rayner were old school friends in Norwich. The two met up again at a talk about the Air Raids on Norwich of 1942 where these memories were recorded.

“My name is now Sheila Rayner. I can remember Edna very well at Crooks Place, I can remember going down the shelters, there were two big ones in the middle of the school playground, very often there were air raids in the middle of lessons and we used to read poetry down there or anything to pass the time.”

Sheila recalled Dorothy Riches was a girl in their class. Her Father was caretaker at Caley’s Chocolate factory. “After the Blitz we were scrambling and scrabbling about in the brick rubble to find drums of chocolate from the factory, which had gone hard. It was obviously being boiled when the Blitz happened. We didn’t care as we scrambled about amongst the bricks and chipped away with anything to get at the chocolate. In those days no one worried about hygiene and we took the chocolate to School next day, where we were very popular girls! We put it into newspaper, in those days there weren’t such things as bags, in fact a lot of things were wrapped in newspaper including our lunches. In fact we kept looting the factory for as long as we could - which was near the School – so long as Mr Riches didn’t find out!”

Edna lived at 132, Queens Road and for most lessons she and Sheila were in the same class at School, but not always. There were 2 teachers, Mr Stone and Mr Pointer, anyone in Mr Stone’s class they agreed was regarded as brighter.

Sheila said she had lived in Somerleyton Street which got bombed very heavily on the night of the Blitz. “On the other side of the street 2 families were killed. We didn’t have any counselling, our little friends had just died, but we just got up and got on with life”.

Sheila said she didn’t like being in the shelter. “When the all-clear was given we could see The Somerleyton Pub at the top of the road was well alight, and then suddenly the fire must have got to the cellar where all the whisky was stored and that set all the bottles off. I grabbed my Mother’s hand - the explosions were so loud, I thought it was the guns going off again. The firemen were there, the liquor just kept exploding, it was so dangerous, a different world”.

Sheila said, “There were a lot of people from Caley’s around our area and we never used to get bored as children in the War because the boys used to come round and say “let’s go and loot the houses Sheila”. Sheila said her biggest find was cushions stuffed full of ribbons - Caley chocolate box ribbons. Next day she recalled how she had gone to School with ribbons in her hair, ribbons everywhere, Sheila said she even had ribbons in her shoes “I must have looked quite a sight. I just wanted to look pretty” and she added “we never had anything pretty, anything I used to find I used to stuff under the bed and my Sister used to say I’ll tell Mum – but I said I didn’t care. She never did anything naughty like that”

For Christmas both Sheila and Edna recalled all they used to get was maybe an orange and a nut, sometimes Mothers used to buy hankies and maybe a little bottle of scent that would be put beside the bed, it was very special. Sometimes they’d get shoes for School or an orange or an apple, but not the toys like children get today.

Edna had a penfriend in America in California. “I used to write and say I’d give anything for a banana, she used to say she couldn’t understand that we couldn’t get bananas. To get a banana was a real treat, so was an egg. You only had one egg a week, my Mother had to have some eggs to cook with. She used to make fruit cake. In those days men often called their wives Mrs, and my Father used to say to my Mum, “Where did you stand on Mousehold Heath Mrs to get a fruit cake like that!?”.

Like Sheila, Edna says she doesn’t ever remember going hungry. “I used to love my vegetables. I didn’t mind not having any meat, what you didn’t have you did not miss. I know for tea it used to be bread and marge or bread and jam. Its wonderful how we survived, I think it’s the Mothers who were marvellous. Especially if you’d been up half the night with the bombing and were tired. All our important documents like the insurance and coupons my Mother used to keep in a briefcase by the front door and take down to the shelter with us. Before we had a shelter I can remember this really frightening experience, we had this under the stairs cupboard and my Mother, my youngest Brother and my eldest Sister were all caught there in the bombing, there wouldn’t be room for my Father or my eldest Brother so they stood in the hallway just bracing their backs against all the shaking”.

Edna’s neighbours had a Morrison Shelter, an indoor shelter with wire mesh. Edna recalled how her family used to go under the table sometimes which had a curtain round it. “The lights were out of course, but if we looked through the curtains that’s when we could see the bombs drop and the terrible flash, there was one at the bottom of Ashby Street and part of Queens Road, by the place with the coal. The houses near Victoria Railway Station were rebuilt with prefabs”.

Both Sheila and Edna could remember that if you were up a certain amount of hours at night they didn’t have to go to School the next day. That was the nicest thing about it all they said. “You played with your friends at night”. Sheila could remember before she moved into a house with a garden she used to have to go to the street shelter. “It was brick built and you’d be there at 2am playing games with your friends. Then you’d go home and go to bed and you didn’t have to go to School the next day”. Life was pretty exciting for us children both Sheila and Edna agreed, but it was dreadful for parents, especially Mothers they said.

Sheila came from a big family she said, “There were 6 of us, hence our rationing was much better. We got a big piece of cheese for example and Mother could be a bit more inventive”.

Sheila also recalled when she used to go and get nylons off Mike and Bernie Winters stall on Norwich market. “We used to pay coupons and some of the nylons were expensive so I used to say ‘will you buy some of my coupons?’ I think he used to give me one and sixpence for a coupon. My Mother used to say ‘of course you can have lots of coupons.’ She was always pregnant and of course you got some coupons for baby clothes. My Mother was very good and always kept the terry nappies ready for the next one so she didn’t always have to use the coupons. I remember Mike and Bernie Winters used to buy our coupons and I remember then we used to go to dances at the Samson and Hercules to enjoy ourselves”.

Sheila remembered Edna going out with an American, he was very handsome. Edna said “Everyone thought it was my friend Peggy Bean that married him, but in fact it was me. We don’t know what happened to Peggy Bean, she lived in Victoria Street. I lived in America for 18 years and had 4 children. We moved back here, since then we have parted and he has died. I have remarried, a very nice man.”

Sheila said, “I have been married for 54 years to the same model, he worked for British Rail and is now retired. We had 2 children, my Daughter married an American and now lives there. My Sister married an American from Lakenheath and my Son lives in Norwich.”

Nowadays sometimes Bignold School is used for car parking when the school is not open. Edna recalled going there with her Sister when she was over from America to have a look around once more. “We went into what was Mr. Stone’s classroom. It was exactly as it was 60 years ago, as it was when I was in it. The same old scrubbed floor, the desks were the same, the only thing that was missing were the inkwells, you see I was an ink monitor. On a Monday they had an ink monitor, I really wanted to be the ink monitor and put my hand up. One week I was chosen, the pens had little nibs. It’s so nice to be able to reminisce”.

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