I was born in war-time. I can remember very little of it, except the blackout (I seem to recall that I had to be restrained from lifting the blackout curtain to see out – perhaps I remember it because I must have been shouted at!), and a general sense of despair – I have an impression that my father (who as a minister was exempt from war service) was several times contacted by officials[8], and asked to go with them as some family was informed of a loved one killed in action.
But I can distinctly remember running down the middle of the street, ahead of my parents, with crowds out on the streets of Wollaston, as we went to church for a thanksgiving service, and I assume that was around VE[9] day.
Although I do not remember the event, the famous incident at Soham when an ammunition train caught fire[10], and exploded, was a constant topic of conversation in Soham during my childhood visits; most families in the town had been affected, as the debris had damaged a lot of homes in the area. People still went to look at Soham railway station to see where it had all happened. At the end of her life, Auntie Winnie lived in “Frank Bridges Close”, named after one of the heroes who, by decoupling the bulk of the ammunition train, saved the town from almost certain destruction.
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[8] I seem to remember people coming to the house, and Mum saying “Oh no, not Mrs X’s husband/son” and looking distressed; then Dad would leave and sometimes not return until after my bedtime.
[9] Victory in Europe; the German surrender in Italy was Sun April 29th 1945, and the overall surrender May 4th, and the UK celebrations were a public holiday on Tues 8th May – what I remember may have been Sunday 10th, or any time between the 4th and 8th.
[10] Described in books on the history of Soham, and on the Soham village web-site.