Childhood Wartime Memories of Enfield and Exeter

My father was in the Home Guard, and I saw little of him. We lived in Enfield, Middlesex. We had two shelters - the Anderson and the Morrison. I can remember seeing my father standing at the door of the Anderson shelter. I remember being there at night hearing the bangs.

We had a Big Bertha gun near us, which was frightening, and you could see the glow in the sky. My primary school, Chesterfield School, was bombed.

I believe the basic good food we ate during the war is responsible for our longevity and good health now. I didn't miss ice-cream and sweets because I never knew them - I was two when war broke out.

My husband was evacuated to a family in the Exeter area, to stay with his grandparents in a cottage with no electricity or water. His job was to get water from the pump outside. He went to bed with a candle and the toilet was outdoors.