Reminiscences

Seventy years ago, but I vividly remember,

When I stood so low in my socks,

Watching the Luftwaffe screaming in along the Thames

In their nightly attempt to blow up London's docks.

We were under siege then and withstood it.

Although we had our backs to the wall.

But the British have an indomitable spirit

As the last nation in Europe, we would not fall!

And now, as an old man, I shudder,

Because we're in such a very different age.

Terrorism now has a much more sophisticated form,

And religious fervour has taken centre stage.

Oh why can't the world be united?

Religion is supposed to be about love.

We can't give way to religious extremism,

Those responsible must be given a big shove!

Despite it all, we still have our dictatorships,

Mugabe is still strutting his stuff.

Al Qaeda is perpetuating its menace.

Can't we say stop, "Enough is enough!"

But constantly, throughout the ages,

As bow has given way to gun,

Evil has continued to manifest itself,

In its' foul attempt to corrupt everyone.

But of course, we have a United Nations,

Don't make me laugh 'cos I want to cry!

And as for the European Union,

It's on its feet, but beginning to die.

Self interest, greed and corruption,

Continues to force its' way to the fore.

Is there anyone out there, who can offer some hope?

Or will we drown in the world's blood and gore?

National Leaders must meet, urgently, together.

They must provide for corruption and terrorism to cease,

They must submerge national and religious differences

And give our children a last chance of world peace.

by Des Perate

I was eight years of age when the second world started and was living at that time near Bisley and Aldershot in Hampshire, which was a vast base for Army operations.

My dad was a major in the Army Physical Training Corps and was prone to be moved from location to location, so I never had the chance to settle in at any place or school for very long.

As a Regimental Sergeant Major, he was posted to Hendon in London, where he had the job of organising the physical fitness programme and general disciplinary training of the Hendon Police College cadets.

I remember they had two extended fire ladders placed apart but which swayed together in the wind. My brother and I sneaked in and climbed up them. It was terrifying waiting for the gap between them to close so that we could cross from one to the other.

Our family lived in high rise flats not far from the River Thames. When the German Luftwaffe planes swept along the River Thames and commenced the bombing of London Docks, we used to turn off all the lights, draw the curtains back and watch the searchlights criss-crossing the sky, searching for the enemy aircraft.

At the same time the sirens would be sounding off and the ack ack guns would commence firing up into the sky. We could hear the whine and drone of aircraft and then, quite suddenly, one or some of them would be highlighted in the searchlight’s glare. The din of the guns was terrific, coupled with the sound of the bombs as they fell to the earth.

In the morning we would scour the streets and grass areas, to recover fragments of bullet cases and bits and pieces of shrapnel and all sorts of metallic debris. We all kept collections and I had the best shrapnel collection in our street!

I had to travel by underground 'tube' every day to the William Webb Ellis grammar school near Kentish Town and I would set off with my gas mask strapped around my shoulders, satchel on the other side and the latest piece of interesting shrapnel in my pocket. If I played my cards rights I could swop it with my friends for another piece that I didn’t already have!

We moved back to Aldershot and stayed near the Garrison Church, where we were surrounded by Army units of every description. We were quite close to a large assault course and could hear the ‘thunder flashes’ going off as the soldiers were put through their paces, climbing obstacles, swinging on ropes across the brook and climbing along parallel wires suspended between the trees and traversing the river.

In the evening we would ‘sneak in’ and have a go at the obstacles. One favourite was a rope with a huge knot at the bottom. This was lodged in the top of a tree and we had to straddle the knot and then jump off the tree. We would fall for several feet before the slack of the rope was taken up and, after several swings we had to jump to the ground. Once we found a ‘thunderflash’ which was unused and some idiot lit and threw it. Unfortunately when it exploded it set fire to the bush. We ran off for dear life and the fire brigade was called but, by then, we were through the fence and back to safety.

I remember the sky being black with planes and gliders on D-day. There didn’t seem to be space enough in the sky to accommodate them all. We realised then that the invasion of Europe had begun and the war was being taken to the enemy. People cheered as they looked up to see this veritable air armada.

At about this time truckloads of troops left from their respective barracks in Aldershot and on one occasion, as we waved and cheered them on, a truck stopped and the soldiers gave us a huge bag containing cricket bats, stumps, footballs etc. They said ‘keep an eye on it for us ‘cos we’ll be back.’ Aldershot became a base mainly for Americans and Canadians who showered us with cigarettes. One brand I remember was 'Sweet Caporal'. They loved baseball and we were often called upon to 'pitch' to them when they were practising.

We were each issued with a ration book during the war and were limited to 2oz of sweets per week! We ate powdered potato and used powdered milk as our food was strictly rationed.

When dad was posted abroad to Egypt mum moved with us to Dover (c.1943-1946) where her parents lived. We used to play on the hillsides near Dover Castle and became quite used to aeroplanes droning over us, both enemy and our own. We saw the odd ‘dog fight’ up in the sky and cheered whenever we saw one of our own chasing an enemy. We saw the V2 flying bombs coming over from France, also known as ‘doodle bugs’. As we played we kept a wary eye on them but dived for cover when the engines cut out and they fell from the sky to explode on the ground.

Another later moment I recall being in the Aldershot Garrison cinema and hearing the news that the Japanese government had surrendered after a huge atomic bomb had destroyed Hiroshima. There was uproar in the cinema and everybody was hugging and kissing and jumping about in the seats and somebody started to sing ‘There’ll always be an England.’ This was taken up by everybody else in the cinema and people were very emotional.

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