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We arrived in Coventry on the afternoon of the night of the April blitz to find squatters attempting to live in what appeared to be our empty house. My father, who had arrived in the previous November was in the city on the night of the November blitz and saw the devastation of Coventry Cathedral. We livedin a suburb between two aircraft factories, Whitley and Baginton and spent many nights in the Anderson shelter the parents and neighbours had dug. The baby in a washing basket, me in a siren suit and father and the neighbour standing guard outside and watching bombers showering the two factories. One night they both did rugby dives into the shelter with shrapnel scattering everywhere as a small bomb landed outside the front of the house blowing off the gate. It was quite common to walk to school and find that there was a gaping hole where a house had been. The cameradie was exceptional and as a child I enjoyed wartime parties with home made fun. Food parcels arrived for us from Canada and at school we had wonderful cocoa powder mixed with sugar as a treat. This helped to make the frozen milk, thawing by the Tortoise stove a little more palatable. We also had to have our feet measured from time to time so that more clothing coupons could be allocated. Such a pity that I was so small, especially as I take size 7 now! Down the middle of our road was a bank of trees, grass and bushes which was our playground, but at intervals there were the "dustbins" which were lit at night and hopefully covered the area in a pall of thick black smoke. The smoke screens that were to divert the enemy bombers from the factories. They were the bane of most mothers' lives as we all got covered in soot. Many years later when I was living overseas I was talking about the smoke screen when the man I was talking to calmly said"I invented those"! As a child I knew no better than the war years and am only too pleased that my grandchildren are growing up without all the deprivations even if they have modern problems to contend with. Life in COventry was always interesting if at times precarious and friendships made then lasted for ever.

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