Childhood Memories pt.2

Whilst in infants’ school, as a precationary measure, we were allocated to nearby houses to be cared for until collected, in the event of the school being bombed. We had to remember the name of the lady of the house and be sure that we knew to which house we had been allocated.

From very early in the war, all street lighting was closed down whether by electricity or gas. Likewise, all vehicles had their headlamps shrouded by a box shaped cowl, which severely limited the amount of forward illumination of the road. All sidelights had to be extinguished and during an air raid all traffic had to pull into the roadside and stop, then switch off all lights and extinguish cigarettes. Air Raid Patrol (ARP) wardens had been recruited. These people had a responsibility of patrolling certain roads and checking that no house switched on any light withought having put up effective blackout features. Ours consisted of wooden frames covered in thick brown paper with a fabric cover overall. These would be put up as soon as an air raid siren sounded and then the curtains would be closed. If any chink of light showed through them a voice would be heard bellowing from outside “Put that light out there!”. The warning that a raid was imminent was made by a device mounted in a prominent location that was obviously switched on and off every 4 or 5 seconds making a very loud wailing noise. The “All clear” sound was a long continuous wail.

I was never afraid of air raids because I had not at that time seen the consequences of them. However, if I heard an aircraft noise at night I would always shout to my mother,”Mam, is it one of ours?”. The answer was always “Yes”. How did she know? I didn’t have to ask if the air-raid siren was sounded.

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