I Remember

Christmas morning,

Fairy lights and presents beneath the tree.

Walking to school with all my friends

And crossing the road with the smiling policeman.

Rushing home at lunch time

And dawdling back at home time.

Hot buttered toast for tea

And 'Children's Hour' with Uncle Mac.

Then came the weather forecast

Followed by hot chocolate

And reading in bed.

Going to the seaside.

Buying sand-shoes and a bucket and spade.

Building sand castles,

Digging a moat

And letting the waves trickle in.

Trying to swim

And getting my hair wet.

Exploring rock pools for tiny crabs.

Riding a donkey along the beach

Then watching noisy 'Punch and Judy'.

There was tea at the lighthouse to end the day.

How it all changed!

Mr Chamberlain on the wireless

And then we were at war.

Hot buttered toast gave way to margarine

Spread thinly, and sweets were rationed

For years to come.

I moved to junior school and felt grown-up.

My big brother held the saddle as I rode my bike.

No more seaside holidays.

There was barbed wire on the beach

And no more 'Stop Me and Buy One'.

My father was an ARP warden, my mother a fire-watcher.

She had a helmet and passed the time with my skipping rope.

My big brother joined the Navy

And the war went on.

More nights in our shelter

And less spent in bed.

We collected rose hips for babies to have vitamin C.

We collected waste paper and took it to school.

At school we kept rabbits and hens.

The boys 'Dug for Victory'.

In the school holidays there were roundabouts in the park.

We had 'Holidays at Home'

And made the best of it.

Doodle bugs could not reach us,

So the siren wailed less

And we slept in our beds.

Then came V E Day,

Such excitement and relief.

Street parties, fireworks, jellies and blancmange.

But the war was not over

We still fought in East.

Worse was to come, the atom bomb dropped,

Japan surrendered, a great horror unleashed.

Now we all fear the bomb, although we have peace.