Memories of the War - Childhood in Leamington Spa

I was a child growing up in Leamington during the war. My father was a fireman and was helping with the Coventry Blitz. He had fought in the trenches in France during the First World War, and his brother was killed in action. Many friend's homes in Coventry were destroyed and some moved to Leamington with my family.

At my junior school, there were shelters in the playground. It was frightening when the sirens went off. At home, we had to hide in the cellars under the house. We had to carry gas masks because of the fear of a gas attack. One day when my sister was in town she was suddenly asked to lie down on the ground for half an hour because there was a plane shooting bullets.

When the American soldiers were here the Council asked if families would take them in to make them feel at home. My family made lots of American friends and we enjoyed talking to them. They brought us American-tinned foods.

Growing up this period seemed fun in some ways, but not the bombing. There were some regrets when the Americans left.