London

My War Years 1939-1945 (Part 2 1942-1945)

In January my son Michael was born, Joe was in India and Burma. It took Michael some time to realise who...

A War-Time Evacuee

All were older than him and his two sisters, Betty and Maggie Harrison, who were about 9 or 10 at the time,...

From Peckham to Northampton - an Evacuee's Story

I then attended the local village school and eventually took the 11+ and gained a place at a grammar school...

Just another Little Boy - an evacuee story

We all went to the site of where the V2 had fallen and pulled out all the timber from the rubble. We then made a giant bonfire in the middle of the road...

Dot's Memories: In the Land Army and during the London Blitz

One dance we went to at a Naval Camp and going up to the gate in the dark a Sentry challenged us...

A Teacher's Memories of the Netting Industry

I reported at Bournemouth and they said 'Oh, you're wanted in Bridport in the Materials Section, so...

Bombed in the Blitz

My sister and her husband lost their home and all their belongings in the bombing of the previous week. My...

In the London Blitz

My family lived in Leytonstone, in outer east London... We travelled by Green Line coach, part of the...

War Service - Southern Railway 1942-1946

So I was given a card and told to report to Feltham railway depot... I found that the railway stories of...

Training for "Phantom" 1944-5

A feature of our life in Richmond Park was the German assault on London with flying bombs, V 1 s or...

A Canadian's Experience of War

Another part of my life in the war was having fun, because we were very well paid; there were not that many...

Surviving a Direct Hit from a V1 'Doodlebug'

We were evacuated to North Norfolk not only because we were homeless, but because it was considered a safe...

Doodlebug on my doorstep: In London

Bombs still dropped with persistent regularity over the city of London and other places but the British...

Gus and Rene's War

Gus Krayer and Rene Shodken got married on 25 August 1940, knowing Gus was about to be called up....

Vera Lynn Saved My Life

September 1940: Phoney Sunsets, Falling Bombs and Appendicitis

The docks in the East End of London had been seriously bombed. And at the beginning of September 1940, the...

Beryls Story

Beryl's College was evacuated to Birmingham and also many parents sent their children to the Lake...

When War Broke Out: Gas Masks and Siren Suits in London and Shrewsbury - and Some Special Privileges

When War Broke Out: Gas Masks and Siren Suits in London and Shrewsbury - and Some Special Privileges....

Memories of a Teenage Wartime

We left Catford station at 9.30 that Saturday and finally ended up at Ashford station about 12.30 where we...

Wartime Parenting

There was Brownies, shrapnel in the garden after an air raid and I was free to go to the British Restaurant...

Nine year old Londoner

We were, of course, moved from Sussex as we were beneath the paths of German bombers on their way to and...

From Bricklayer to Fireman: On the 'Blue Watch' at Tooting Fire Station

We drove these cabs back to the main fire station....

The V-2 Long range Rocket

Shortly after the Chiswick incident further explosions began to occur in other parts of London, mainly in...

A Charmed Life: Evacuation from London to Godalming and Back Again

At the outbreak of the Second World War, my father, Edwin Pearson, was three years old and living with my...

A London Childhood and Devon Evacuation

We left from a London station and before we left, my mum said to me, ‘Make sure you look after your...

A Bermondsey Boy's War

For the rest of the time we boys were out collecting shrapnel, nose-caps and shell cases for salvage; also...