1937-1945 My Years!

Born in 1937 and just two at the outbreak of war and only eight on VE day my memories are less than complete. I have watched with enjoyment the videos on this site and know I can add nothing to the facts. However I pen these brief notes to recall some distant memories that have stuck in my mind.

The most dramatic was the violent awakening when my mother seemed to crash on top of me in our downstairs room. I think this was in 1943. We were sleeping on the ground floor as there had been an air raid warning. What had happened was a sting of incendiaries had landed along Latimer Road. Not one went off and it was surmised, later, that the enemy plane was running for home and jettisoned his load of bombs to ensure a speedier flight. There were a number of craters along the road and one bungalow, two doors down from us, had a bomb penetrate outside the front door. The bomb then turned up and stuck its nose in the living room! It was said that not all of the bombs were found and it was believed there was one in the cressbeds as yet unexploded. Is it still there?

After the war my friends and I were delighted to have a “play” headquarters. This was my grandfather’s air raid shelter. This was properly constructed and was just underground. I can still remember the dankness and musty smell but, lit with a few candles, it made a wonderful play area. It was a place that had been used. On one occasion (I can only remember one) we all went down and did hear the crump of a bomb. It turned out to be an oil bomb that landed in my grandfather’s field about 200 yards away – no damage.

As my parents had chickens I do not remember any great privations although I can recall the excitement of the first banana after the war. I walked to school but recall being frightened by an air raid siren (on the Moor) wailing away after I was half way to Waterside primary. It turned out to be the “all clear” - a steady note - so was able to continue.

I do remember VE day but not for the celebrations. My father (an ambulance driver in the war) was in the garage business at the time so had access to a car and, more importantly, petrol. He decided to take us up to Trafalgar Square for the celebrations. We got into Northumberland Avenue where we managed to have a puncture. It took a long time to fix it so we came home tired but still cheerful that the war was all over. We never made it to Trafalgar Square

Brian Pratt