Living In East Ham During The War

A Memory of East Ham.

I remember living in Rutland Road, Forest Gate in 1944, after being evacuated to Yorkshire, we lived at number 21 Rutland Road, my grandparents lived at no 19, and my uncle and aunt lived at no 17. There was a little penny drink shop just a few doors down, which very handy. I attended Monega Road School at first then to Shaftesbury Road School shortly afterwards. The Trebor sweet factory was still making sweets right through the Second World War and was situated on the corner of Shaftesbury Road and Katherine Road, my aunt worked there for many years. I made many friends there, and at school, where the old games were still being played out, like flicking cigarette cards, we were also still swapping shrapnal. We often lost our windows due to the 'Doodlebugs' (flying bombs) then later the V2s which you couldn't hear. We did our shopping in Green Street, and it was there when the cinema took a direct hit killing a policeman. I remember standing outside our house looking up towards the Trebor factory waiting for the 'sign' of the Union Jack to be hoisted telling the neighbourhood that the war was over, then the 1.00 o'clock news came on announcing that the war was over and up went the Union Jack. Not long afterwards my friends and I were searching old bombed out buildings for firewood for the street bonfire' that every street in England had I think, to mark the end of the war in Europe. My Uncle Joe was then still a prisoner on the Thai Burma railway under the Japanese, when eventually he came home he moved into a prefab in Manor Park.