Alan and Graham: Our Parents

Figure 1.--

World War II was a terribly distressing time for parents. Of course I was totally unaware of this as a boy. I was young and carefree and I am sure our parents did their best to spare us from theid c oncerns. Graham was aittle more serious and a bit older and probably understood a bot more. When the War began, every expected Luftwaffe bombing raids. When that did not occur, most people breathed a sigh of relief. Nut then Francecfell abd we were on the front line. And this time the German bombers did come, although at first they focused on military targets. Many people thought that Britain could not hold out. So our parents like other British parents had momentous decesions to make.

Father

My father was a dental surgeon. He was in the First World war in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve (RNVR). My father was prevented from joining the Armed Forces in WWI because he was under 18. He joined the Merchant Navy, but found himself on a minesweeper in the English Channel. The Skipper was Royal Naval Reserve Officer, but the crew were Marchant seamen. We found his application to join up in the National Archives. It was tersely marked "Unsuitable", but the reason was he was too young. Like many people in the First World War, my father told us little of his experiences. After he had died we found a log he kept of a convoy from Liverpool to Aden (1916). He was the chief Signalman for the convoy. Wireless (radio) was of course a very new invention and he was an early wireless operator. He recorded the daily events, and the tactics of the convoy. He reorded when and where the ships were sunk when they were set about by U-boats. His ship was sunk on the return trip, just off Gibraltar (November 1917). They were rescued and got home for Christmas. Sadly, his two elder brothers and brother-in-law were killed at the front in France, one just three days before the Armistice. His brother-in-law was also killed in France. I would have loved to have questioned him about this, but alas all we have is the brief notes of the day. It is a great piece of Family History, but 'dead history'. We have to try and piece together the bits in between. Luckily my elder daughter is keen on Family History. My grandson did a school project on my father's convoy. I think this must have influenced father's decision to get me and my brother away from the hostilities. We were not in on the conversations betweem father and mother on this. Ny guess is he has a time convincing her, but we will never know. Father and mother, like many others also did Civil Defence. When not at work in his surgery, he and Mother were fire wardens. They would often go out at night during raids to report fires in unoccupied buildings. He told us later that at the height of the blitz, the biggest danger was being hit by falling shrapnel from anti-aircraft (AA) shells. The watchers used to take shelter in doorways and watch the sparks from the shrapnel hitting the roads and pavements. [HBC note. At first the AA were not positioned around London which the Luftwaffe avoided. But when the bombers began hitting Lomdon, Londoners complained that they were not being defended, so the guns were put in place around the city and began firing at the bombers. Londoners found the guns comforting even though the AA shrapnel did a lot of damage.]

Mother

Before my Aunt, Uncle and Cousins moved into the house, mother used to take in Canadian soldiers as a home away from home for them when they were on leave. (After the Dunkirk evacuation, the First Canadian Division was the only fully equipped combat unit in Britain to face the Germans.) A lot of families did this. I think there must have been some arrangement for food, as it was in short supply. I never saw the Canadians as they came after my brother and I had lerft for America. Our parents told us a lot more about what when on after we got back in 1945. Mother clearly liked looking after them and they kept contact after the War for a while. Mother was a very good cook, and I think that was a good reason for coming back. They were English Speaking, I think from Toronto. We had an allotment to grow vegetables. (A lot of the open spaces and parks were ploughed up for families to 'Dig for Victory.) Mother kept chickens in the back garden, so there was a ready supply of fresh eggs. Meat, butter and sugar were the most difficult food stuffs to obtain. The civilian population were very enterprising. Mother was very stoic and her feelings were very 'stiff upper lip'. At least that was what I saw as a child. I now know that underneath she was devestated by the decision to evacuate us. I suspect thsat dad had to do a lot of convincing. It all came out at our departure.






HBC






Navigate the Historic Boys' Clothing Web Site:
[Return to the Main evacuation experience page]
[Return to the Main English back garden family page]
[Return to the Main English 1930s personal experience page]
[Return to the Main English personal experience page]
[Return to the Main World War II British evacuation page]
[Return to the Main British World war II overseas evacuatio page]
[Introduction] [Activities] [Bibliographies] [Biographies] [Chronologies] [Style Index]
[Contributions] [Frequently Asked Questions] [Glossary] [Images] [Links] [Registration]
[Boys' Clothing Home]



Navigate the Historic Boys' Clothing Web chronological pages:
[The 1930s] [The 1940s] [The 1950s] [The 1960s]
[The 1970s] [The 1980s] [The 1990s]



Navigate the Historic Boys' Clothing Web style pages:
[School uniform] [Short pants] [Scouts] [Cubs]
[Caps] [Socks] [Jeans]







Created: 4:12 AM 8/31/2009
Last updated: 6:50 AM 4/4/2011