Living In Stratford During The London Blitz 1940 41

A Memory of West Ham.

I remember living at no 41, Louise Road, Stratford E15, during the Blitz, and attending Water Lane School. At school each day as the teacher called out our names for Attendance, I noticed how each day the class became less and less. We were encouraged to have lunch at school (if our mums could afford it), fortunately for me mine could, but for my little friend Chris had to go home each lunchtime to have his meal, it was on one such occasion there was an air aid and my friend never came back, his house took a direct hit. I never knew his surname but I knew his street. There is still a gap in that road, where the bomb landed, even to this day. I remember each morning walking to school and picking up pieces of shrapnal so we could swap at school, playing 'Fag Cards' in the playground, seeing how far one could flick the card, cards, all cigarette cards, Players, Turf, Wills, Woodbines, you would of course find the cheats, who often stuck two cards together. I remember seeing the German P.O.W's repairing the roads, they often gave us sweets and gum while the guard turned his head, they always waved to us, and we did the same. My aunt lived at number 18 Louise Road, and my uncle Tom was a train driver, also the local fire warden. Most people were in uniform in those days. My mother always did her shopping at Maryland Point, Druce's I think the shop was called. I often spent time in the old Stratford Library, and on the way home along Water lane I would pop into the greengrocer's for a carrot to munch on (as we were always hungry) and of course eating carrots gave you better night vision, according to 'Cats' Eyes Cunningham', the famous night fighter pilot, I was still believing this even in my 40s. Then at playtime we would watch the Hurricanes and Spitfires fighting in the skies above, watching all the hundreds of German planes turning and heading back from whence they came after dropping their bombs on the London Docks, which was just down the road. I also remember listening on the radio to Valentine Dyall ('The Man in Black') talking, he was so scary that you were too afraid to move, this was when my mother was far too busy attending to my brother and sister. We all had to sleep under the kitchen table in those days, as we didn't have an air raid shelter. I also remember our next door neighbour, a Mrs Theaobold, who had so many cats, and she would call each cat by name. Some say 'those good old days.'