evacuation

[MBrennan]

Thanks Ken,

I have just been thinking about it and realised it is quite odd for prefabs to have Anderson shelters, as I assume they were bilt after the war?

Either they were built while the war was still on, or someone acquired a shelter from elsewhere to make a shed?

Mark

[nelliesgirl]

What a great photograph!  The children look so happy! don't see prams or sun shades like that any more.

Nell

[MBrennan]

Thanks Nell,

We didn't scrub up too badly 

We were more often seen covered in mud as we spent a lot of the time newting in the ditches around Beckton 

My mum was really proud of her Silver Cross and I think it served all of us. She commented recently that you never see young kids in Reins now, but they are so practical. We always had them on until we could be trusted. Only last week she was telling me the story about one of the first times I was allowed out of them, I ran out into Beckton Bypass - luckily the 'local Bobby' was near and ran to grab me. He knew all our names. He told me off and told my mum that I was to be put back in reins until I could behave myself. She said she didn't question him as "You did as you were told". (She also reminded me what 'a little sod' I was  )

Mark

[EX CUSTOM HOUSE]

MBrennan,
What a beautiful picture that is you posted, only just caught up with it to-day.

Did not look at the Air Raid Shelter (had enough of those in my time)
It was those beautiful children that made me keep looking, the pram, the canopy and the
motif on the reins took me back 6o years.

It is a photograph of shear joy and you must be proud of it.!


Louise.

[MBrennan]

Thanks Louise  

We are proud of what my mum managed with very little. I know we probably had more than some of previous generations, but my mum says we didn't have a lot, but what we did have was always kept clean, mended & ironed (My mum never seemed to stop knitting when she wasn't cleaning) - also things were looked after properly as there wasn't money to replace them. One funny thing that stands out in my memory is my mum's friend Josie Kemp saying "Felma (my mum's name is Thelma   ) I would eat my dinner off your kitchen floor"  

I wonder how many more that Silver Cross pram served? All 4 of us probably wore those poodle reins which were also passed on.


My mum also says that it was just as well she had the pram as she pushed it from Beckton to High Street North & back to go shopping and you could fit quite a bit of shopping in the rack underneath.

Mark

[EX CUSTOM HOUSE]

Hi MB.

Just browsing through and digested what had been said re the Morrison Shelter (Table Top Shelters),
it seems incredible they could keep you safe.?
My Mother and I were saved from a direct hit in the Garden (next to the shelter) bye the
STAIRCASE.  Mum was late in getting her tin box etc., to-gether so while everyone was walking through
to the shelters, I was waiting for MUM AT THE BOTTOM OF THE STAIRS and got blown up the passage that was and out the front door onto the road.  Mum was still at top of stairs and sustained more injuries but nothing to serious glad to say.
There was more left of that Staircase than any part of other 3 houses.

I have wanted to ask this question many times but do not think there will be an answer.  Is it recorded anywhere
how many lives were lost in any particular incident?
I just know that my dear friends Dad who stood on the top of his shelter watching the flack was killed.
Louise

[Kathy Taylor]

Hi Louise

Yes, there are records detailing the bomb incidents and the casualties. If you can give me a few more details I’ll see what I can find out for you. What road are you talking about, what was the name of your friend’s dad, and can you remember the year.

Kathy

[mogsey]

Hi
Saw your message about evacuation.I am new to Newham Story.
My family was evacuated to Bridgewater in Somerset in 1940,there was 7 of us in all.I was born in 1940 so went a bit later with my mum.My sister Jean said only recently that that was the first time she saw me.
When my 5 sisters and 1 brother arrived in Bridgewater some of the sisters were taken in but that left one sister Ivy and my brother Danny waiting till the end,and no one came forward.
 
Then in came a lady called Mrs Bond she took the two left and asked for the other 5 so they would'nt be separated.she only had a two up and two down so it was a bit of a sqeeze!Mrs Bond was a mixed blessing!When I arrived I was teachers pet because I was a baby,but the others didnt do too well.
My sister Olive wet the bed,she was homesick and missed mum,Mrs Bond used to tie the bed sheets to the bed posts so Olive had to sleep under them as punishment.Olive used to cheekMrs bond,she stood up for herself,so one day she had new shoes and they hurt her feet,she complained,so Mrs Bond made her walk up and down for ages wearing the shoes.
Bearing in mind that Olive was a little girl of 7rys old Mrs Bond just didnt like her.

One of our jobs was to find snails to crush up for the chickens,so one day I picked a carrot from the garden and to wash it I stuck it up the scullery tap that was dripping,the carrot got stuck and when Mrs Bond turned the tap on she got soaked! and I got a good hiding!My sister Ivy laughed and Mrs bond hit her over the head with a baking tin.My brother Danny stepped in and he got the same.

As soon as Danny was old enough he made his own way back to West Ham,he was 15 then.

By the time I was 2 years old I had to dress myself top to toe or I had no breakfast,one day my sister Jean helped me and got a clout for her troubles.

Mum used to save sweets up from when our eldest sister worked in a sweet shop before going off to work in Swindon repairing the fighter planes,when the jar was full she sent it to us,we had one sweet each every sunday,the rest all went to Mrs Bond's family.

I went back to see the house in the 1980's ,it was so small,not what I remembered.

In 1945 we went back to West Ham to Brighton road which was a bit bomb damaged,that was the first time I saw my mum!she said"come and see your little brother and sister! she had had two more children during the war!

Bit of a long winded tale,hope it is of some use to you!
All the best

[MickG]

Hello Mogsey, welcome to the board.

What a fascinating story and great stuff, it's the sort of detail that often gets overlooked in the more grandiose history of the war. What a shame your family was split up at such a young age to be billeted with someone who was a bit of a martinet, something I know that many others experienced.

The important thing is that despite all your trials and tribulations, your family survived the war, many other East End families not being so fortunate. I suspect your wartime experiences were the subject of much reminiscing in later life amongst your family.

[Alf still]

       Hi.Mogsey
                           Welcome to the board,hope you enyjoy it.

                                      Regards. ALF

                                 (ex-Custom House, now Essex)

[harry]

Mark I think you will find the reason for  your "anderson Shelter" shed can be explained in this way,The anderson shelters were put up in 1940,s ,the prefabs where you lived were erected after the war.
The shed in your garden was made using sections of anderson shelters which were  readily available after  the war,they were also used as sheds by allotment holders also for sheds.
Regards Harry.I.

[MBrennan]

Thanks Harry - that makes perfect sense that some were recycled. I had never thought of that. I assume being an arch they were quite strong and could be moved without breaking. (I'm no engineer but vaguely remember a school lesson about arched bridges being strong  )

Thanks for that.


Mark

PS - Not Anderson shelters, but I know you still see a few temporary corrugated building in use around now as scout huts/village halls etc. I bet they were only meant to last a few years.