A Child of the 1939 to 1945 War

I was born in Woolwich, south London, in 1929. In the first days of September 1939 my father (my mother had died in the previous February) took me to Winchester, where my aunt lived, “to be away from the bombing”. The headmaster of my first school asked, “Are you sure you belonged to the ‘London County Council’?” (To be able to receive monies from where I came). “Yes”, said I. “London County Council, was stamped on the pencils we used”. A very lonely time for a little boy.

During May and June 1940 I remember so many British and French soldiers arriving at Winchester Railway Station. As schoolboys we went to view. They had survived the Dunkirk evacuation and were to be housed in the the local army camps. On Christmas Day of 1941 I would looked out of the window of where I lived, High Street, Winchester, to see so many Canadian soldiers, nowhere to go. I felt very sorry for them, I still do, in a foreign land. I know now they were the raiding force of the 2nd Canadian Division (and British commandos) for the Dieppe assault on the French port. 3670 casualties from a force of 7000. But valuable planning for ‘D’Day. My uncle told me he listended to ‘Lord Haw Haw, traitor, broadcasting from Berlin. He told of a large British ship which had been sunk! During WWII the head-dress of sailors only showed ‘HMS’ no name. The ship which had been ‘sunk’ was a training establishment which was shown on sailors’ headdress (hat).

As the bombing became less in 1942 I returned to Blackheath (London) to live with my sister. I joined the 2nd Company, West Kent Battalion of the Boys Brigade. When the V1 rockets came and I was delivering newspapers, early morning, one could hear when the motor stopped. The rocket was due to land/dive and much damage, I would stop in a doorway.. A number of my comrades from the Boys Brigade died on such occasions. When the V2s (no sound until they hit, so fast) came, my sister thought, …”this is the end….She took some bedsheets. She had married in 1940, her husband was now away with the RAF Regiment. As was the custom the sheets were mark with the initial of their surname, maybe a wedding present. At least something would be kept from her home. We went to Dursley, Gloucestershire, to friends. I worked on a farm part time. Later I worked full time on a farm in Peters Marland, north Devon. My father visited at Christmas 1944 and brought his sugar ration. In May 1945 I returned to commence an apprenticeship as a dental technician in Woolwich. On VE day (Victory in Europe). I was given a day off work! Everywhere so much damage, darkness and gloom. But Londoners,

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