- Contributed by听
- Kent Libraries - Ashford District
- People in story:听
- Lorna Turner
- Location of story:听
- Wye, Kent
- Background to story:听
- Civilian
- Article ID:听
- A8820029
- Contributed on:听
- 25 January 2006
The following is an excerpt from a group reminiscence session held at Ashford Library on 3/11/05. It is added to the site with the participants' permission.
In 1942, I started school, with my little gas mask over my shoulder, feeling very frightened because just outside our house was the fire station with the siren, and through my childhood, the siren was alarmingly loud, being so close. The siren would go, and we would have to go into the shelters, where the teachers would sit us on these very narrow little forms inside the shelter. And we were having to sing, to try and keep bright, and eventually we would come out and resume lessons again.
Then in 1943, Wye was hit by a landmine that fell just beyond Wye church, but the force was so loud that it broke the windows in the church and we had a shock 鈥 a big plate-glass window was completely demolished, and the noise was huge. We also had a lift-up flap in our shop, and we had to go down to this very earthy-smelling cellar, which was quite frightening for one so small, and I would always think, well, you put the lid down on the cellar, how on earth are you going to get out if the house is bombed, and that was always a worry.
We had to give a lot of saucepans and stuff like that in, and an old tin bath we had to bathe in. That all had to go to help making aeroplanes. And they had collections, clean out all your saucepans and tin baths, and that all had to be sent out to make things for the war, aeroplanes and things like that.
I remember my father picking me up and the whole sky was covered in planes pulling gliders, and he held me in his arms, and said, 鈥淭here they go, there they go, all to save us. There they go, look, look.鈥 I didn鈥檛 know what that meant, but I could feel his excitement - holding me and pointing up to the sky.
I remember the street party that we had afterwards with all this jelly and all sorts of things that one didn鈥檛 see, and there was this big, big party, and we were all sitting out in the street. We were all given hats, I think red, white and blue little paper hats, or something like that. I remember how happy we all were at the end of it - it was wonderful, to think that all the worry had all finished, and we were having this great party.
Memories contributed by Lorna Turner and collected by Ashford Library Local Studies Service.
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