Bombing In Islington & EvacuationOxford & IslingtonI was evacuated to Oxford in 1939 aged 14 and was there for about 2 years. Once I moved there I could have got a job with Morris Motors but decided not to becuse money was tight at home and I decided to return Islington for the remainder of the war during the bombing. I worked in a factory back in London in the British Drug Houses. You had to get a job to help with the war effort. My mother and younger brothers used to go down the Tube to shelter at night. I only did this for a while because I became claustrophobic. It was one of the biggest underground stations in London at the time. There were bunk beds all along the platforms and trains were still running until about 2am in the morning and stopped for only a couple of hours. I would stay in the large street based Anderson Shelter. We did not have one at home because our garden not big enough. And we did not have a Morrison Shelter because we had a small house. I saw some terrible sights of bombing, and I would see if I could lend a hand to help if there were casualty's. During the bombings I saw one street completely knocked down with a land mine, but there were few casualtys. The street was devastated with rubble everywhere and nothing left. We also used to watch the Doodle Bugs and we thought it was German planes being shot down. When the docks were attacked, we could see it from Islington and the sky was a blaze in bright red. Like everyone we had our rations, but we lived near a market and would look for extra food which was a nice bonus. I remained uninjured throughout the War although I was hit by some shrapnal one night in a raid but it just cut the over coat. I was called up just before VE DAY in June 1945. I was in the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Norfolks. There were good times and bad times but I never regretted joining the forces.