The LDV, Railings And Carrots. This is the first in a series about The LDV, Home Guard and London 1940 ‘Stratagems’ Chambers Dictionary, offers terms to apply to Government chicanery, most of them apply at times of crisis, and never more than in 1940, when the LDV, the Local Defence Volunteers, was inaugurated. I believe… Continue reading WW2, 1940 to 41, in order, Stratagems
Category: WW2
WW2, 1939 to ’40, in order, Evacuation Part 2
Lewes – A Place Apart In retrospect there was something almost magical about the months I spent there. I was not aware of this at the time, I was often unhappy, but who is sublimely happy all the time, contrast gives colour. Lewes, the Town, was the hub, but it was really the district which… Continue reading WW2, 1939 to ’40, in order, Evacuation Part 2
WW2, 1939 to ’40. in order, Evacuation Part 1
Encyclopaedia, make no mention of Evacuation, which affected 5 million children, in June ’39, disrupted families whose children were dragged off into the depths of the country, but also the poor devils who had to look after them. Evacuation is a sort of two way mirror, showing each group how the other lived. Not all… Continue reading WW2, 1939 to ’40. in order, Evacuation Part 1
The London Blitz, Balham Tube Station
Under The Stairs As far as I was concerned I could never be bothered to get out of bed unless the bombing was so heavy my mother insisted and then she and I sat in the cupboard under the stairs. It was there that I witnessed real fear, almost to the point of terror for… Continue reading The London Blitz, Balham Tube Station
Blitz
The Guns I came home from evacuation in time for the blitz on London, so all the hassle of evacuation was totally negated, except it had been an incredible experience and I had learned more about life in one year than I would have in three or four, at home. At the time, among the… Continue reading Blitz
The Chiefs Course And Beyond
Isle Of Man, Two, A careless death The second visit to the Isle of Man was an entirely different experience, we were now Petty Officers with the privileges that entailed. The work if anything was harder, and the sets we were learning were much more sophisticated and in some cases as big as a small… Continue reading The Chiefs Course And Beyond
Secondary School Part 1
Oxbridge and ex-Public School staff ran our school on Public School lines – as closely as one could for a day school. We had PT every day, vaulting over boxes, doing running somersaults, walking the high beam and everything one can imagine doing in a fully equipped gymnasium, including a shower afterwards. We played seasonal… Continue reading Secondary School Part 1
Glenlea And The Doodle-bug
My mother was living in a house called Glenlea in Dulwich. It was a huge house standing within its own grounds and had been taken over by whatever Department of the War Office was responsible for receiving, training and returning Dutch escapees from German occupied Holland, who wished to become saboteurs and Resistance Fighters. A… Continue reading Glenlea And The Doodle-bug
Cluttons 3 of 3
Following on from items Cluttons 1 and 2, I write this because it highlights the differences between business in the late Victorian era, my time there, and today Aspirations outstripped resources, and I had ideas beyond my station, like going to the theatre. In London, at lunch time I would rent a folding seat, at… Continue reading Cluttons 3 of 3
Clement Atlee On Epsom Downs
Those of the Television Era would not appreciate the shock of misconception suffered when brought face to face with a politician whose appearance and mien have been conjured from only newspaper articles, radio interviews and radio comment, when there was no TV. Recently, all we see is the top few of our leaders and their… Continue reading Clement Atlee On Epsom Downs