Philip's experience

- Born in 1938, one of 10 children.
- At the time Germany was bombing the streets, and not many people had air raid shelters.
- One of his neighbours had an Anderson shelter in her back garden in Cardiff and invited the family over during the air raid.
- They were all squashed into a tiny shelter with 25 other children, which was a scary situation to be in.
- Sometimes, land mine bombs were dropped 100 yards from him.
- Every window broke in the street and his sister was blown out of her shoes, and everyone's house was filled with broken glass.
- In 1941 children were being killed by the bombs, but by 1945 children were given gas masks and shelters were built in schools, giving more of a sense of security.
- On D Day, American soldiers would toss him chewing gum from their trucks as they drove past cheering.
- Rationing was hard, all the way until 1950. You were only allowed one egg per person a month!
- Spam would be sent from the Americans, along with dried egg powder. This was a staple during the 1940s.
- German prisoners were forced to work in farms across Cardiff.
- Philip was 6 when the war ended. When declared, there was a blackout for safety and then when the lights came back on, celebrations began. It was such a joyous moment.
- Philip lost two cousins and a grandfather who was a PoW.
- His family was directly affected by the War. He recalls that babies didn't have gas masks but would instead by put into containers, which was very difficult for a mother with 10 children.
- Although food, clothing and everything else was rationed, people just got used to it and carried on.
- There were 5 grammar schools in Cardiff in the 1940s, 4 of which were bombed along with 2 cathedrals.
- Glamorgan street was completely obliterated.
- Air raid sirens went off most nights which was eerie and very scary, leading to a lot of sleepless nights for children and especially their parents.
- Barrage balloons were in the sky to protect against low flying planes attempting to drop bombs.
- The Moscow Dynamo football team came to Wales to play Cardiff City and won 10-1