Memories of the Bacon Family

My brother, Allan Bacon, is on the board of directors for the Friends of The Canadian War Museum. He writes articles for them, and all the evidence provided relates to his time in Brighton during WWII. Currently 86 years old, he has lived in Canada for over 40 years.

My brother lived in a small road in Brighton, No 62 Richmond Building, 2 up 2 down, with a toilet at the end of the garden. On Friday nights, it was bath night, and all six of us shared the same bath water.

He attended Sussex St Infants' School in 1941 (at reception age 5). Every day, they had lessons where they had to wear gas masks, which they carried everywhere with them in small cardboard boxes. During air raids, he would go to the shelter under the playground.

My father, Edward Charles Bacon, received his call-up papers during the war. He can remember that the street up the hill from where we lived was severely damaged, the brewery at the end of the street was hit, and the local cinema was badly damaged. During the raid, he sat on the sidewalk with a friend who was hurt. The raid was a 'hit and run raid' with no air raid siren.

His earliest memory is from February 23rd, 1940, when my mother was making my birthday cake for the following day. The postman arrived to deliver my father's summons for military service. He remembers Mum bursting into tears and running to the place where Dad worked, a wholesale grocery warehouse. He reported for duty with the Royal Engineers on March 5th, 1940.

He had 10 days of training with the army before leaving for France. Between May 27th and June 4th, he was evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk. He was posted to the School of Military Engineering in Ripon, Yorkshire, where he taught a variety of skills, including bridging, demolitions, map reading, and later in the war, escape and evasion skills to RCAF bomber crews serving with Bomber Command 6 Group.

As a Salvation Army family, we took turns hosting a German prisoner of war named Johann, who came for meals on Sundays with us. He had served with the Wehrmacht in Germany. One of the most treasured memories was having meals with him. My brother has a wooden tank made by Johann.

They have left a much longer typed account of this, which they have left for us as an artefact. Copies of photographs have also been given to support this story.