Canada Road Primary School

A Memory of Deal.

Are there any pupils out there who went to Canada Road Primary School. Walmer, Deal. Kent, U.K. in the War years of 1941 to '45? The Headmaster's name was Mr Morris, and his favourite saying was: 'Open your books to page 43, and I don't want to hear another word out of you'. He then promptly nodded off to sleep, whilst we threw out 'nibbed' pens into the wooden ceiling, or tried dipping the hair of the girl in front into the ink well! On one occasion, I remember, during an air raid, whilst down in the shelter, getting married at the age of five, can't remember the name of that young girl, but we did have a best man and of course had to 'kiss the bride'. A favourite place to visit was the 'sweet shop' just across from the playground. On entering, the bell above the door gave a great ring and this kind elderly lady saw to our every need, from licorice root (those pieces of wood, that when you chewed them, they turned yellow), and licorice sucking sticks in a sherburt powder! As a child I lived in Havelock Road, Walmer. I remember the yellow nosed meshasmitts cannon shelling our street, and standing up on top of a dustbin with Mr Allan's wooden rifle and aiming at the canopy of the plane, they were so close you could see the pilot. One boy, John Heard who lived near the bottom of Havelock Road, had just left the outside toilet when a cannon shell went through the toilet wall and shattered the woodedn seat. They kept the shell and had it mounted! Those war years with the air raids, search lights, doodlebugs, and explosions, the 'all clear' sirens, and the smell of cordite, bombed out buildings, etc. will always remain in my memory. One regret I have is that I cannot remember being evacuated to Wales, to a place called Treharris (not sure of the spelling) and I think my sister, who is older than me, went to Cumbran. Well hope there are still some old class mates out there, and I would love to hear from you. Kindest Regards from John Ford (now living in New Zealand).

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