Wartime memories

I remember that fateful Sunday morning in September 1939 when the announcement came through that the country was at war with Germany. My whole family had gathered around the radio to hear the news, and when it came we were all shocked into silence.Would we dare go out into the street? or were we to be bombed before we could venture outside? After the initial shock, we had to get back to normality.
In those days anyone over 18 was either called up into the forces or conscripted into war work. I was directed to work at the Air Ministry in Kingsway and the Group Captain I worked for was very much involved with the development of RADAR. The work was top secret and very important so I was not allowed access to the files however I'm sure the Group Captain made an important contribution to the war effort.
One day whilst working at the Air Ministry, I happened to change my lunch hour. When I arrived back at 1 o'clock, a bomb had dropped on Bush House opposite and the Red Cross were bringing the injured out on stretchers and placing them on the pavement awaiting the ambulances, I felt thankful for changing my lunch hour.
In the summer of 1940 I was travelling on the train from Bromley Kent to London and heard the rat tat tat of machine gun fire overhead - there was a "dogfight" going on between our planes and the Germans. We were all terrified but there was nothing we could do except hope we could get home safely. Needless to say the train kept moving.
On one particular day, Tuesday 8th October 1940 I arrived back at Charing Cross station to find that a bomb had landed on platform 4 at 8:40am that morning, just 12 minutes after I had left. There were over 200 casualties at the time. I also remember looking out of the window in my sister's house at Rainham Kent just as what appeared to be enormous flares went streaking across the sky. They were "buzz bombs" and we knew that unfortunately they were destined to drop their deadly loads somewhere over London.
At the height of the raids, some people were taking refuge in the Underground. They would carry blankets and pillows down to the platforms below and try to sleep the best way they could. The one and only time my family and I took refuge in Archway station, we arrived back home the next morning to find the front bay window of our house had been blown out by the blast of a nearby bomb. There was glass and debris everywhere - it was a very lucky escape.
Ther were many frightening moments during the war, but there was also a feeling of comradeship and a certain buzz of excitement among the young. At that time, Hammersmith Palais was the place to go. All the big bands performed there and I spent many a magical evening dancing to the wonderful music they played. Those were the good times, so it wasn't all bad. Lifelong friendships were made and many a romance started with a weekend leave.

Joan Hiscocks
23 November 2003

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