Essex

Red Sky over Coventry

Just after this I was told that the red sky we could see a long way in the distance from London was...

At School in Coggeshall and then onto War…

When I left school I started work at Crittalls in Braintree and I biked there from Coggeshall... At 13 I...

Meeting Les for the First Time

Ernie's close friend Les was feeling a bit down because Ernie was being draughted home Les and Ernie...

A child's journey

Unfortunately the house that we went to was cold and damp and the very next day my mother took us all back...

Missing out on the 11+ in Stratford

On the second of September 1939, my sister and I boarded a train at Stratford and travelled to Colchester...

Working as a Hairdresser

Dancers was a large store with both a barbers and a hairdressers selling expensive cosmetics by Elizabeth...

My Cinema

John Jackson - My Cinema During my teens, when the war started I made my own cinema... I used to give a...

A Bank Clerk's War

There was a great shortage of petrol and whereas in the past it had been normal for trips to be made to...

Childhood Memories: In Bedfordshire and Essex

When my Mum and Dad were living in London in Brixton in a top floor flat two doors away from us a...

I Was Pulled From The Rubble

They say I was very close to grandma, she thought the world of me... My first recollection and I can...

Childhood Memories in Coggeshall

My parents ran the pub, The Toll House in Coggeshall which was a really lively place to live. The Americans...

the doodle-bug

In a small copse opposite Crosswyas was a small army camp and a little further away, about 300 yards, there...

Robinson Crusoe

I was performing in the pantomime Robinson Crusoe at the Ilford Hippodrome with Rene Huston and I was one...

Squad Number!

Tucked away in a corner of this vast arena stood the squad of about twenty Officer Cadets under the command...

Memories from World War 2 in Coggeshall

The 3 children had got whooping cough and Aubrey, my son coughed so much that I wasn't able to get him...

Home Visit

During this time my mother and I were living at a small cottage in Braintree, located between the railway...

Fact or Fiction?

The scene is set for the final act in "Swan Lake". A lone dancer is on stage to bring to a close...

Thundrous boots: Air Raid in Halstead

It looked like a factory that had just been painted with shiny reflective paint.I was just telling my...

Evacuation: From Leyton to Brentwood

I was evacuated from Leyton London to Brentwood on the 1st of sept 1939... The engine did'nt stop and...

Wedding at the Outbreak of war

On October 21st 1939, Dick Wilkins and his young lady Muriel Keys, were married at the little Elim Church...

When Unexpected Guests Dropped In

Mum and Dad were caretakers at the Church Hall, where lots of other activities took place during the week....

Wartime Memories as a Child

It was Friday evening the 14th February 1941, I lived with my parents in a cottage at the rear of some...

A Frightening Moment: V1 in Dagenham

The V1 had landed at the bottom of the gardens on the other side of the road and the explosion had blown...

Under the Table

Because she was pregnant with me my mother was evacuated to Wales in order to vacate her away from the East...

No Joke

As a 13 year old, listening to Mr Chamberlain 's eleven O'clock broadcast on September 3rd 1939, I...

Away From the Bombing

My father was working on extensions to the airfield at Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire which was quite peaceful...