On VE Day 1945, I got lost in London!
Mother took me to The Mall near Buckingham Palace on the day and in the excitement, we got separated. Father, because of his age, was a late recruit to the Army in 1943, and spent three years away until late 1946. He missed the VE party.
I was born in Hampstead, London, in 1934, an only child, and had spent the early years of the war as an evacuee with my father’s family in Devon.
Following the bombing campaign of our cathedral cities in 1942, and in particular Exeter where I was at the time, Father brought me back to London. The house where I was then living had received a direct hit, but amazingly no one was at home. Dad’s argument was that if I were to be killed, it might as well be with my family in London.
In fact, I had two further narrow escapes. A V1 landed in 1944 about thirty yards from our London home. Again, nobody was at home at the time but it took several months to repair the damage to the house. Later a V2 landed about a quarter of a mile from a cinema where I was watching a war film! Again, I escaped unhurt.
Returning to VE Day, I cannot remember how I got there, but I eventually found my way to the Strand Underground station. A friendly policeman gave me the tube fare to Archway on the Northern Line. Once there I walked up Highgate Hill to home in Highgate Village. When mother returned, she was not a happy bunny and it was straight to bed with a smacked bottom and no supper!
Shared by Bill Bradford
Commentaires