| I was born
(now, there's a novelty). I was not consulted about the location of this event;
the government of the time decided to send my shy, 20 year old mum from London
to Hertfordshire - Hemel Hempstead, to be precise. This was due to the fact
that Mr.Hitler was doing his best to wipe London off the map. |
| Had anyone
bothered to ask ME, I would have chosen Essex. I have lived in this much
maligned county since I was six years old and consider myself to be a true
"Essex girl" and proud of it. The date of this momentous event was the 14th of
October 1940 Fans of Cliff Richard will know that he was born on the same day,
a fact that my Dad never let me forget. Each birthday I would receive a call
saying "how come I got you instead of Cliff Richard" - I think he was joking.
As Mum and I were re-evacuated to Shropshire after two weeks I have no
allegiance to the place of my birth, which happened to be a former workhouse
converted into a maternity hospital. |
| According to
my mum life on a remote farm in Shropshire was no fun. There were two young
boys evacuated there and their lives were miserable. |
| My dad, in
common with most dads of the time, was in the army - the Royal Artillery. When
I was one year and two months old he was sent on " holiday" to Singapore. The
Japanese kindly allowed him to stay as their guest for the next three and a
half years. He must have liked it there as he helped them to build a railway.
(Do you know that the Japanese invented a diet at that time? It was called
"STARVATION" guaranteed to reduce the weight of anyone to approximately five
stones) I cannot pretend that I remember too much of the war. We spent most of
it in Hackney, London where I was completely spoiled by my mum's younger
brother and sister. They had lots of friends and, as I was the only child most
of them knew, I did not go without. |
| However, my
mum certainly knew what it was like to be poor. We lived on the second floor
above a shop, situated on a very busy road. We had two rooms, an old cooker on
the landing and a bucket. (Use your imagination as to the use that this was put
to) |
| A passing bomb
killed my grandad as he was sitting on a bus. As I was only three at the time
it did not have much effect on me. |
| As the schools
were fairly empty I was lucky enough to start two days after my 4th birthday. I
loved it. I had never played with other children before and I revelled in
learning. School in 1944 was nothing like today. I had to walk there & back
each morning, lunchtime and afternoon but, occasionally, Mum and I caught the
No. 6 bus to Orchard School. I can still recall proudly asking the conductor
for "a three ha'pence and a penny, please" (that's a total of one new
penny). |
| I had a slate
and chalk to write with and was allowed to play in the hall on bikes and
scooters etc a couple of times a week. What a luxury! No one had such toys at
home, not that we missed them, you can't miss things that you never had, and
nobody had very much. I didn't miss having a dad, either. As no one had a dad I
was not deprived in any way. |
| I remember one
Christmas, at that infant school, when all of the children had to pull a piece
of paper from a hat, if it was marked with a T you got a small present, if it
was blank - hard luck. Mine was blank but there was one present left over, I
got this as I had played the fairy godmother in the Christmas show. It was a
football rattle. Can you imagine this happening today? Discrimination, I hear
you cry! It was just accepted then. Ironically, we lived over a bike and
toyshop. Many's the time that mum had to return the dolls I had asked Mr McCall
for. I did have a dolly; it had belonged to my aunt since she was 5. Along with
the teddy my grandad had bought me, they were proudly pushed round in the
orange-box pram Grandad had made. Those were the days! |
| Other memories
from those days: jitterbugging in the downstairs room at Nan's house, with my
aunt, uncle and friends, accumulators - no, not backing the gee gees -
accumulator batteries that made the wirelesses go. They had to be exchanged
regularly at the hardware shop and handled very carefully as they were filled
with acid. The wireless was the main source of entertainment. Little
recollections : my Uncle George in the outside lavatory when a bomb dropped
nearby and blew the door off, mum taking me to paddle in the River Thames, my
aunt Elsie disowning me for swearing in the cinema. (I don't really remember
this but have often been told about the occasion.) I was the smallest
bridesmaid at the wedding of my Dad's cousin when I was 4 and again to a couple
of Elsie & George's friends, Edna and Joe Robinson, when I was 5. I wore
pink dresses both times. |
| Before I
continue with my life I must mention the circumstances surrounding the meeting
of my Mum and my Dad. As I mentioned before, mum was a very shy, pretty girl,
with auburn hair. She was on her own, watching a parade in London, when this
flash bloke picked her up, LITERALLY, to help her to see (he said). She was at
the front of the crowd at the time. Still, I'm glad he was forward or else I
would not be writing this! |
| The war was
over; my Dad returned six months later to our two rooms in Hackney. Life
suddenly became very different. I was no longer the centre of the world, my
Dad, a complete stranger, was ill, disturbed, confused and wanted to take his
rightful place in the family. I had shared my mum's bed since I grew out of the
cot; this man wanted his bed back. At five years old I had no idea why! |
| Then,
startling news, there was going to be a new baby. Instinctively I hated it.
Fortunately this notion did not last and I loved my brother from the moment I
saw him. |
| Six and a half
and a completely new life was about to begin. |
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