Were you, or someone you know, living in London during WWII?

My husband's great aunt died during a raid in Kennington. A bomb hit the tube station and she was killed as she walked nearby. Her sister, DH's Nanny, said goodbye to her husband (grandad) who went to war and her two eldest children who were evacuated to the country.

His other Grandmother was a Wren but we don't know too much about her work.

That's terrible

I found out a few weeks ago that my DF's cousin, who moved from rural Ireland, was killed by shrapnel when a bomb fell in Uxbridge in 1940. She was pushing her 4 month old baby in her pram; the baby died a few days later. Her husband was so traumatised he had a breakdown.

Seems unbelievable when I look at photos of her in the fields in the West of Ireland as a teenager.

My best friend’s grandma worked in a factory in the east end during the war - she’s a true east end girl and hard as nails even at 94, I love her - and she talks about skipping work on VE day and rushing to the gates of Buckingham palace with her friends to call for the king to come out and speak, and then staying out dancing in trafalgar square.

My mother’s family were also Jewish from Eastern Europe, they arrived in the east end of London around 1880 and the time my GM was born that branch of the family were no longer Jewish.

My Mum was a child in the war. She remembered being evacuated and her sister being so distraught that they let her go back to her Mum in London.

I remember Mum telling me about the doodlebugs; that you could hear them and it was OK until they stopped making any sound and that's when you were frightened as they'd drop to the ground and explode once out of fuel.

My friends nan was evacuated to Scotland with twin babies. She hated it so much she came back to London & she said on the train other women told her it was sinful to bring babies back to the city.

Fascinating thread!

My story is from a lady I made friends with when I was 19 to 21, she was 75 to 79 and she died then.

She had this white hair all piled up on her head in curls and had been a nurse in the war, in London, living in the east end. She described two things: one, a bomb falling into the garden of the house next door and the huge crater and two, the American GIs, and how she'd meet up with them under a bridge and let them feel her boobies. (Her exact words, as I've never forgotten.) And thanks for the book recommendations.

Both my grandparents and great grandparents were in east London for WW2, all were bombed out, on more than one occasion and being Jewish it wasn't a particularly jolly time to say the least!

My nan came over from Europe with her mother and siblings, her dad and rest of the family stayed behind and were later killed. They lived with cousins just off Columbia Road. My great gran had worked as midwife and nurse, apparently being chased by wolves and bears going out to women in nearby forests in her home country! She restarted this work on arriving in London, helping women to give birth in various air raid shelters and her own kitchen at one point. She didn't allow her children to be evacuated, as didn't want to be separated and as jews who didn't speak english, she knew it wouldn't be a warm welcome.

My nan made a friend who she later saw being carried dead out of rubble after a bombing. One time she went on a date to the pictures, the air raid started and they came out to find the whole street on fire, went to nearest shelter and told no room so they ran home through the bombs and fire. One time there was gun fire and her brother pulled her to the floor with such force she cut her jaw and still has the scar. She did get to meet several American pilots though which made her very happy.

On a lighter note I worked with a woman who was about 20/21 during WW11 and she once visited her boyfriend at his RAF barracks, or rather the nearby town. Anyway, she approached the gate guard and said “I’m looking for an airman” then thinking that sounded wrong she blurted out

But I know which one I want. 🤣🤣

One of the secondary schools where I used to live is named after a US pilot, who was shot down but stayed in his plane and steered it away from the primary school that was there at the time, saved lots of lives but lost his own. Another school nearby has a very strangely shaped playground, I mentioned it to the children I was teaching cycling proficiency to at the time, they told me it was a remaining part of an airstrip used in WW2. The airbase is now a country park, and the airmens houses are still standing and lived in nearby.

My nanny did, she would have been in her early twenties recently married to my grandad who was in the RAF.

I don’t have any stories but you’ve prompted me to ask my mum, nanny died years ago.

There’s a little homemade memorial near to us at the edge of a field, where a WWII American bomber crashed with the loss of the whole crew. They were all just kids really - there’s a laminated copy of the report from the time on what happened. We’re out in rural Norfolk, and we feel a long way from anywhere these days, but there are so many old airfields all around, it must have touched everyone.

My gran used to tell me stories about the war quite often. She was a master at telling them. I often felt like I was there and experiencing it for myself.

I think the most terrifying thing she used to talk about was the sound of the air raid siren. Even at the age of 12 she would wet herself in fear every time she heard it. Hearing her talk about it made me feel so lucky to be living in the modern age.

I vote nominate for Classics. Fascinating!
DGM/DGF married in 1940. DGF was away in the army and DGM lived in a rural village so was protected from bombings but she told us stories of rationing and village life.

And here’s a photo of the site where my house now stands, after the 1944 V1 bomb

WRT pregnant women being evacuated, my DH’s granny was moved out of the East End of London in 1946, ie even after the war had ended, to have my FIL. Very amusingly, a grand country house in Hertfordshire had been converted to a maternity hospital during the war, and so my FIL was born there - his mum was an East End girl and very much not “from the top drawer” (a phrase she used to use)!

During the war itself, she moved around London as she got bombed out of various different locations. I don’t know why she was unable to move out, maybe her husband’s job kept them there? (I think he was either too old to be called up to fight, or was in a protected occupation which meant he didn’t have to).

My lovely neighbour was living in London when war broke out. She then worked at Bletchley, and her stories were so fascinating about the code breakers there. She also kept a diary and used to let me read some of it when I was a teen studying history. She sadly died around 15 years ago, I really do hope that her adult children kept that diary as it's a real part of history.

My DGM, father(only a baby) and uncle were evacuated to Yorkshire from London, but came back within a few months as my DGM couldn't get on with the silence and animals in the countryside! A V2 blew half of their house out in 1944 in London but she apparently preferred to risk the bombs over the cows....

This thread is so interesting btw, thank you OP for starting it.

I live just outside London technically, but within the M25 and very near to north London. My house stands on the site of a very sad event - a V1 bomb fell on the site, killing almost 40 people (it was the worst bomb of the war in the town). There’s a fascinating entry about the bombing in the log book of the school my children now go to, which is just round the corner:

“During the night a flying bomb fell on the houses at the corner of Xxxxxx + Xxxxxx Roads, causing much destruction and damage to property and entailing the loss of thirty nine lives, among whom were two [name of the primary school] children, three old scholars and nine parents. All Civil Defence services were quickly in operation and the school, though damaged was opened as a Rest Centre. Many injuries + homeless people were cared for, and during the day, the school acting as an emergency feeding centre served upwards of 1,000 meals and 2000 cups of tea. This included meals to civil defence workers + workmen brought to the bombed site. The Rest Centre + Emergency feeding arrangements closed down on Tuesday, by which time homeless + other people had been billeted elsewhere. The school + playgrounds became the centre of a re-building operation and the Infants’ dept. continued in use as a feeding centre for workmen and for detachments of Home Guard + Police who were on duty in the area. The meals were sent from the [name of nearby village] Cooking depot and the school staff with the assistance of the W.V.S were responsible for serving etc. During the whole of the “holiday” some teachers were on duty every day and the grateful thanks of the [County Council] + the [Town name] Borough Council were conveyed to them for the great help so loyally given during this very trying period.

28th Aug
As the school was still under repairs the Education Comm. fixed 11th Sept as the date for re-opening.

7th Sept
Workmen’s feeding arrangements were transferred to [Church] Hall, Xxxx Lane.
11th Sept
School re-opened with 80% attendance. Arrangements had been made for 425 children on books, which necessitated the formation of another class.

15th Sept
Forty six children have been removed from the register. The majority of these were from damaged houses and had been evacuated to other areas.”