The Blitz

Dad, his father and brother Ern kept a black and red memo book similar to the Diaries, in which they listed every Air Raid Warning ARW.  Studying this book is very sobering indeed.  It details a total of 1222 raids from September 1939 the last one being on 28th March 1945 a short 8 minute early morning warning, which was not even mentioned in the Diaries.  The warnings range in length from a couple of minutes to many hours.  Sometimes the All Clear AC is not heard.  There can be many raids in one day, sometimes up to 6 or 7.  Occasionally there is a note of “Guns etc No Warning”.

The Blitz officially was from 7^th September 1940 until 11^th May 1941 but my father’s records show that Londoners suffered Air Raids for a total of 5 ½ years. 3 ARW’s are noted in September 1939 but I presume these were tests.  June 25^th 1940 is the next record from 1am to 4am and he notes “Guns in Distance.  August 23rd 1940 at 9.30 pm is the first time he notes “Guns etc No Warning”.

The first page of the notebook lists chilling monthly numbers killed and injured from June 1940 to October 1941, and then goes on to list every ARW they suffered. A few example pages are below.

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The first year of the diaries barely mention the war, the first mention being conscription for 18-21 year old on 26^th April 1939, and his first comments are recorded on 22^nd May 1939.  There is an interesting entry on 18^th February 1940 regarding an Air Raid Precautions demonstration, and the first air raids are noted on 22^nd May 1940 at Margate and Ramsgate.  The entry on 24^th June 1940 was written in an air raid at work.  The first deaths he mentions are of bomb deaths in Dagenham on 27^th July 1940 and gruesome details of a train machine gunned in Surrey on 19^th August 1940.  23^rd August 1940 is the first entry detailing bombs dropping nearby and details of going into the shelter.

There is almost constant bombing from September 40 until May 41 the most notable entries being,

24^th August 1940

30^th August 1940

15^th September 1940

8^th October 1940

6^th November 1940

29th January 1941

19^th March 1941

Interspersed with the horrific entries above are lots of interesting information about getting on with things during that time .   At the height of the bombing his employer agreed part time working so they could get some much needed sleep after nights in shelters, and then he lost his job due to the damage.  For a while he continued with his piano lessons until the teacher moved away.  A friend of the family moved in with them for a while, when he moved his family out of London.  The next door neighbour with a baby was very anxious and spent lots of time with them during Air Raids  until she also move away.  Dad continued to get library books and go to the cinema when possible and learnt chess with his friend Bert. 

He started another job with Guedalla’s Solicitors on 09.12.40 and many entries detailed his difficult journeys to work due to the damage from the raids.

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He also started playing piano in a dance band during this time and there are many tales of playing at dances.

As the raids became a little less frequent there was much more about music, the band and by 09.03.42 he had joined the Accountancy firm he completed his Articles with.

At the end of The Blitz officially 11th May 1941 Don’s family had recorded 561 raids, but then the number of raids reduced considerably and for the rest of that year there were just a further 14 raids noted. The Diaries record these raids and also that they are continuing to fire watch.  The last raid of the year on 14^th December 1942 is noted and that it only lasted 2 minutes and the entry also notes that they heard on the 9pm news that it was a test.   In 1942 they note a further 25 raids.  There is an interesting entry on 28^th July 1942 about the new Rocket AA’s, but sometimes they are not even mentioned. 

In January 1943 the number of raids begins to increase again and on Sunday 17^th January 1943 there is a very chilling entry.  Don was playing at a dance on Wednesday 3^rd March 1943 which had to be stopped for a raid which was “Fairly heavy”.  The night of Sunday 16^th May and into Monday there were a number of raids and some “Action” but Don still went to the cinema that afternoon. The next day he was in the RAF.  The memo book records many ARW’s but it is interesting that the letters sent to him from home play down the raids so he does not worry about them.  The first letter to him dated 22^nd May 1943 states ‘We have had several noisy nights but have only got up on one or two occasions’.   I also found it interesting that the V1 Flying Bombs called doodlebugs which started in June 44 seemed to cause more alarm than any others. 

The last raid recorded was on 28^th March 1945.

These Photographs were in Don’s Collection and I believe they were taken in Ilford.

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An example of one of the theatre programs amongst Don’s artefacts from the time.

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Below are excerpts from a collection of war time leaflets kept by Don and his family.

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