My War Years: Norwich

I was born on the 25th february 1937. My mother Ivy Royal,Dad Harry,and brother Tony lived in a small terraced house in Lothian street Norwich.Our back garden was directly behind the Regal Cinema,which was on Dereham road.
When war broke out in september 1939 things were rather quiet at first,then street lights were turned off,blackout was the law.We had to stop all light showing from our houses after dark. The air raid sirens were tested often,causing a loud wailing noise to fill the whole city. Church bells no longer rang, they were only to be used if we were invaded.Dad who had been discharged from the Royal Army Medical Corps collected gas masks that had to bee kept with us at all times.I was given a Micky Mouse one,with two large eye glasses,and a flat rubber nose that made a rasberry noise when breathing out.
Later we had an Anderson air raid shelter delivered.This consisted of corrigated sheets of steel that had to be bolted together.An oblong hole about nine feet long by six foot wide,and four foot deep was dug in the garden.The shelter was then constructed in the hole,with the soil from the hole placed on top and around the shelter.This was later to become a real life saver.
The first attack on Norwich took place on 9th July 1940.26 people lost thear lives.More attacks that mounth took another fourteen lives.On average there was one alert a day for the next four years a total of 1,443.
Life became much worse for us with the rationing of food,and clothes.Lack of sleep was also taking its toll,as most nights we were awaken by the sound of the siren.Mum would take us from our beds,and outside to the shelter,alldone in the dark of night.Dad constructed wooden bunk beds in the shelter.We would then,at bed time go to the "dug out"as we called it,stopping off at the outside toilet,which was not very pleasantin the cold and darkness.Toilet paper was the local Evening News torn into small squares,and hung from string on the back of the toilet door.After climbing down into the shelter we shut the wooden door, lit the night light,and put on our night clothes.We were then able to get a fairly good nights sleep.At first I found this quite exciting sleeping in the Dug out instead of in the house.However this excitement was not to last,as real fear set in.Mum would try to cumfoft me during the raids whith me being physically sick.
The summer of 1942 was for us the climax of the war,for on the night of Monday the 27th of April between 25&30 German bombers dropped 185 heavy bombs plus incendiaries on our city.That night marked my memory for life.Sitting in our shelter with Mum and Tony was one of the worst nights of my life.I can stillhear the drone of the enemy aircraft above us.The scream of the bombs as they fell.The hollow waking of the anti-aircraft guns ,as they fired at the bombers,and the ear shattering explosionsas the bombs struk all around us.Through the gap under the door the ground was orangefrom the glow of flares and firethat raged about us.At 1.25am the noise and tremor slackened and died,then the long wail of the "All Clair"sounded.Within 48hs,and almost the sametime of night the raiders were back.Anti Aircraft Guns once more thundered out.112 bombs fell that night,mostly on the area that was devastated in the previouse raid.This time however,after the All Clair we climbed from the dug out amongst rubble strewn all about.Our home had been severely damaged,windows blown out,and a gapping hole in the roof.A sheet of steel that had hurtled though the air in a blast had sliced through my bed."God Bless Our Shelter".
With only the clothes we had onwe walked into the street.To our left the way was blocked by an unexploded bomb,and a raging fire.A policeman directed usinto Dereham road,then a London Fireman escorted us,crunching our way over rubble and glassto Old Palace road.After giving my bother and I some chocolate(what a treat),left us to continue our journey to our Grandmother Royal's,where we were given shelter. My life as an evacuee to come.

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