NextBack“Towards the end of the war I joined the Civil Defence Corps”
"We used to meet in St Luke's Memorial Hall. We were all issued with a bucket and a pump. It was just after the first atom bomb had been dropped. We were told that we had to tell people to move into a room near the centre of the house because, as the rays penetrated each wall they were reduced in ferocity. Preferably the room was windowless, then we would be perfectly safe. We had a room under the stairs and I made a mental note to go there if an atom bomb dropped. We had to practice getting people out of burning buildings, I had to pretend to crawl through a burning building on my tummy. It was great fun.”
“We had a military gas mask that was far more complicated than the civilian ones. A long tube came from the centre of the gas mask into a pack fastened in front of you. You used to have to refill the pack with charcoal. I was very proud of my tin hat. After the war my father took the lining out and it became a very nice hanging basket.”
