Wendy ran home through the streets of Bexleyheath with the air-raid siren wailing, her little gas mask box bumping against her hip. Just as she reached her front gate, a Spitfire spiralled out of the air and crashed into the school field at the end of the road. You never forget a moment like that. Growing up in Bexleyheath in the Second World War, bombs, air-raid sirens and fear were all Wendy had ever known. Here, through the eyes of a small child, we see family life on the Home Front in 1944 in its entirety from bombed-out houses to burnt potato peelings, from maths lessons and classroom antics to air-raid sirens and crashing planes. After the family slept through an air raid that destroyed the houses directly opposite, Wendy s parents decided it had become far too dangerous. Wendy, her sister Thelma and her brother Brian were evacuated to the Burnley area of Lancashire. Surrounded by a new accent, shining front steps and outdoor lavatories, this little girl felt a long way from home. However, the two women who took Wendy and her sister into their home helped her adjust to a new way of life. She remembers fondly the kindness of these women, as well as her other experiences as an evacuee: a new school, nits, chickens, gravy, and her first trip to the seaside. Wendy Appleton describes beautifully the memories that were imprinted so deeply on her young mind. As she discussed her recollections with her older brother and sister and started to write them down, everything came flooding back so much so that at times she was in tears. She is delighted to share within these pages the sights, songs and sounds of her wartime childhood.
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Format:Paperback
This is a well-written and easily read book dealing with the personal memories of Wendy Appleton who was living in Bexleyheath at the time of the V1 bombing raids in 1944, and then subsequently evacuated to Lancashire.
Covering many aspects of domestic life in late war-time Britain, Wendy describes the basic living conditions, the lack of food, and the trials and tribulations of spending nights in the family's damp Anderson shelter; an environment which was in direct comparison to the rather peaceful existence she had later with the two 'Aunts' in Padiham. Tinged with sadness at times, Wendy's memories are generally positive. Although it is a shame that she and her sister, Thelma, were not to see their hosts again. This would be a good read, not only for children wishing to gain some idea of what it was like to grow up in wartime Britain, some of whom would now find it surprising to hear about children drinking out of empty jam-jars and having baths in front of the fire, but also for adults who lived through the 1940s, and indeed the early 1950s, who can remember and empathise with some of the situations and products described here.
Covering many aspects of domestic life in late war-time Britain, Wendy describes the basic living conditions, the lack of food, and the trials and tribulations of spending nights in the family's damp Anderson shelter; an environment which was in direct comparison to the rather peaceful existence she had later with the two 'Aunts' in Padiham. Tinged with sadness at times, Wendy's memories are generally positive. Although it is a shame that she and her sister, Thelma, were not to see their hosts again. This would be a good read, not only for children wishing to gain some idea of what it was like to grow up in wartime Britain, some of whom would now find it surprising to hear about children drinking out of empty jam-jars and having baths in front of the fire, but also for adults who lived through the 1940s, and indeed the early 1950s, who can remember and empathise with some of the situations and products described here.
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