Dear Mr. Simpkin,    As I mentioned at your talk last Tuesday to the U3A, I was on your "Blitz Walk on the Monday and thought you would be interested in this old photo of wartime which requires a little explanation. The occasion was the day my father received his long awaited Home Guard uniform and we decided on a family photo of us all in uniform. Dad had been in the Home Guard right from the beginning, but now he had a uniform and a gun. (there was also a Sten Gun which was kept right by the kitchen door).   My brother in the strange looking uniform on the left was a member of the Army Cadet Force at his school.    The uniforms were left over from the Great War - no concessions there !   These uniforms caused trouble when the boys were exercising in the school yard one afternoon and a Messerschmit swooped out of the mist and raked them with machine-gun fire - fortunately none of them were hit.   "Lord Haw-Haw" announced over the radio that the Germans had attacked big concentrations of troops at Odiham that day.   They also dropped a bomb, but that is another story.   I am the girl-guide on the right.   I dont think my cat would have put up much of a fight.    At the time we were really expecting the invasion at any time, watching every night Southampton burning in one direction and Portsmouth in the other.    My father was a most happy man and he never looked as stern as this, but if Hitler had come who knows !   We all survived the war except for the cat who was run over by a tank.   Hope this might be useful for your archives.   Sincerely   Monica Cornforth.  PS I did enjoy both the Blitz Walk and the talk on Southampton Parks.

Dear Mr. Simpkin,    As I mentioned at your talk last Tuesday to the U3A, I was on your "Blitz Walk on the Monday and thought you would be interested in this old photo of wartime which requires a little explanation. The occasion was the day my father received his long awaited Home Guard uniform and we decided on a family photo of us all in uniform. Dad had been in the Home Guard right from the beginning, but now he had a uniform and a gun. (there was also a Sten Gun which was kept right by the kitchen door).   My brother in the strange looking uniform on the left was a member of the Army Cadet Force at his school.    The uniforms were left over from the Great War - no concessions there !   These uniforms caused trouble when the boys were exercising in the school yard one afternoon and a Messerschmit swooped out of the mist and raked them with machine-gun fire - fortunately none of them were hit.   "Lord Haw-Haw" announced over the radio that the Germans had attacked big concentrations of troops at Odiham that day.   They also dropped a bomb, but that is another story.   I am the girl-guide on the right.   I dont think my cat would have put up much of a fight.    At the time we were really expecting the invasion at any time, watching every night Southampton burning in one direction and Portsmouth in the other.    My father was a most happy man and he never looked as stern as this, but if Hitler had come who knows !   We all survived the war except for the cat who was run over by a tank.   Hope this might be useful for your archives.   Sincerely   Monica Cornforth.  PS I did enjoy both the Blitz Walk and the talk on Southampton Parks.

My son and I watched the dvd this morning and I am absolutely delighted with it.  Am going to order one for my grandson for his birthday later this month.  Steve and I were very taken up with the American soldiers carving their names in the wall - we hadn't heard of that before.

I was born in 1939 and as a small child lived in Romsey Road fairly near Maybush corner.  I recall one or two incidents towards the end of the war- one being the 'marbles' which were turned out at Green Lane and which my friends and I used to pick up on our way home from school. Another memory is that of having a ride on an American soldier's motorbike.  Gosh, we used to trust people in those days, didn't we?  It must have been a very short ride (from Green Lane to Maybush Corner). Several children were given this 'thrill' and I happened to be the last one as I lived nearest to Maybush Corner.

Another thing I recall is a trip to Bournemouth when I was about three.  My father attended to all the sound equipment for the aerodromes - Hurn, Ibsley, Thorney Island, and others which I can't recall.  On one occasion my mother and I went with him for the ride and I remember there being lots of barbed wire along the beach at Bournemouth (or some seaside place) and as I was paddling a huge wave drenched me and we had a long wait for my father to finish his inspection.  There were several American soldiers relaxing on the beach and they saw that mum was in a bit of a dilemma, so they sat with me whilst she went off and bought me a dress.  I don't know how she managed to pay for it or get enough coupons but I remember the dress as clearly as anything.  It was yellow and white check with a white collar.  I am often amazed at the trust she put in these chaps, because as far as I can recall I only wore a coat to keep me warm as it wasn't summer, and everything else was soaking wet.
Sadly mum died when I was 17 as she had been ill since having rheumatic fever as a child
 
I recall going to the Co-op in St.Mary's and having tea and cakes in the restaurant and it was furnished with Lloyd loom style tables and chairs, but I cannot remember the colour - it was definitely either peachy/pink or turquoise. I know the tables were glass topped.
I also remember Lyons Tea House where mum and grandma would take tea on our trips to town.  There were lots of wooden barriers along the road there stopping people falling into the bombed areas and I tore a coat on a nail protruding from one of these fences.  
I have so many odd memories of those post
war years.  My grandma and her friend who lived in Janson Road, must have looked a strange sight in Shirley.  They were extremely smart and must have looked rather odd walking along in their tailored suits, fox furs, white gloves and posh hats.  They'd look even more odd now, wouldn't they?

My son and I watched the dvd this morning and I am absolutely delighted with it.  Am going to order one for my grandson for his birthday later this month.  Steve and I were very taken up with the American soldiers carving their names in the wall - we hadn't heard of that before.

I was born in 1939 and as a small child lived in Romsey Road fairly near Maybush corner.  I recall one or two incidents towards the end of the war- one being the 'marbles' which were turned out at Green Lane and which my friends and I used to pick up on our way home from school. Another memory is that of having a ride on an American soldier's motorbike.  Gosh, we used to trust people in those days, didn't we?  It must have been a very short ride (from Green Lane to Maybush Corner). Several children were given this 'thrill' and I happened to be the last one as I lived nearest to Maybush Corner.

Another thing I recall is a trip to Bournemouth when I was about three.  My father attended to all the sound equipment for the aerodromes - Hurn, Ibsley, Thorney Island, and others which I can't recall.  On one occasion my mother and I went with him for the ride and I remember there being lots of barbed wire along the beach at Bournemouth (or some seaside place) and as I was paddling a huge wave drenched me and we had a long wait for my father to finish his inspection.  There were several American soldiers relaxing on the beach and they saw that mum was in a bit of a dilemma, so they sat with me whilst she went off and bought me a dress.  I don't know how she managed to pay for it or get enough coupons but I remember the dress as clearly as anything.  It was yellow and white check with a white collar.  I am often amazed at the trust she put in these chaps, because as far as I can recall I only wore a coat to keep me warm as it wasn't summer, and everything else was soaking wet.
Sadly mum died when I was 17 as she had been ill since having rheumatic fever as a child
 
I recall going to the Co-op in St.Mary's and having tea and cakes in the restaurant and it was furnished with Lloyd loom style tables and chairs, but I cannot remember the colour - it was definitely either peachy/pink or turquoise. I know the tables were glass topped.
I also remember Lyons Tea House where mum and grandma would take tea on our trips to town.  There were lots of wooden barriers along the road there stopping people falling into the bombed areas and I tore a coat on a nail protruding from one of these fences.  
I have so many odd memories of those post
war years.  My grandma and her friend who lived in Janson Road, must have looked a strange sight in Shirley.  They were extremely smart and must have looked rather odd walking along in their tailored suits, fox furs, white gloves and posh hats.  They'd look even more odd now, wouldn't they?