When I was a child, I was born in 1939 I didn’t know about the war but I know about the disturbance that create in my life I know about my sleep was always disturb by running out of the house into the garage-shelter which it was a massive hole it was massive to me at the time corrugated to fair with earth and grass put on top of it we have to jump down deep hole into the shelter and we have benches around the site as we were a large family I supposed we were on of the lucky ones to have a shelter on the garden but all I remember it is the sounds that emanated from outside if we heard aeroplanes more or less scrinchs on the corner and hug each other the terrible noise from overhead of the siren it is the first thing it wake us up and we knew we have to run outside into the garden and we wait and wait and the hour timeless my mum used to tap songs on the corrugated iron with the wedding ring we use to have to guess all the nursery rhythms or songs that she was trying to make us busy and occupied and then the glory of glories it was “all clear” when we were hearing all clear we could go back into our home and come back to bed. I guess it is because I don’t sleep through the night even now.

Memory