Lewisham, London 1940

SATURDAY 20TH JULY 1940

I jumped out of my skin when the air-raid siren started wailing last evening. I was in the garden picking sweet peas for Mum and the whole bunch nearly went on the ground. It was very hot, even at seven o'clock, and there wasn't a breath of wind,the kind of weather that always makes you feel something's about to happen.
At tea Mum had been saying how rattles everyone seemed. That morning there'd been chatter at the shops. Someone knew for certain the Germans were going to invade this weekend, and they'd be in London by Monday unless our boys looked sharp. There are always rumours doing the rounds. It's difficult to know who to believe.
Anyway, Mum shouted from the kitchen for me to come in at once,sounding panicky. I wasn't going to argue. I couldn't see or hear any German bombers, but I've never been in an air-raid. How much time do you have between hearing a bomber fly over your house and a bomb dropping and blowing you to bits?
As I went up the steps to go inside. I could see old Mrs Andrews from next door. She was walking in circles around her patch of lawn, looking up at the sky and wagging her finger , just like she was giving someone a good telling off. God or the Germans? Who knows?
From inside our kitchen we could still hear her, the muttering turning in to shouting.
"She'll get herself killed,she will." said Mum, sounding anxious and exasperated. "Barmy woman! Whatever she's doing?! Mum wafted me towards the hall. "You, go and get yourself under the stairs quick,while I try to sort Bessie out. As if life was difficult enough!"
We're waiting for a proper air-raid shelter to be put in the garden. The Council's going to deliver one this week.In the meantime we're making do by sitting under the stairs or the kitchen table.It seems daft to me,but Mum says it's better than nothing.
I didn't do what Mum askied. I wanted to see what happened. I watched as she ran down the garden, out the back gate, and into Bessie Andrews's wilderness.
Old Bessie was drifting around in a world of her own. Mum might as well not been there. Mum tried talking to her softly and when that didn't work she caught Bessie by the shoulders and shook her gently. The mad old woman pulled away and stared in complete amazement as if it was Mum who was off her head. I held my breath, wondering what I'd do if Bessie had started hitting out.But she broke away in a sudden flood of tears and scuttled inside to her thirteen cats. Like Mum says, completely barmy!
Because it was Friday evening,and Dad was doing an extra shift at the Fire Station, no one else was at home, so Mum and I crouched together under the stairs listening to the wireless until, fifteen minutes later, the all-clear sounded. Just another false alarm!