My name is Len, short for Leonard, and I’m here today to educate you Lot from the Midlands, in how we Cockneys fought the War in the 1940’s. I was born and bred in the East End of London close to Dockland so I know what the Blitz was all about—all them Bombs followed later by the V1’s and V2’s. It was tough in the East End then. The worst part of it was the Firebombs which were hard to put out. The fires were hard to put out ‘cos the fires spread like mad from one building to the next. One day, a soldier who was guarding the Docks saw a German parachute coming down and he fired his rifle at it. In fact it was a Land Mine and it exploded, devastating all the houses near the Docks.
Every day me and my big brother went out on our bike, me on the handlebars, collecting shrapnel to see who could find the biggest piece. One day this Copper stopped us and said “didn’t you hear the sirens—get into that Shelter now”. So, in we went and sat on the crowded benches. Opposite me was a woman with a baby and she unbuttoned her blouse and pulled the baby to her chest. The baby sucked away and, being just 10 years old, I thought that the baby was eating it’s own mother. I had never seen anything like it in my life—I was shocked. She told me that the baby wanted Milk but I thought that Milk came in bottles from the Milk Cart.
Until I was evacuated I had never seen these big animals that you call Cows and the little ones that you call sheep. I first saw them on the charabanc taking us to Swindon in Wiltshire. By law people had to take in evacuees if they had a spare bedroom for £1 a week.
My brother and me ended up on a farm. The farmer’s wife hoarded food in a big cupboard and she opened my brother’s letters to our mother. My mother came to see us and there was a big row. We went back home to East Ham and my brother became a Bevin Boy and had to work down the coal mines. He hated it and managed to ‘escape’ to a normal job.
While I was on my second evacuation I had some trouble with the local kids. They were just like you lot but I told them that Henry Cooper was a friend of mine and he would come and sort them out, and if I have any lip from you lot, Henry will sort you out as well.