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Chapter 2. - Just After The Beginning.

The next bit of "my" war does not seem to form narrative in my mind, but various bits stand out though in no particular order.

The first bombs to fall on Bristol demolished a house(houses) just below the eye-hospital and people flocked to see the site, but this was long before the blitz, of which much more later.

Rationing really began to bite, and I took to using saccharins in my drinks so that Dad could still have sugar, though only very little, in his tea.

The young men, and some not so young, were "called up" and left the office but we carried on the day to day work just as well without them! Though for MUCH less money of course.

I continued enjoying singing in the choir, a great privilege as I now realize, and got well used to receiving postcards asking me to turn up at various studios for rehearsals and recordings of a wide variety of music. I took all this a a matter of course and only realized the uniqueness of my experiences many years later. The studios were housed in many places such a Church Halls and one, to which I never went, was in the old Rocks Railway, carved into the rock from the Portway to St.Vincent's (Parade?). I suppose this was the most secure of them all.

One vivid memory is of Arthur Askey( very short, very funny comedian, for those too young to know) on guard duty among the sand-bags outside the B.B.C. Headquarters in Whiteladies Road, just above the St.Paul's Road traffic lights. His rifle plus bayonet were as tall if not taller than he was.

Many windows were covered with net, stuck on in the vain hope that glass splinters would be contained in the event of an explosion. and some shop windows had cruciform steel braces, in the vain hope that expensive plate-glass would not shake to pieces. Actually in the blitz many of these braces remained in situ but the glass was shattered. On the tube trains the net was particularly sturdy and diamond shaped holes were left for people to peer out of to ascertain what station they were at - cartoon type posters were put up showing someone trying to scrape the net away and the wording was " I hope you'll pardon my corretion. That net is there for your protection."

We all had to carry our gas-masks at all times and at first we all carried them in the cardboard box, slung with a piece of string
( so elegant!) but very soon smarter versions of container appeared. When wearing the gas-mask one's breath forced its way out near the ears with a far from polite noise. The air came in via the 'elephant's trunk' filters, which were added to early in the war with an extra portion taped on to the end. Torches and bicycle-lights had to be dimmed by two, or was it three(?),layers of tissue-paper and vehicle's head-lights had metal covers with a small slit, hooded for the length of the slit, no street lights of course. I am glad I was not driving then, walking about at night had hazards enough!

And so to the BLITZ!!!

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