Air Raid Shelters

Even before war had been declared air raid shelters were being prepared. There were some large communal shelters, some people had Anderson shelters in their garden, others reinforced cellars. Throughout the war people sometimes just took cover wherever they could.

"I remember the air raid shelters very well. The smell of creosote and hessian".
Patrick Child

"At night we went to a public shelter in Tooting Bec Common, fifty yard down the road... it was very basic; wooden bunks, elsan toilets. We used to take our eiderdowns and spent the night there".
Olive Chinchen

"Although we had an Anderson shelter in the back garden we didn't like it. I think it filled with water and was very cold and horrible and so they - the council presumably - put supports in the cellar so that if the house was destroyed that would be safe. And neighbours from two doors along used to come in if there were raids. And sometimes when the raids were going on every night as they did for quite a period of time, they used to come in at a certain time and go straight to the cellar and sleep in chairs and a sort of bench thing".
Alec Bregonzi

"The cellar under our shop we had fitted up as a shelter with bunks down there and a little old fashioned oil stove and we used to go down there when it got very bad and we always knew when it was going to be a bad raid because the dog and cat - the dog used to walk up and down the passage and the cat used to go and sit by the shop door and sure enough we used to go to that shelter and we would have had a bad night of it bombing. They knew. But it was quite comfortable - you couldn't say cosy - down there - but it was comfortable and we survived."
Joan Burgess

"Our Anderson shelters were either side of the fence in between us, covered not just with earth, but rockery on top. They needed good protection and made it pleasanter to look at."
H M

"so the next night we went to Tooting underground... Hundreds of people were down there laying on the platforms. We had to find ourselves a place to lay our pillow and blanket and there we sat, fed up and miserable. We could have wept, if we hadn't seen the funny side of it. Needless to say, we did not sleep a wink. The tube trains ran till after midnight, and then came a train that done the cleaning of the lines and maintenance, so you can tell what a racket."
Ethel Robinson

"my mattress was on the floor, and they were up above me in these old fashioned beds, not like a divan today, but we were there, we were all together; in case we got a bomb".
Winifred Salisbury

"We were in the first floor room hiding under the living room table like everybody did. We all used to dive under the table. Whether it gave you any protection goodness knows, but it made you feel a little bit better."
Patrick Child

"we used to run down to Clapham North Tube Station... It was my duty as you might say to hold this old music case with the insurance policies, half a bottle of brandy (for medicinal purposes) and all things like that. All the family papers, birth certificates as well. That was my job. I had to grab that when we ran off somewhere."
Margaret Clark

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