Derrinton Road

A Memory of Tooting.

This is where my mother and I lived with my Nan during WWII. We lived at number 234. I remember the Morrison shelter under the window, and that I used to climb up on top of it, switch the radio on and use it as a stage and dance and sing along with the music from programmes like Family Favourites and Workers Playtime.

My mother went to work and my father was in the RAF so most of the time it was just me and my Nan. She didn't always come into the shelter when the siren sounded even though I called out to her. She would say she was busy and would lean over the sink in the kitchen! One day a doodle bug came quite near and we felt the blast, the kitchen window got blown in and some of the glass went into Nan's legs.

We used to go down to the brewery each week to get some yeast in a jam jar, the doctor had asked them to supply it to her to help with some condition she had, I used to like having some at the same time and this worried her, but the doctor said it was OK.