My Memories

I was 12 years old when the war started and stayed in Southampton right through it, I lived with my parents in Winchester Road, very near what was then the Childrens Hospital, my school ‘Shirley Avenue Private School’ was evacuated to Lymington, a year after the war started about, and as I was an
only child I beg my parents not to send me away, and they agreed, so I had private Shorthand and Typing lessons at home and worked in my Grandmothers office in Southampton. My Father had a business in Sussex Road, behind Above Bar, which was bombed twice at night luckily, but as my Father who was in the first world war was called up for service in the Aircraft factory as a skilled engineer, my Mother ran the business the best she could between the times in was bombed.
We had an Anderson shelter in the garden, but after bombs were dropped at the bottom on our garden, we then used to shelter under a very big old oak table under the stairs, many nights were spent up and down to the shelters, I remember one night when my mother and I got up and dressed so many times, and in the end went back and laid on the beds and in the morning woke up fulled dressed, hats coats gloves scarves etc still on.

One night when we had heavy bombing all round and the house just shook, in the morning my father had to go off to work at the Hamble factory and he looked round the house and thought everything was alright, but in the day light, there were big cracks down all the corners of the rooms, and then we found there was a time bomb in the vicinity and we had to leave, but a kind friend let us stay with her for 2 or 3 weeks, which meant we slept in arm chairs all that time, but were grateful for anything.

My Grandmother lived and had her business in Portland Street, and one day while I was there, there was an air raid and my Grandmother told me to go on to the shelter which was through the basement and under the pavement, and just as I was going through, a man in the street saw a bomb coming, he jumped down from the pavement and threw me into the shelter with him, as the bomb fell on the house opposite, without any doubt he saved my life, if only I knew who he was.

Although the war was on and the bombing, life had to go on, and as the time went by and I was then old enough to go dancing, I used to go to the Guildhall on a Saturday night, but many many times during the evening we had to rush to the shelters, and then at the end of the evening get a tram back to Shirley, or even if the bombing was too bad and the trams stopped running, I would walk home, which is something I don’t think anyone would do now.

Once I was old enough I started work with a firm, who had already been bombed out and were based in a private house in Shanklin Road, Shirley, and remember very vividly before the D-Day invasion, how there were lorries and tanks parked in every available spot in the area, they were there for days, firstly the English soldiers, then after they had all gone came the Americans.

Seeing your picture brought back memories of my Mother and I going down to Southampton to see if my Father business was still standing and having to walk over hose pipes and all the buildings on either side of Above Bar burning, not a pretty sight.

My Mother used to spend any time she could spare helping at the Forces Church Army Canteen at the Central Station, and I used to also after work and at the weekends and when the military trains came in, and there was not time for the troops to get out, we used to take urns of tea on to the station and fill there cans for them.

Then when VE day came at last, I remember dancing with thousands or so it seemed in the forecourt of the Civic Centre.

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