War years. 1939 to 1945

I started this trip through my own personal memory bank with only the details of the first chapter drafted out in my mind. When I finally completed that, after several  re-writes, I could then sit back and think about the next one. It was only then that I really thought of the project I have been persuaded to pursue. 75 years of my experiences, wow!  I only hope that I live long enough and keep mentally and physically able to finish it. More than that though, I hope that it entertains and in parts puts a smile on a lot of faces. There seems to be far less good, kind, fun in the world today.

   I had no idea of the significance of my third birthday, 3rd of September 1939. The day war with Germany was declared. At the time of my New Years Eve adventure that year, I, of course knew nothing of it, but within the next 12/18 months I certainly did. By this time I had started school. Most people I think, have seen pictures from those days of little boys in short pants, school cap askew, with a fairly large cardboard box ( for a small boy ) hanging by a string from his shoulder. The dreaded Gas Mask was inside that box. Issued by the government and  a compulsory addition to the school bag and lunch box you had to take with you each day.

   Teachers gave instruction on how to wear it and the first time was frightening. It smelled that awful rubbery smell, cause that’s what it was, and was hard to breath through  till you got used to the filters in the removable can on the bottom  it. It also had piece of rubber opposite your nose, actually a flattened tube, that allowed breath out, but not in. That was fun, you could actually make it sound like a fart when you blew though it. It was also disconcerting as you had to look through two round holes, like portholes. They were some distance apart, so you had to keep turning your head to see things.  The worst thing about it was carrying it, no matter how you tried adjusting the string, the damn corners of the box continually dug into your leg or your buttock. That hurt! When we all had the masks on and were heading for the air raid shelter, banging into each other because of the impaired vision, we must have looked like a horde of demented aliens from another world.

  That thought always makes me smile.