The Blitz by Vince Cross

Author:Vince Cross
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic
Published: 2011-12-30T16:00:00+00:00

Thursday, 10th October

They got the Hengist Road school last night, the one where Mum works. The wardens were all out looking after other people, thank goodness, so no one was hurt – but according to Mum it’s a right mess. The building’s three storeys high, with the hall on the ground floor and the classrooms on the two floors above, but now all the ceilings have gone and some of the walls are a bit dodgy, so Mum thinks it’ll have to come down.

There’ve been raids every night now since September 7th. It’s become a routine, like going to school or having breakfast. Sometimes it feels as if we’re small furry animals, staying in our burrows during the night and popping out for a few hours during the day to eat and scavenge among the mess.

And the mess can be unbelievable. Imagine. A bomb lands on the pavement in front of a house. Even if it doesn’t kill or injure anyone, it makes a huge hole in the road and scatters rubble and rubbish all over it, so the road’s useless until it’s cleared. All the windows of the house are blown out and maybe the front wall is unsafe, so the house may end up being pulled down. Of course the electric gets cut off and the water and gas mains may be broken, so everyone in the street ends up having to carry buckets up to stand-pipes at the end of the road just so they can clean their teeth. If you want to make tea, you’ll have to do it on a primus stove!

And this happens a few times every day in Lewisham! And in most other parts of London too, from what Mum and Dad say.

Day by day, it’s getting harder to have fun. The cinemas are closing down one by one. What’s the point in staying open, if there’s going to be an air-raid warning five minutes into the programme? We used to have sing-songs and games for the kids down at the school, but now that’s history. There’s still the wireless, of course, and we all listen in for programmes like It’s That Man Again. Tuesdays at 9.30, bombs permitting. I think Tommy Handley is so funny. Mum tries to look disapproving and says I’m not old enough, but there’s not much to laugh at in the world, is there? It’s really strange how we all keep so cheerful.

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