Doodlebugs, Gas Masks & Gum
Children's Voices from the Second World War
- Author(s):
- Christina Rex
15th November 2008
Paperback
192
80
234
156
From Dunkirk to D-Day, through Doodlebugs to Victory, there was hardly a dull moment and remarkably little fear for us children as we learned, collected and played, having a normal childhood under these bizarre circumstances.
Six years of conflict, where military manoeuvres, bombs and exhortations to greater dedication to the War Effort were a daily staple, became the normality of our childhood after September 3rd 1939. For young children, this was a time of great excitement. Imagine the thrill of: Anderson shelters built in back gardens; Concrete blocks and barbed wire sprouting on beaches; Soldiers and tanks in the streets; The Battle of Britain and those spectacular dogfights; The Blitz and masses of shrapnel to collect; Searchlights lighting up the night sky; American servicemen appearing and their inexhaustible supplies of chewing gum.