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Leyton History

KIDS' QUIZ

IS HISTORY A MYSTERY TO YOU?
Legoland Windsor recently carried out a history survey of 8 -to-16 year olds and were stunned to discover that although more than seven out of 10 of the youngsters said they enjoy history. More than two thirds considered themselves to be good at the subject. most could not answer basic history questions regarding the Romans, the Pyramids,
King Henry VIII, the Gunpowder Plot or even the Battle of Hastings..

The reality is that many schoolchildren are so uninformed about their British History that some think that Guy Fawkes plotted to blow up the O2 arena ( the old Millenium Dome near Canary Wharf).
We can't believe that with the Internet and all the books and information available that our children can be so uninformed so we're running a History campaign
(no adult help allowed)..we here at Leyton Life have decided to ask the same questions below. please email us the answers and there will be a prize for the child aged 8 to 16 who gets the most right....(no adult help allowed)

Teen Questions:

What is the height of the tallest pyramid and what is its name?

An uncommon instrument
what is this man holding? What does it do and who invented it?

Here's a common item that we all know.
Q. Who made the first mechanical shoe last and where was he born?

This man was world famous. Who was he and waht did he do?

Here's a vital but little known product called coltan. Coltan is now a pocket essential for a very important modern device. Where does it come from and what is it used for?

Audio: Paul Stokes talks to William Wilberforce's descendant

Slavery still thriving in Britain

By Paul Stokes

Last Updated: 1:19am GMT 27/02/2007

Black History Month Quiz

Q1. Who is the highest ranking Black officer in the British military today, where is she/he from and what does s/he do?

Q2. How many members of today's Houses of Commons and the House of Lords are Black

Q3. What is George Washington C
arver famous for?

Q4. Who invented the gas mask and the traffic light?

Q5. What is Halle Berry famous for?

Q6. Who are the Dogon?

Q7. Who was William Cuffay?

Q8. Who was described as the black Napoleon?

Q9. Can you name all the countries in Africa?

Q10. Who are the current Prime Ministers of the Caribbean countries andf which countries do they presided over?

Honourable Marcus Mosiah Garvey, born August 7 1887 (St Ann’s Bay) Jamaica died June 10th June 1940, London England. Founder and leader of the Universal Improvement Association the largest organisation dedicated to Black Economic self- determination and racial pride.
"A man’s bread and butter is only insured when he works for it."
Books on Garvey visit shop

"free Black mind is a concealed weapon"
(Sam Greenlee - Ammunition!: Poetry and Other Raps, Bogle L'Ouverture, 1975)

Black Star Line read more

Celebrating black female singers in British entertainment, this unique display is the latest development in the 'Devotional Series', a body of work by the artist Sonia Boyce.

More Info

Music

Events All year round, all UK. Concerts, Exhibitions, Meetings, Conferences, Performances, Theatre...
Go to Events

"Slave Narratives Revisited" by Ed Shockley

images by Ed Shockley
www.black-history-month.co.uk taking bookings now for Slave Narratives Revisited would suit Schools,Colleges, Churches and Theatres. call 0845 0506352
Slave Narratives Revisited" by Ed Shockley in Britain during your Black History Month in October. It is a 1-hour play featuring the voices of Nat Turner, Nelson Mandela, Mordecai Vanunu, Olaudah Equiano and others. Through these voices of history, it demonstrates the human capacity to rise and reach beyond our plights and journey to a place of respect, pride and love. Bookable now 0845 0506352 via info@wellplaced.co.uk .. booking until 20th October

Modern Abolitionists

Michael Adolf
East London "Slavery made black people struggle with their identity. Sometimes we feel we have to portray a certain image to be accepted. "I look on my ancestors as strong African people, which makes me strong and inspires me."

Modern Slavery - the horror continues

As we consider the significance of 2007 - as recognition of the abolition of the slave trade in Britian, let us consider that according to the Telegraph ( a noted right-wing broadsheet). Men, women and children are being exploited by around 10,000 gangmasters working in lucrative industries ranging from sex to agriculture, construction, service and domestic work.
Migrant workers, from Europe, Africa, Asia and South America, are virtually held captive by a mixture of enforced debt, intimidation, removal of documents and lack of understanding of their rights. The report Contemporary Slavery in the UK, by Hull University and Anti-Slavery International for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, is the first comprehensive review of its kind. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who works with the authors to raise awareness of modern slavery, said: "I didn't know about all these forms that existed. Generally people would not believe that it is possible under modern conditions." The report calls for statutory agency and local council staff to be better trained in identifying slavery conditions and take a more robust stance on the exploiters.

Slavery still thriving in Britainby Paul Stokes
Last Updated: 1:19am GMT 27/02/2007

Audio: Paul Stokes talks to William Wilberforce's descendant

Further Information
www.garstangfairtrade.org.uk/slave_trade.htm
www.hull.ac.uk/05/aboutus/news/mar07/slavery.html
http://www.slavebritain.org.uk/

2007 Bicentenary

2007 Bicentenary It is 200 years since Parliament passed the Act to abolish the slave trade in the British Empire - the start of a long road to abolition. The slave trade was a profoundly inhuman enterprise and the bicentenary provides us with an opportunity to express our sorrow that it happened. It also enables us to remember those who suffered and who campaigned for abolition, and to re-double our efforts to address the legacy of the slave trade and to tackle injustice in the world today.
2007 Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act: Calendar of Events.

Abolition_Bicentenary_Events.

BBC Abolition Website Click here

Right to Life Please sign this petition urgently as adults (aged over 18) affected by sickle cell disease are not entitled to free prescription whilst people with diabetes, cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis etc which are also long term medical conditions are entitled to free prescription. It has only 200 odd signatures and we need the rule changed.

Click Here to sign petition: Right to Life

Thanks. Alison Smith

Great Citizens: Black British Role Models

Olaudah Equiano1745 -1797

Olaudah Equiano1745 -1797
This man was born in the village of Essaka in the interior of today's eastern Nigeria. He was kidnapped at the age of ten, taken to the West Indies and then sold to a Virginia planter. Shortly afterwards he was bought by an Officer in the British Navy, who renamed him Gustavus Vassa (after a sixteenth century Swedish king) and took him to London and into service in the Royal Navy during the Seven Years War. In 1766 Equiano bought his freedom and went on many different trading voyages in North America, the Mediterranean, the West Indies and the North Pole. He later returned to England where he worked for the resettlement of enslaved Africans in Sierra Leone and became very involved in the British abolition movement. He also wrote and published his autobiography in 1789, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African. Written by Himself. The book was very popular and opened many people's eyes to the realities of the slave trade. Before he died, Equiano published the book in nine different editions and by 1837, nine more editions had been published.

See also the relationship between sport and politics in the 1930s - 1990s.

Tommie Smith,

Viv Anderson - First black footballer to represent England

Viv Anderson broke through the taboos to become the first black player to appear in a full international for England, making his senior debut against Czechoslovakia in 1978. However, this classy full-back or central defender and his excellent ball-skills deserve to be remembered for more than just that.
During a long and glittering career with some of England's leading clubs, he won everything the domestic game had to offer.
Viv won the European Cup 1979, 1980; European Supercup 1979 and played for Nottingham Forest, Arsenal, Manchester United, Sheffield Wednesday, Barnsley, and Middlesbrough during his distinguished career, before he become assistant manager to Bryan Robson at Middlesbrough

Zola Budd

John Agard was born in Guyana in 1949. His mother was Portuguese and his father was Guyanan. He worked in a library, and published books of poetry. For a time he was an actor. He moved to join his father in Britain in 1977, and became a full-time poet. He gives exciting and amusing live performances of his poetry at poetry festivals, but also in books and on radio and television. .

Mary Seacole
(1805-1881)
Entrepreneur
Physician
Crimea Medal
French Legion of Honor
Turkish Order of the Medjidie

Sir Bill Morris
Doctor of Laws, former General Secretary of the Transport & General Workers Union is renowned for his achievements as one of the UK’s most prominent union leaders.

Now retired from the Transport and General Workers’ union, he is involved in a range of activities. These include being a non-executive director of the Bank of England, chair of the Morris Inquiry - a public study for the Metropolitan Police of their professional standards - Chancellor of Stafford University, England and the University of Technology, Jamaica.

He is also a member of the Commission for Integrated Transport, the Employment Appeals Tribunal and the England and Wales Cricket Board.
His active union years spanned the leadership of numerous UK prime ministers, namely Ted Heath, Harold Wilson, Jim Callaghan, Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair. He has served on a collection of UK bodies including the Royal Commission on the Reform of the House of Lords and the Commission for Racial Equality; and he has been involved with the advisory councils of the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, and the Independent Broadcasting Authority.

Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze is a writer and performer of international standing. She is an artist with a strong sense of place. She grew up in rural Jamaica and then lived and worked in Kingston, where she soon established herself as a key writer, performer and recording artist. Breeze was first known as a ‘Dub Poet’ and, like her brother poets and countrymen, the late Michael Smith and Oku Onuora, she studied at the Jamaican School of Drama. Performing her work in Jamaica, she met Linton Kwesi Johnson, who encouraged her to come to Britain. She has since performed her work worldwide - including tours of the UK, the Republic of Ireland, the Caribbean, North and South America, Europe, South East Asia and Africa. Her work reveals a generous and uncompromising vision, exploring a wide range of personal, social and political issues with a sublimely tuned lyrical sensibility. As an actress, dancer, choreographer and theatrical director, Jean brings all of her artistic experience to bear on her work as a poet. She has a striking stage presence, generating all the power and excitement of a full-blown theatrical performance.

Len Garrison
Academic, community activist and co-founder of the Black Cultural Archives

Len Garrison co-founded the Black Cultural Archives (BCA) in 1981. It houses documentary evidence of the black presence and struggle, paying homage to the thousands who fought or those who lost their lives in the First and Second World Wars. BCA also works in partnership with Middlesex University and created the charitable organisation the Archives and Museum of Black Heritage (AMBH).

William Cuffay - (1788 - 1870)

Cuffay, the son of a former slave, was a leading figure in the Chartist movement, the first mass popular political movement in Britain. He was transported to Australia for allegedly planning an uprising against the British government.

Frantz Fanon (July 20, 1925 – December 6, 1961)

Fanon was a French author from Martinique, essayist, psychoanalyst, and revolutionary. He was perhaps the preeminent thinker of the 20th century on the issue of decolonization and the psychopathology of colonization. His works have inspired anti-colonial liberation movements for more than four decades.[1]

There are thousands who toil unstintingly in pursuit of our collective dream of self-actualisation - this is a small tribute to a few who have shone their lights bright and fearless to guide others to reveal their own potential...

Test your Knowledge of History

1. Who built the pyramids in Egypt? The Ancient Greeks - The Romans - The Egyptians - The Vikings
2. How many wives did Henry VIII have? 1,3, 4, 6, 8
3. Who of the following were wives of Henry VIII? Tick all you think are right - Catherine of Aragon, Elizabeth I, Jane Seymour, Catherine Parr, Queen Victoria, Anne Boleyn, Mary Queen of Scots
4. Where did the Romans come from? Ireland - Italy - Africa - Spain
5. Where did the Vikings come from? Scandinavia - America - Spain - Africa - France
6. When was the Battle of Hastings? 1066 - 1599 - 1667 - 1999
7. What were the two main countries involved in World War II? Spain - Germany - Great Britain - Africa
8. What country did Christopher Columbus discover? Australia - Africa - America - Antarctica

9. When was the Great Fire of London? 1485-1666-1865-1966
10. What did Guy Fawkes try to blow up in the gunpowder plot? Buckingham Palace - The Houses of Parliament - The Millennium Dome - The Tower of London

Attractions and Museums

The main "attractions" within E11 are definitely the green open spaces..

Hollow Ponds

Part of Epping Forest, a mixture of scrubland and wooded areas lying between Upper Leytonstone and Snaresbrook. Popular with Leytonstonians for walking, fishing, cycling, picnics and general larking about. The Hollow Pond itself is extensive with several islands playing host to a variety of water fowl. Rowing boats are available for hire during the warmer part of the year. Eagle Pond lies on the Snaresbrook side.

Wanstead Flats

A large area of grassland lying to the east of Leytonstone and to south of Wanstead. Cattle grazed here until the late 1990's. When the circus comes to town, Wanstead Flats is where you'll find it.

Wanstead Park

Formerly the grounds of (the now demolished) Wanstead House and now classified by English Heritage as a Grade II historic park. Wanstead Park has, in recent years, had more money spent on it than any other area of Epping Forest in an attempt to re-establish some of the formality associated with the grounds of a great house.

To the north lies Wanstead Golf Course where Wanstead House actually stood.

And while we have no significant museums actually in E11, there are plenty right on our doorstep...

William Morris Gallery

As well as being a craftsman, writer and socialist, William Morris is, perhaps, Englands most celebrated designer.

The gallery is located in Walthamstow at the substantial Georgian house where Morris resided between 1848 and 1856. Collections includes displays of printed, woven and embroidered fabrics, rugs, carpets, wallpapers, furniture, stained glass and painted tiles designed by the great man himself.

Also on display are items by those who worked with him at his firm of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Company, and those who followed him in the Arts and Crafts movement between 1880 and the 1920's.

Vestry House Museum

Located in the village of Church End, Walthamstow, Vestry House is the Local History Museum for the London Borough of Waltham Forest

The museum contains a diverse range of galleries, including...

Domestic Life Gallery
Looks at 19th and early 20th century washing, ironing, cooking and serving utensils.
Toys & Games Gallery
Looks at toys that were played with or manufactured in Waltham Forest during the 19th and 20th centuries.
Victorian Parlour
Uses part of the collection to reconstruct a typical local parlour from about 1890.
Made in Waltham Forest Gallery
Looks at local companies and industries that have left their mark on the borough during the 19th and 20th centuries.

Costume Gallery
Contains examples of clothing from the 18th to 20th centuries.

Police Cell
Vestry House was once used as a police station, and one of the original cells still remains. A scene from 1861 has been recreated - a local labourer is arrested for being drunk and disorderly.

The main individual exhibit at the museum is the Bremer car, built by Frederick Bremer in 1892 and possibly the oldest British built petrol driven car.

The Pump House Steam & Transport Museum

Waltham Forest's only surviving pump house, with it's steam engines still in working order.

The museum's exhibits reflect achievements in Industrial Transportation that have taken place in Lea Valley.

People's History Museum you will be able to see some of the museum displays at the Museum of Science and Industry. After February half term 2008 we will be offering our education workshops at the Museum of Science and Industry. All our workshops involve groups actively and link directly to the National Curriculum.

Bookings for PHM@MOSI workshops will be taken from January 2008.
For further information please contact the education team on 0161 228 7212 or email education@phm.org.uk

LIVING HISTORY SESSIONS

Our living history activity visits use performance and role play to transport your pupils back in time. They include plenty of hands-on learning with real objects and documents. As well as being thoroughly rooted in historical investigation, the excitement and interest generated by a visit can enrich your pupils' study across the curriculum and can help you build upon this unique experience back at school.

There are seven characters to choose from at present:

Strike a Light! Pupils will meet Maggie McCallow, a Victorian match girl involved in the match factory strike of 1888. Pupils will learn about the poor working conditions the match girls experienced and how this strike gained them better working conditions and the right to join a union. Suitable for Y5/6 and above. Suitable for Y5/6 and above.

	Moving Stories Moving Stories is based on oral histories gathered during a community outreach project. We meet Anita Sharma at school in Manchester as she describes her summer holiday trip to Bombay with her parents who were born there. We follow her journey to adulthood as she explores her identity. Suitable for Y5/6 and above.

Read All About It! Enhance your pupils understanding of the events of the Victorian era. Meet James Bronterre O'Brien, editor of the Poor Man's Guardian and experience roleplay to bring the stories of the day to life. Uncover the truth behind the headlines - Peterloo, cotton mills, child labour, the right to vote. Suitable for Y3/4 and above.

How Do You Plead? The How Do You Plead? workshop is based on the story of the 19th century Chartist leader William Cuffay, whose father was a freed slave. Cuffay's campaign for the right to vote ended up with him being transported to Tasmania for treason. Suitable for Y5/6 and above.

	Shop Front Home Front This Living History session involved pupils in the experience of a Co-op shop worker, following the ups and downs of Dotty Salter's life through the Depression of the 1930s to the victory celebrations at the end of World War II. Suitable for Y3/4 and above

No Bed of Roses
Based on the oral histories gathered from three women who migrated from the Caribbean to England in the 1950s, Gabrielle's story takes us from her childhood in St Kitts, through young womanhood in Stoke-on-Trent and Manchester, to her later years as a grandmother and prospective University Student.
KS2 - Britain since the 1930s, Citizenship
KS3 - Citizenship
KS4 - Citizenship

The Hard Way Up Based on the story of local Suffragette and councilor Hannah Mitchell, who, like many women today, struggled to combine home and family with an active public role. She spoke out for the poor and for women, and became a peace campaigner after the First World War. KS2 - Victorian Britain, Literacy, Citizenship KS3 - Britain 1750-1900, Citizenship KS4 - Citizenship

The People's History Museum has produced a citizenship resource pack focusing on Hannah Mitchell, aimed at key stage 3 pupils.
The material in the pack was selected from the museum archive collection by teachers from Trinity High School, who also developed the lesson plan template contained in the pack. The pack can be used in conjunction with a visit to the museum or in the class room as a stand-alone project.
For a copy of the pack, download the two PDF documents below.
Download Votes for Women Resource Pack [PDF 2.29MB]
Download Source Materials for Resource Pack [PDF 3.48MB]
(Please note that the source materials are of a high quality and may take some time to download or print. Although the images for sources 2a - 9 inclusive have been drawn from the museum's collections, the People's History Museum does not hold the copyright to any of them. If photographic reproduction of any of these images is sought, please contact the Museum Registrar)

CITY CENTRE TRAIL
Who were Albert and Abraham? If you don't know, you'll have to come on the walk to find out! Follow an experienced teacher/guide along a safe fully pedestrianised route and uncover Manchester's history through buildings, street names and statues. With loads of observational activities for pupils to complete along the way, we guarantee you'll never see the city in the same way again. Top

BUILD A BANNER

Our whole day banner making sessions are a creative and co-operative activity, developing the pupils' skills and encouraging them to communicate. Your artist will liaise with you in advance of the session to discuss your design ideas and to plan the materials and techniques that will be most suitable for your project. These sessions are particularly popular with school council groups.
Suitable for Y3/4 and above.

ARCHIVE VISITS:
These tours are designed for secondary students onwards and give an opportunity to see 'behind the scenes' of the museum and examine primary sources. Find out what the Labour History Archive & Study Centre is, and does, and explore material relevant to your course of study (suggested topics: election material and manifestos, Chartists, early Socialists, Labour Party, women, race relations, trade unions, international Socialism, Communist Party).

http://82.71.77.169/educ.htm

History And Heritage

Meanwhile here's some history about Leyton, Leytonstone, Wanstead and Walthamstow

Leytonstone
The name "Leytonstone" is derived from "Leyton-atte-Stone", the stone in question being a Roman military marker now commonly known as the "High Stone". This can still be seen today at the junction of Holly Bush Hill and New Wanstead Road. The stone was moved from it's original position when the A12 road extension was built at the tail end of the 1990's.
Until the latter part of the 19th century, Leytonstone was a beautiful, sleeply hamlet. However, the arrival of the railway brought with it a massive population explosion and Leytonstone very quickly grew. Many of the Victorian houses built then are still home to Leytonstone's residents today, particularly in the Upper Leytonstone and Bushwood areas.
Wanstead
The name "Wanstead" appears in the Domesday Book (1086), however settlements have existed there from at least Roman times (excavations in Wanstead Park during the 18th century revealed extensive remains of a Roman villa).
Many large houses were built in and around Wanstead, particularly during the 18th century. None were grander than Wanstead House, "an English Versailles" which was tragically demolished in 1824.

Walthamstow
The historic centre of Walthamstow is Walthamstow Village, located around the medieval St.Mary’s Parish church (pictured left) where the Morris family worshipped and where William was baptised. Nearby are the Tudor timber-framed Ancient House and Vestry House Museum, housing Waltham Forest’s local history collections.

MEMORIES OF WORLD WAR II: EVACUATION FROM LEYTON

Pixie hats in Leyton

Contributed by Tracey Farrell

People in story: Judith Diana Child nee Moles

Location of story: London

Background to story:

Civilian Article ID: A7209461

Contributed on: 23 November 2005

I met Mrs Child at a Victory tea dance in Bishops Stortford, Herts. I submit her memory to the website as a volunteer story gatherer with BBC Essex. Mrs Child was dressed as an evacuee, complete with gas mask, and managed to pilfer a lovely plate of cream cakes for me ... Thank you Judith.
I was an army child, my dad was in the army for 21 years, we travelled all over the country and lived in billet houses.
When we were living in Church Road, Leyton, one night the siren went off and my mum shoved all of us kids under the table. As she was pushing me under, I cracked me head on the table leg and ended up with my face resting against the wall just as a bomb landed up the road.
The hair on that side of my head went completely white. I had to wear a pixie hat til I was 7!

Contributed by Bournemouth Libraries
People in story: Mr. John Earthy
Location of story: Leyton, East London and Wales
Background to story: Civilian Article ID: A3061405
Contributed on: 28 September 2004

Residing in Leyton, East London, I was evacuated as a boy of ten at the end of 1939. My parents were divorced and I was living with my mother, brother and grandmother. My brother stayed with my father in Newbury, which was considered safe. The rest of us went down to a farm in Wales for a year.
On the farm I would go around and collect eggs for the farmer; he had chickens running free all over the place. He would pay me a few pence for doing this. What I didn't like was when he used to slaughter pigs in the shed.

As nothing seemed to be happening in London at that time, it was decided that we would return home. Soon after we got back, the bombing started.
We had two shelters; a Morrison, which was at the bottom of the garden, was where we stayed overnight. There was also an Anderson shelter, which was really just a reinforced table with a steel top, inside the house. Anybody indoors would sleep beneath it. Both shelters were named after cabinet ministers. The Morrison, being undergound, was much the safer.
We used to sleep in the Morrison shelter night after night. There were bunks; one on top, one underneath and one on the floor. We would take food and drink with us. I can remember looking out and seeing barrage balloons in the sky which weren't very effective. Planes would try to shoot them down and they would have to be replaced.
I would get sick of the shelter and smuggle myself back to the house. My mother would come and fetch me and bring me back down again.

There were Air Raid Patrol wardens. They would make sure people were off the streets when an air raid was due. They would come banging on your door if there was a chink of light showing through the blackout curtains. The air raid sirens had two different sounds. The all clear was a constant noise but when there was a raid it was a wind up sound. If this happened at school, we were sent to the school shelter and lessons carried on as usual. Nearby was the Essesx County Cricket ground. They had a couple of bombs fall on them.
Although there was rationing I have no memories of being hungry. We had lunch at school and these meals were always substantial. My grandfather had a butchers shop that got hit by a bomb. He opened another a few yards along the same road. Meat was rationed but we were all right because of him. The milkman still came round every day though. We never saw a banana until after the war.

As I set off for school one morning, when I came to the end of the road I saw police and ARP wardens. There was a landmine, which they used to send down from enemy aircraft, suspended on a lampost. It was waving in the wind and only 8ft. from the ground. If it had touched the ground the whole street, including my house, would have been blown up. Bomb disposal people came with a lorry and picked it up. They took it to a nearby area of common and exploded it.
I remember going to school with shrapnel laying all over the place. I would pick up pieces and keep them as souvenirs. There weren't raids every night, but if it was cloudy the planes would come more often as they couldn't so easily be picked up on the searchlights.

The only thing that really worried me was towards the end of the war. That was when the Germans started using rockets. They used to come out of the blue with a bang. This went on only for three or four months, as by this time we were in Europe and our forces tried to capture the rocket sites as soon as they could.
There were the V1s, which were the doodlebugs. These had engines that would cut out, so you had some warning of their approach and you could see them coming. One day I was at the open-air swimming pool just outside Leyton. I was on the top diving board when I could see a doodlebug coming over. Suddenly its engine cutout, so I knew it was coming down. I dived into the pool and stayed there It went off a mile away.

The V2s were the silent killers. You never knew when they were coming. My family was very scared, my grandmother in particular. Theyprotected me and I saw it all as an adventure. The firemen were marvellous, trying to get people out of bombed houses. I saw a body being dragged out one morning, which was very upsetting.
There was little or no entertainment. We listened to the radio a lot. Once mother took me to London Zoo. There were hardly any animals there, but I remember the snake house.
After the war it took a long while for London to get back on its feet.
(PK)

Contributed by Civic Centre, Bedford
People in story: Frank Chandler
Location of story: Brentwood in Essex
Background to story: Civilian Article ID: A2686502
Contributed on: 01 June 2004

I was evacuated from Leyton London to Brentwood on the 1st of Sept 1939. When the siren went on Sept the 3rd it was a test , I was on a bike ride and dropped my bike and ran down the road screaming because I thought it was a big monster roaring and coming over the roof tops.
In the blitz we went down to the air raid shelter every night for 12 months. There was seven of us in an Anderson shelter then the german aircraft dropped sea mines on parachutes.

One night at 3 oclock in the morning, we heard this rustling noise and we looked out the shelter door and there was a white envelope which made us think it was our last days on earth. It turned out to be a barrage balloon that had broken loose. It rose in the air and took all the slates and chimney pots with it. I was evacuated again to Rhubina near Cardiff for 18 months and returned again in time for the flying bombs. We were in the shelter when a flying bomb came straight to our house the noise was such that I was trying to push myself to Australia through the floor. The engine didn't stop and it veered left and hit Leyton garage which was about 200 yards from us. The wooden shelter door disintegrated and came in all over us. We climbed out and there was lots of smoke and people screaming, my dad went out into the street and there was a man lying dead in the street with his clothes on fire, we wern't aloud to see things like that.

Contributed by Isle of Wight Libraries
People in story: Daphne Gibson
Location of story: Leyton, East London
Background to story: Civilian Article ID: A6136300
Contributed on: 14 October 2005

This story was submitted to the People's War site by Simon Falla and has been added to the website on behalf of Daphne Gibson with her permission and she fully understands the site's terms and conditions.
I was eleven years old and living in Leyton, east London at the outbreak of World War 2.
At this time we had not received the Anderson shelter that was later installed in the garden with the help of friends. My father had gone to fight in the army while my mother worked as a 'Nippy' at the famous Lyon's Corner House.

In the absense of our own shelter, when the air raid siren sounded we had to rush to nearby Abbot Road Park where a tunnel had been dug to protect the residents. I remember the shelter being so crowded that I had to be careful not to kick the people on the floor as I sat on the side benches.
After our own shelter had been installed, we had a close shave when a nearby bomb blew all the windows out of our house. Our neighbours, the Breedons, a family renowned for making cricket bats, were sadly all killed in the explosion

Local history societies

London Borough of Waltham Forest pages

madamright	Latest page update: made by madamright , Nov 5 2007, 1:38 PM EST (about this update About This Update Edited by madamright 32 words added 2 images added 1 image deleted view changes - complete history)
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