Sandy Thompson

Childhood Memories of living in East London during World War II

by Sandy Thompson

I was born at the end of 1939 in East London, so my earliest memories included the war, and it was something I accepted as normal.

My father was taken into the army and served in various places around the country. Later, around 1943, he was drafted to Egypt and we didn’t see him again until around 1946 – and by this time my brother and I didn’t know him at all. All we had were lots of letters. 

War was a fact of life, so we weren’t frightened by it. When the sirens went off, we slept in a Morrison Shelter in the living room (to me it was like a large dog cage which we used as a table during the day) and were quite used to the air raids. I remember crossing the park and hearing the roar of planes and looking up to see if the enemy ‘crooked cross’ was showing on their wings, or were they ‘goodies’? On this occasion they were goodies, so we didn’t have to run for cover. 

The doodle bugs were a bit scary as we knew we were all right while the engines were still running, but when the engine stopped, they came down – you hoped it wasn’t near you, and felt awful for those it did land on.

I remember my mother had to walk miles to get food and queued for ages in shops, and meals were sparse and simple although we managed to eat sufficiently. This continued for many years after the end of the war, and it was many more years until I saw my first banana!

I remember VE day, in particular, as the people were out in the street rejoicing and my little brother was allowed to run around beating his tin drum and making a lot of noise! The street had a tea party in the road where we dressed up and sat in the road at long tables with no traffic allowed. 

My grandmother, who lived near the London docks, was bombed and I remember my mother’s panic in not knowing where she was and if she was ok. Eventually we managed to find her and she lived with us while her house was repaired – she was one of the lucky ones, many houses in the street were too badly damaged to be fixed.

Families were closer in those days, and as a child I was happy using the streets and bombed areas as playgrounds. We had no luxuries; toys were few and far between and much treasured. School was far more disciplined than today, even though, or maybe because, each class had 40+ children in. I feel we learned what was important in life and continue to value my family above all else.

Sandy Thompson April 2025