Searching for a gasmask

It was September 1938, Chamberlain went off to Munich to negotiate peace. Meanwhile in England, we were preparing for war. I was still at school and we were to be evacuated. We had already got our knapsacks, a blanket and an enamel mug to go. And then it was announced that we could not be evacuated unless we had a gas mask. The school was in the City of Westminster. But my friend and I lived in the Borough of Holborn. Westminster had distributed gasmasks, Holborn had not. And so, one morning, my friend and I started to go from one distribution post to another, begging for a gasmask so that we could be evacuated. We were fifteen, we were terrified, we did not know what was going to happen next. And we plodded round the two boroughs, Westminster and Holborn. And nobody, nobody would give us one. We just did not know what to do. It was a very hot day. And in the end, we got on a bus and went home. And I was just about to break my heart. My mother met me at the door. Its alright, she said. Its alright, Chamberlain's back. We've got peace. And all our efforts at getting a gasmask were forgotten. My mother celebrated the day by giving us some money. And by making my sister, my brother and I go down to the strand, to Jerome's the photographers, to have our photos taken. A year later, we were at war.

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