My First 9 Years

I love my home town of Dorking. I was born there in Lincoln Road in July 1939, five weeks before the start of WW2. We played in the street and used people's gate posts for rounders bases as there was not a car in sight. We roamed for miles in the beautiful surroundings and to the top of Boxhill as well games of tracking with arrows chalked along the many footpaths and alley ways. I attended Pixham school from August 1944 (holidays were shorter during the war) and spent long hours in the air raid shelter when the 'doodlebug' V1 flying bombs were coming over thick and fast. In spite of this they were such happy times because we knew no different and took all the war restrictions - blackouts, sweet rationing, air raids etc in our stride.

In 1945 at the end of the war we had our Victory party and the street lamps eventually came on again after years of blackout. Now, in my seventies, I still feel the regular need to return to the place of my birth.