When the war started I was three; five years of the war. We lived in Walthamstow. We went to Wales for a short period when dad was stationed. We lived in Walthamstow and we weren’t  evacuated.

We were on the edge of London really so we caught the edge of the Blitz. Several times all doors and windows blown out, bombs dropped fortunately not too close to us. But all around we had V-1s and even V-2s I think Walthamstow had 30 to40 V-1s, that was a doodlebug, and I remember hearing it and seeing. They were just aimed and they would run out and the engine would stop somewhere and it would just fall wherever. 

But the V-2, you didn’t hear anything because it was supersonic, you didn’t hear anything until there was a massive explosion. Absolutely huge crater, you didn’t hear it until it actually hit the ground.

As children we used to collect shrapnel. After a raid you could go outside, walk along the street and there’d be launching red hot shrapnel lying around from shells and exploding all coming down. 

And we had an Andersen shelter in the back garden, you know, just corrugated , and you’d go down and sleep in the shelter. 

So that and the hard times that followed with rationing, food rationing, real hard.