53 Buckingham Avenue
London N 20
My Dear Tom,
I have not received your letter yet but no doubt it will be awaiting me at the office to-morrow morning. It may have arrived by the late afternoon post which I missed through going to the ARP place at East Finchley. We left the office at 2.30 this afternoon, about 8 of us went, 4 girls and 4 men and Mr Davies leading us. We had practically an hour and a half there, so you can guess we did not feel like going back to the office just to sign off. It was a very good do. We donned gas capes & leggings & gum boots and one at a time disappeared into a tin hut which contained a real fire and a fire bomb to be put out. We had to lie on the floor close to the instructor whilst he guided our hands and told us what to do. (Bet he enjoyed himself when the girls went in). Having disposed of the fire, we next proceeded to the gas hut where we actually had to take our gas masks off. So it was quite an interesting afternoon. I must say I feel more of a fire watcher now. Our fire watching last night was interesting as usual, but quiet. We read and talked most of the time after a lovely supper of chips & sausage meat, which Ethel & I cooked. We always do ourselves well on a fire watching don't we? Then later, about midnight, we had coffee and cakes. For breakfast, I was asked to cook one of my famous welsh rarebits. (Mr Davies insisted). You haven't heard about them have you? I shall have to make it for you when you come home, because I have had a lot of practice now. I have hit on a very bright idea. Ethel reminded me that when I'm married, I shall have to pay National Health, which amounts to 6/10 one month (4 weeks) and 8/5 another. Well as I should have to go to the doctor to be examined before he will take me as a panel patient, I could join N.H.I. a month before marriage and get all fixed up with a definite doctor. The visit would only cost 6/10 instead of 10/- or more. Your mother phoned me this evening and, as I had not received a letter today, she read hers out to me. I expect you will be sorry to leave there in 9 weeks time. I'm very glad you are not going to the search-light unit. Fancy giving Bowen a rifle with a fixed bayonet. He must have looked funny especially as I don't suppose he knew how to use it. I suppose you will have to take your turn on guard duty sometime. Winnie has now decided to get married on her fiance's next leave, whenever that may be. Apparently he has been pressing her for sometime. What we girls have to put up with! I'm still wondering how all the thousands of girls manage to perform their duties as a wife and yet continue at the office. What if they start a family with neither proper home nor food? Well I shall finish this at the office tomorrow, when perhaps I shall have your letter to answer. Tuesday I received your lovely long letter this morning. Evelyn had put it safely away in my desk drawer. Congratualtions on coming 2nd. What a pity George will not be staying with you. I expect he will have gone by Whitsun, when I am hoping to come down, though I really do not know where the money will come from. When I get paid on Thursday I shall be spending quite a lot on various clothes. A friend of mother's has offered me her coupons, although even with those I shall not have enough. Besides I shall not use the whole 18 it would not be fair would it? It should be a case of special leave for getting married. I noticed in the paper the other day, that a certain gunner Marks had obtained leave three times to marry the same girl. Apparently first time was in a registry office and as he was Jewish, he had to get married according to the Jewish faith (second time). The third time was because his records at the synagogue were destroyed in an air raid, so it's possible to get leave more than once if necessary. You mentioned you only received one letter. Well, another one should have reached you on Saturday this was also without "A Coy" as I did not receive your letter until Friday evening at home. I wonder if you will manage to live near home when you finish the course. It would be lovely. I should be very pleased to meet all your friends. By the way, I may be fire watching on the date we have fixed for our wedding, so we may have to spend our honeymoon at the office. What a revolting thought!!!! Well I suppose I had better get on with some work! All my love, and remember me to the others won't you?
Margaret
PS Mr Davies wants to hire a bus so that he can gather everybody together and come along to the wedding. But I'm not sure I shall allow a big red bus to stand by such a great church and mar our beautiful picture, rather like Hampstead Heath on a bank holiday!
Monday, 24 October 2011
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
To Mary Platt from Tom Critchley 12.10.1940
37, Lonsdale Drive,
12.10.40
My dear Mary & Co,
If that daughter of yours craves air raid excitements send her along to us, we can put her in Tom's occasional bed... a mattress under the dining room table. All that we can guarantee is an air raid & most probably lots & lots of noise plenty of shell bursts & flashes & the far from exciting drone of Jerry overhead. If she had been here on Thursday night I guess she would have been cured. They came at 7.15 pm and for four hours never gave us a minutes peace; at least half a dozen at a time somewhere not too far off. At 8 o'clock we heard the swish of bombs & made a most undignified rush under the table. Three or four fell in fields close by & did an enormous amount of damage, most severely killing one cow. Shortly after that we decided to patronise the shelter. About 10 I heard the quick firing guns blazing away & as it was a lovely clear night guessed it must be flares they are shooting at so went out to look. I had a cap on and poised my tin hat on top of it. Unfortunately the hat caught the edge of the shelter & came down with a terrific clatter onto some bricks and then rolled onto the concrete path. Next door folks rushed out and seeing me in the garden called out in very agitated tones "What was that!" Pointing towards Palmers Green I said "They dropped two flares". It didn't calm their fears, but I didn't tell them what it was. We laughed about it and laughed still more when the missus next door told Annie their house shook. Now I simply daren't tell them.
We have now found another amusement other than popping under tables. Last night things were not quite to bad, so we went to bed about 10 pm. At about half past I was three parts asleep, when a bomb and its subsequent vibrations roused me, then immediately after came the angry-sounding swish. Annie was asleep, I yelled to her & she rolled between the two beds, & did it so gracefully too, just as the next bump came.
Is that the sort of excitement Molly wants?!
I certainly didn't think it exciting yesterday morning in a very thick fog I was held up at Brimsdown level crossing with the guns banging at planes overhead.
Johnson Matthey at Hatton Garden got a direct hit on Thursday night, I believe it has made a nasty mess & upset part of their work. We are still trying to get straight after our do at the works last week. Judging by the way three ton stuff has been thrown about it must have been a heavy bomb.
I like your suggestion about transferring to Scotland, but if we all did that we would lose our position in the league and might drop into the second division. One of my men has already acted on your suggestion, he is the only one to do a bunk and as he is Scottish by birth, perhaps one can understand it. He has gone to relatives somewhere in Ayrshire.
The character of the daylight raids have changed very considerably since we knocked the stuffing out of the big bombers. These still come in odd ones if the weather is bad, but if it is fine, then they send chiefly fighters with probably one-bomb each, most difficult for our blokes to intercept as we have seen for ourselves, there is so little difference in the relative speeds. We had such a raid at Brimsdown this morning. The warning had gone out for about half an hour when suddenly whistles sounded. By the time one had grabbed a tin hat, guns were blazing & before we could get into shelters, planes were overhead & by the time we had reached shelters it was all over. That was a raid that was. No bombs dropped near us. So back we trooped to our jobs.
Liverpool and St Helens are getting it pretty bad aren't they? What you folks have done to dodge it I don't know, still, their air force can't be as great as all that or they would be doing far more than they are doing. I certainly expected to see them keeping it up for days on end, but don't think I am disappointed, far from it.
Tom (Tom and Annie's youngest son) is still all right and not having quite such a tough time as formerly, they have improved the Central London gun barrage, so the suburbs get a few more instead.
That's all about the war news for this time from your special correspondent at Enfield.
We had two letters from Ronald (Tom and Annie's oldest son) this week, he is as usual having a nice enjoyable time & in one he speaks of purchasing a cocktail shaker!!
Cheerio and love to you three,
Annie and Tom
P S the bombs last night must have dropped near the tube (it runs in the open here) as there are no trains from Enfield West to Cockfosters, the terminus.
Annie adds a post script: 'Talk about going under beds. I was fast asleep when T. said "Get under the bed quick;" I simply rolled out of mine & under his. He stayed in, there I was under and he in!! All I felt was the floor bump. Then says he politely "You can get back now, it's all over."'
Sunday
Nothing to report except they put a bomb in Trafalgar Squar last night in front of Nelson, but didn't injure him.
12.10.40
My dear Mary & Co,
If that daughter of yours craves air raid excitements send her along to us, we can put her in Tom's occasional bed... a mattress under the dining room table. All that we can guarantee is an air raid & most probably lots & lots of noise plenty of shell bursts & flashes & the far from exciting drone of Jerry overhead. If she had been here on Thursday night I guess she would have been cured. They came at 7.15 pm and for four hours never gave us a minutes peace; at least half a dozen at a time somewhere not too far off. At 8 o'clock we heard the swish of bombs & made a most undignified rush under the table. Three or four fell in fields close by & did an enormous amount of damage, most severely killing one cow. Shortly after that we decided to patronise the shelter. About 10 I heard the quick firing guns blazing away & as it was a lovely clear night guessed it must be flares they are shooting at so went out to look. I had a cap on and poised my tin hat on top of it. Unfortunately the hat caught the edge of the shelter & came down with a terrific clatter onto some bricks and then rolled onto the concrete path. Next door folks rushed out and seeing me in the garden called out in very agitated tones "What was that!" Pointing towards Palmers Green I said "They dropped two flares". It didn't calm their fears, but I didn't tell them what it was. We laughed about it and laughed still more when the missus next door told Annie their house shook. Now I simply daren't tell them.
We have now found another amusement other than popping under tables. Last night things were not quite to bad, so we went to bed about 10 pm. At about half past I was three parts asleep, when a bomb and its subsequent vibrations roused me, then immediately after came the angry-sounding swish. Annie was asleep, I yelled to her & she rolled between the two beds, & did it so gracefully too, just as the next bump came.
Is that the sort of excitement Molly wants?!
I certainly didn't think it exciting yesterday morning in a very thick fog I was held up at Brimsdown level crossing with the guns banging at planes overhead.
Johnson Matthey at Hatton Garden got a direct hit on Thursday night, I believe it has made a nasty mess & upset part of their work. We are still trying to get straight after our do at the works last week. Judging by the way three ton stuff has been thrown about it must have been a heavy bomb.
I like your suggestion about transferring to Scotland, but if we all did that we would lose our position in the league and might drop into the second division. One of my men has already acted on your suggestion, he is the only one to do a bunk and as he is Scottish by birth, perhaps one can understand it. He has gone to relatives somewhere in Ayrshire.
The character of the daylight raids have changed very considerably since we knocked the stuffing out of the big bombers. These still come in odd ones if the weather is bad, but if it is fine, then they send chiefly fighters with probably one-bomb each, most difficult for our blokes to intercept as we have seen for ourselves, there is so little difference in the relative speeds. We had such a raid at Brimsdown this morning. The warning had gone out for about half an hour when suddenly whistles sounded. By the time one had grabbed a tin hat, guns were blazing & before we could get into shelters, planes were overhead & by the time we had reached shelters it was all over. That was a raid that was. No bombs dropped near us. So back we trooped to our jobs.
Liverpool and St Helens are getting it pretty bad aren't they? What you folks have done to dodge it I don't know, still, their air force can't be as great as all that or they would be doing far more than they are doing. I certainly expected to see them keeping it up for days on end, but don't think I am disappointed, far from it.
Tom (Tom and Annie's youngest son) is still all right and not having quite such a tough time as formerly, they have improved the Central London gun barrage, so the suburbs get a few more instead.
That's all about the war news for this time from your special correspondent at Enfield.
We had two letters from Ronald (Tom and Annie's oldest son) this week, he is as usual having a nice enjoyable time & in one he speaks of purchasing a cocktail shaker!!
Cheerio and love to you three,
Annie and Tom
P S the bombs last night must have dropped near the tube (it runs in the open here) as there are no trains from Enfield West to Cockfosters, the terminus.
Annie adds a post script: 'Talk about going under beds. I was fast asleep when T. said "Get under the bed quick;" I simply rolled out of mine & under his. He stayed in, there I was under and he in!! All I felt was the floor bump. Then says he politely "You can get back now, it's all over."'
Sunday
Nothing to report except they put a bomb in Trafalgar Squar last night in front of Nelson, but didn't injure him.
Wednesday, 5 October 2011
To Mary Platt from Tom Critchley 5.10.1940
My dear Mary & Co,
Whatever else life is as the moment, it is not monotonous, we certainly get a variety of experiences, all more or less unpleasant it seems. Even the all-night raids here had a break at last, ere they got too monotonous & the last two nights we have had the all clear by 3 am. But on the other hand the two preceding afternoons have been raids all the time. In our foolish optimism we thought rain would mean a cessation, nothing of the kind, it only means more haphazard bombing, which is a bad thing.
Last Monday night we had a rare good do, the best yet. Guns were at it all night & on one occasion as several bombs dropped together we had what one can only describe as an earth tremor; the beds shook for quite a time. Then that same night there was a crash which I thought meant tiles gone; it wasn't ours after all but next door had a large size shell nose complete through their roof & ceiling. The ARP collared it as they said it was unexploded.
Further to give a bit of variety, the chumps have eased up on the sirens so that now bombs may fall & no warning be out. Friday I was on my way home when there was a good old crump & when I arrived home folks all at their doors. The plane was fairly low overhead & had dropped two eggs at Cockfosters about three quarters of a mile away.
We have had two lots of incendiaries fairly near this week, but no damage of note was done. We heard each lot coming down and were out of bed and at the door in record time.
Occasionally we get a real good thrill, such a one was yesterday when in the rain & low clouds a Junkers 88 was spotted near the works flying low. I was on spotting duty at the time & had a good view. He flew slightly to the north of us & perhaps saw our chimneys, anyhow, he turned and made a dive for the works. The nearby quick-firing gun (2" Beaufort-Swedish-120 shots a minute) got him immediately with red tracer shells. We saw the shells... at first just short & then immediately underneath, he banked steeply, almost horizontal, & dodged in and out as every gun in the district got going. The air was thick with shell bursts and much too hot for him. Then he began to lose height and we saw two bombs drop. They dropped about a mile away completely demolishing some houses. The soldiers said their HQ told them they scored two hits & he came down.
I never saw folks as excited as some of our fellows were. At the top of their voices they were giving a running commentary in far from choice language & dancing about without a thought of cover. I'll bet Harry has never got in such a state at a football match.
As a further bit of experience a bomb was dropped on the towpath across the river from the works & one of big calibre in the works last night. The first only smashed one side of a building & brought down about 100 telephone wires, but the latter has made a lovely mess. It's in my side of the works & I have an office with broken windows & no ceiling and a lab next door that's little more than a rubbish heap. On the whole we were lucky it has done as little damage as it has done. The bomb went in soft earth and penetrated deep before exploding so that the blast was blanketed & the force exploded upwards. We have a crater you could put a house into, about twenty feet deep and fifty feet wide. All that earth went up in the air and came down on nearby roofs, bringing some of those to the ground. The garage where I keep my car in day time had a morris van inside. One of the garage doors was blown to bits, the girders hurled in all directions & the concrete floor lifted in chunks all over the show. The van body is a wreck but the engine etc is all right. The remarkable thing is the silver nitrate building escaped except for some broken joists in the roof. The copper sulphate building has no roof & one side is missing, but the plant inside is OK & most of the main staunchions and beams are sound. Taken by and large, I reckon we got off very lightly indeed & except for copper sulphate, can carry on as usual in a day or so.
All the vital things here escaped & furthermore nobody was injured, although men were working in the vicinity & some of the Home Guard were in a pill box between the two bombs.
The most wierd thing is the suplhuric acid tank, fortunately it only has about a ton in at present; the bomb fell about 10 feet from one end of it (by the way it is on girders 14 ft in the air) & it is still up in the air with most of the girders twisted into impossible shapes, two of them with their concrete bases suspended over the crater. Well that's the war news today from our small window. We had three letters from Ronald (Tom and Annie's oldest son) on Friday, all posted in August on different days & all via America. They cost him from 3/9d to 10/- to send & have come nearly all round the world... Palestine to Singapore, to Australia, to America & then on by American Clipper.
I doubt if he knows if there is a war on. Life goes on in the old peaceful way, perhaps we might say it's monotonous way.
Perhaps I told you he and a friend took a flat. He speaks glowingly of a trip to Jaffa and bathing in the warm sea and entertainment at Government House. Lucky Ronald, may his luck continue.
Tom (Tom and Annie's youngest son) is getting a little less attention at night now. I think that's why we are getting a bit more.
I don't blame Mrs Wilson's folks for leaving London. I think those who have no real reason for staying ought to get away, it isn't too pleasant a district these days & yet it might be a lot worse. It's surprising what one can get used to & put up with. Believe me, London folks stick it wonderfully well.
Bye bye, love to you three,
From Annie & Tom
Whatever else life is as the moment, it is not monotonous, we certainly get a variety of experiences, all more or less unpleasant it seems. Even the all-night raids here had a break at last, ere they got too monotonous & the last two nights we have had the all clear by 3 am. But on the other hand the two preceding afternoons have been raids all the time. In our foolish optimism we thought rain would mean a cessation, nothing of the kind, it only means more haphazard bombing, which is a bad thing.
Last Monday night we had a rare good do, the best yet. Guns were at it all night & on one occasion as several bombs dropped together we had what one can only describe as an earth tremor; the beds shook for quite a time. Then that same night there was a crash which I thought meant tiles gone; it wasn't ours after all but next door had a large size shell nose complete through their roof & ceiling. The ARP collared it as they said it was unexploded.
Further to give a bit of variety, the chumps have eased up on the sirens so that now bombs may fall & no warning be out. Friday I was on my way home when there was a good old crump & when I arrived home folks all at their doors. The plane was fairly low overhead & had dropped two eggs at Cockfosters about three quarters of a mile away.
We have had two lots of incendiaries fairly near this week, but no damage of note was done. We heard each lot coming down and were out of bed and at the door in record time.
Occasionally we get a real good thrill, such a one was yesterday when in the rain & low clouds a Junkers 88 was spotted near the works flying low. I was on spotting duty at the time & had a good view. He flew slightly to the north of us & perhaps saw our chimneys, anyhow, he turned and made a dive for the works. The nearby quick-firing gun (2" Beaufort-Swedish-120 shots a minute) got him immediately with red tracer shells. We saw the shells... at first just short & then immediately underneath, he banked steeply, almost horizontal, & dodged in and out as every gun in the district got going. The air was thick with shell bursts and much too hot for him. Then he began to lose height and we saw two bombs drop. They dropped about a mile away completely demolishing some houses. The soldiers said their HQ told them they scored two hits & he came down.
I never saw folks as excited as some of our fellows were. At the top of their voices they were giving a running commentary in far from choice language & dancing about without a thought of cover. I'll bet Harry has never got in such a state at a football match.
As a further bit of experience a bomb was dropped on the towpath across the river from the works & one of big calibre in the works last night. The first only smashed one side of a building & brought down about 100 telephone wires, but the latter has made a lovely mess. It's in my side of the works & I have an office with broken windows & no ceiling and a lab next door that's little more than a rubbish heap. On the whole we were lucky it has done as little damage as it has done. The bomb went in soft earth and penetrated deep before exploding so that the blast was blanketed & the force exploded upwards. We have a crater you could put a house into, about twenty feet deep and fifty feet wide. All that earth went up in the air and came down on nearby roofs, bringing some of those to the ground. The garage where I keep my car in day time had a morris van inside. One of the garage doors was blown to bits, the girders hurled in all directions & the concrete floor lifted in chunks all over the show. The van body is a wreck but the engine etc is all right. The remarkable thing is the silver nitrate building escaped except for some broken joists in the roof. The copper sulphate building has no roof & one side is missing, but the plant inside is OK & most of the main staunchions and beams are sound. Taken by and large, I reckon we got off very lightly indeed & except for copper sulphate, can carry on as usual in a day or so.
All the vital things here escaped & furthermore nobody was injured, although men were working in the vicinity & some of the Home Guard were in a pill box between the two bombs.
The most wierd thing is the suplhuric acid tank, fortunately it only has about a ton in at present; the bomb fell about 10 feet from one end of it (by the way it is on girders 14 ft in the air) & it is still up in the air with most of the girders twisted into impossible shapes, two of them with their concrete bases suspended over the crater. Well that's the war news today from our small window. We had three letters from Ronald (Tom and Annie's oldest son) on Friday, all posted in August on different days & all via America. They cost him from 3/9d to 10/- to send & have come nearly all round the world... Palestine to Singapore, to Australia, to America & then on by American Clipper.
I doubt if he knows if there is a war on. Life goes on in the old peaceful way, perhaps we might say it's monotonous way.
Perhaps I told you he and a friend took a flat. He speaks glowingly of a trip to Jaffa and bathing in the warm sea and entertainment at Government House. Lucky Ronald, may his luck continue.
Tom (Tom and Annie's youngest son) is getting a little less attention at night now. I think that's why we are getting a bit more.
I don't blame Mrs Wilson's folks for leaving London. I think those who have no real reason for staying ought to get away, it isn't too pleasant a district these days & yet it might be a lot worse. It's surprising what one can get used to & put up with. Believe me, London folks stick it wonderfully well.
Bye bye, love to you three,
From Annie & Tom
Thursday, 29 September 2011
Letter to Mary Platt from Tom Critchley 29.9.1940
37, Lonsdale Drive,
Enfield.
My dear Mary,
Here we are again, still full of beans and with no great excitements to report, that is, none compared with many less fortunate people. The chief thing that worries me is the incendiaries. We had another lot dropped near here on Tuesday night or rather 2.30 on Wednesday morning. We were in bed and wakened by the gun fire when I heard them dropped. I was out of bed & at the door in record time to see them burst out about 200 yards away.
We seem to be in the gun barrage zone & when a plane is anywhere near there is no sleep possible. More and more guns seem to be coming into action. The battery of 4.5's when let off in solo shakes the place, then a big naval gun came along, and that seems as if the house was ready to come down. Last night they brought in a new lot which makes one afraid for the windows. The mobile ones are a minor evil. We go to bed with the intention of sleeping, but every time a plane gets near, we wake up with a row and cannot tell guns from bombs except when a big one shakes the ground, & fortunately that is rarely.
There was a bit of excitement on Monday to Saturday night. Jerry dropped two land mines. One in the Enfield Town Park & one just outside Enfield on Bush Hill Park golf course. The former didn't explode, but the latter did & bust up nearly all the shop windows in Enfield. The one in the park they decided to dismantle on Monday and shut up all the shops & cleared folks out of Enfield town while they did it. Even the telephone exchange was evacuated. The best was nearly 9 feet long and weighed almost a ton. It's a blessing it didn't go off.
On Wednesday night a couple made a mess of Golders Green & wiped out a family of six, among others. The man frequently came to the works at Brimsdown, we knew him well.
Tuesday night we had a good display. One of these landmines was caught in the searchlights as it was coming down by parachute. I heard every gun in the district blazing away, so went to look what it was all about and saw umpteen searchlights on this queer object with shells bursting all around it. But the weirdest was the way the tracer shells seemed to be climbing up the searchlights only to drop off before they reached the top. Hundreds of red and yellow tracer shells went at it. We watched it drift from our neighbourhood out of our gunfire & later heard it explode in the air over Cheshunt district. Except for a few roofs, doors and windows, it did little damage.
The nearest they have been to us is to drop two on successive nights near the tube station.
There has been a lot of activity today with a number of warnings. Once this morning, there was an air battle in the near distance with no warning. This afternoon 49 fighters passed over the works in one huge formation, may they have been lucky!
The most remarkable thing is that the works has escaped so far (touch wood) although they had one last night between us and Ediswan which fell on waste land... we aren't grumbing.
Tom (his son) is still getting a nightly dose, they have had one in the parade ground this week. He doesn't come home at night now, as there is no going out with any safety once the guns start which is now at nights about 8 O'clock.
We used to think Londoners were a soft lot (Tom is from St Helens, Lancashire, Annie from Millon, Cumbria) but if Lancashire stands up to it half as well as London has done, I'll be pleased. I haven't heard a grouse from any one of our 250 men, although, as my foreman said, he might well let his house furnished for what use it is to him. They work 7 to 7 & spend their home time in shelters & are making it their normal life.
The latest story going around is that one night a man who had gone to bed, heard bombs, jumped out of bed in the dark & in his haste didn't notice he put his trousers on back to front. He rushed out of the room and fell downstairs. His wife heared the row and called out " Are you hurt John". John felt himself and then in fear called back "Oh Mary, I've twisted myself something awful"
Yesterday we had a cable from Ronald (his oldest son in Palestine) to say he is "Happy and well", letters are rare and long on the way. The cable took two days to reach us after it was received in London.
Telephones and all means of communication are a mess these days. Our old man (boss) wanted someone the other day during a raid. The telephone girl informed him the person concerned was "spitting on the roof". The bloke of course was spotting to give an internal warning if danger was near. Spotters have and unpleasant job. Our lot blew whistles on Saturday and the men had only just got under cover when the all clear went up. There were a lot of rude remarks, but the spotters were right. They heard a plane & a bomb explode. The weather was dull and as it happened the bomb was a delayed action from some previous raid, but they, of course, weren't to know that. These delayed action things go off at all sorts of odd times & if there is no warning out, no one knows what the bang is.
Saturday
There was a good bag yesterday wasn't there? We saw little of it except gunfire and the noise. Tom phoned to say both the Houses of Parliament & Westminster Abbey had very near misses, the latter having one or two windows damaged.
It was a pitch dark cloudy night last night and we could see some fires south and south west of us, but nothing like the huge ones when they lit up the docks and that district.
I am having the morning off and I have just been to Potters Bar to have some adjustments on the car. They dropped a number the other night and made a bit of a mess. Just as I was getting back again the now familiar noise went forth... the 103rd time this month.
Now, just over half an hour later the all clear is going & Annie has gone to look if any of the returning fighters are doing the victory roll.
Before the warning goes we usually get several squadrons pass over us and see them coming back, sad to say sometimes with some missing.
That's all this time, except to say its time some one invented concentrated extract of sleep: they have done it for beef, milk etc, so why not for sleep?!
Love to you all,
From us both,
Tom
Wednesday, 21 September 2011
Letter to Mary Platt from Tom Critchley 20.9.1940 continued
37, Lonsdale Drive, Saturday,
We had a fairly good night until about 4 am when things began to liven up. Something shook the house from top to bottom, whether guns or bombs I don't know. About that time they hit the Enfield small arms & blew up the gasometer as they are getting nearer to the works (Johnson Matthey)
You cannot speak to anyone, who has not had something near to them...
One of our directors has had to evacuate for a time bomb & has had several houses down near to him.
A clerk is also evacuated for a time bomb, but it doesn't matter in his case as his house has no windows & only a part of a roof.
The typist I told you of.
Anning, who takes over from me when I am away had a shell explode outside his house blowing the windows in at the front.
A chemist has a bomb dropped on a garage nearly opposite, he has part of the garage and car in his house of which one room only is inhabitable.
This morning a foreman rolled up late, the house next to his was gutted by an oil bomb last night, or rather early this morning.
It's a beggar isn't it?
Every day one hears that so & so's place has gone; still, I suppose it isn't so bad as was expected it would be; it will be alright some day.
I expect you to write to me each week, if I write to you, so see that you do.
I have given Tom (his youngest son) your and Phoebe's address in case the very unlikely should happen to us. As I told you ours is a fairly safe district as things go & it's tremendous odds on us getting hurt, besides, I expect ere long they will find a counter to the night bombers as they have the day ones. The only time they dare come in daylight is in clouds or rain & then only an odd one who drops his bombs and bolts for home. If folks stick to it, & they look like doing that, I believe Jerry is wacked.
London has got knocked about a bit, some places worse than others, but there is a lot of it & it's going to take years to flatten out everything & when that's done there is still Glasgow eh!
Later
We have just got your letters & are sorry to hear you are getting some attention now. Adolf certainly doesn't seem to understand that his attentions are not received with favour... I never knew such a chap for pushing where he is not wanted.
It's a lovely day here today so he is leaving us alone, he prefers weather like himself... foul, & that is a mild term.
Our record day is 8 warnings & a 15- hour out of 24 warning period.
By the way, take my tip & buy an electric ring for heating. Some folks I know have been two weeks without gas & it's no joke to light a fire in the morning before you can have hot water. I think a ring is better than a kettle as it can serve more than one purpose. Gas is more vulnerable than current.
It's about 3 weeks since we had a peaceful night & very rarely do we get an all clear before 5 am. As a rule when the warning goes (about 8 these nights) one can reckon on an all night do.
I won't attempt to give you a list of damaged places, but transport is bad as they have made a dead set at railways, which after all is permissible, & they have certainly upset the timetables.
Keep smiling, it won't last for ever,
Love to you all from Annie & Tom
PS a friend of Tom's (his son) a midshipman in the navy is home on leave & says he'll be glad to get back to sea for a bit of peace.
We had a fairly good night until about 4 am when things began to liven up. Something shook the house from top to bottom, whether guns or bombs I don't know. About that time they hit the Enfield small arms & blew up the gasometer as they are getting nearer to the works (Johnson Matthey)
You cannot speak to anyone, who has not had something near to them...
One of our directors has had to evacuate for a time bomb & has had several houses down near to him.
A clerk is also evacuated for a time bomb, but it doesn't matter in his case as his house has no windows & only a part of a roof.
The typist I told you of.
Anning, who takes over from me when I am away had a shell explode outside his house blowing the windows in at the front.
A chemist has a bomb dropped on a garage nearly opposite, he has part of the garage and car in his house of which one room only is inhabitable.
This morning a foreman rolled up late, the house next to his was gutted by an oil bomb last night, or rather early this morning.
It's a beggar isn't it?
Every day one hears that so & so's place has gone; still, I suppose it isn't so bad as was expected it would be; it will be alright some day.
I expect you to write to me each week, if I write to you, so see that you do.
I have given Tom (his youngest son) your and Phoebe's address in case the very unlikely should happen to us. As I told you ours is a fairly safe district as things go & it's tremendous odds on us getting hurt, besides, I expect ere long they will find a counter to the night bombers as they have the day ones. The only time they dare come in daylight is in clouds or rain & then only an odd one who drops his bombs and bolts for home. If folks stick to it, & they look like doing that, I believe Jerry is wacked.
London has got knocked about a bit, some places worse than others, but there is a lot of it & it's going to take years to flatten out everything & when that's done there is still Glasgow eh!
Later
We have just got your letters & are sorry to hear you are getting some attention now. Adolf certainly doesn't seem to understand that his attentions are not received with favour... I never knew such a chap for pushing where he is not wanted.
It's a lovely day here today so he is leaving us alone, he prefers weather like himself... foul, & that is a mild term.
Our record day is 8 warnings & a 15- hour out of 24 warning period.
By the way, take my tip & buy an electric ring for heating. Some folks I know have been two weeks without gas & it's no joke to light a fire in the morning before you can have hot water. I think a ring is better than a kettle as it can serve more than one purpose. Gas is more vulnerable than current.
It's about 3 weeks since we had a peaceful night & very rarely do we get an all clear before 5 am. As a rule when the warning goes (about 8 these nights) one can reckon on an all night do.
I won't attempt to give you a list of damaged places, but transport is bad as they have made a dead set at railways, which after all is permissible, & they have certainly upset the timetables.
Keep smiling, it won't last for ever,
Love to you all from Annie & Tom
PS a friend of Tom's (his son) a midshipman in the navy is home on leave & says he'll be glad to get back to sea for a bit of peace.
Tuesday, 20 September 2011
Letter to Mary Platt from Tom Critchley 20.9.1940
37 Lonsdale Drive,
Enfield
My dear Mary & Co,
As the nightly wail has just gone forth (7.50 pm) I will get your letter off my chest. This week has been quite an eventful one in some ways. To begin with, Tom's hospital got a knock-out blow at 2.30 am on Monday morning, but fortunately he was sleeping here & got a nasty shock when he saw it next morning. A half-ton bomb caught the building in a glancing blow, demolishing two wards in its fall &, exploding in the road, made a nasty mess of the rest of the structure. The Tate Gallery next door suffered somewhat from the same bomb. Most fortunately nobody except one M.O. was injured. The patients had been evacuated to the basement and were safe, though some had to be dug out the next day.
Tuesday night, Tom's girlfriend's family (Margaret Robinson and her sisters, Joyce and Nancy and their parents, Gertrude and Harold. They lived at 53, Buckingham Avenue, Whetstone, London N 20) had a nasty few minutes with a bomb about 50 yards away.
Wednesday night we had a thrill. A number of bombs were dropped in Enfield, not that we heard them, the gunfire was too loud, but it seemed to me unpleasantly lively in our district, so we patronised the shelter. Despite the noise we were both half asleep about 10.15 pm when both heard a noise like a rushing mighty wind & then slight poppings all over the place. I said to Annie "Incendiaries" & dashed out. Fires seemed all over the place, but fortunately in our gardens mainly. After making sure that we & our neighbours had none & connecting the hose to the tap etc, I had time to look round.
There was one next door but two, & one about five gardens away in our row, & at the back, the next door but one gardens on each side of us had one, & at one of these houses a small boy yelled for "Help!". One, the furthest from us, was left to burn & my word it did give a light, the others were soon put under, one byone with the help of the A.R.P. who came along in a surprisingly short time. Near the back of us a couple of more serious fires got going & the fire brigade was some time getting rid of those. Three houses got messed up. At the same time a whole packet dropped in East Barnet, they had some H. E as well. After we had quietened down a bit, we went to bed. Small incendiaries are not too bad if one can dose them liberally with sand as soon as they fall.
It was estimated that about 400 dropped on that occasion, it sounded like it when they fell.
Perhaps you wonder how folks are sticking it & what they really say... not newspaper talk. We have a typist , a widow with two children, living at Edmonton where there has been an undue number of bombs dropped. I gave her a lift in the car tonight and this is what she told me.
She said she was in her shelter last night with her mother, her young daughter & a neighbour & her neighbour's daughter. They heard a bomb dropping & sat holding tight to each other as they felt sure it would hit them. It dropped in the next garden but one & threw earth and mud (it was raining hard at the time) all over them. Then they heard folks talking, so she went out & saw a "funny" sight & called her neighbour to see it... they both laughed it looked so funny. The house next to hers & the next to that had got no backs & a bit further along the road the shop was on fire from an oil bomb. The A.R.P. came along & told them to clear out to a public shelter as the garden adjoining had a bomb in it. She said the people in the shelter were expecting them & lent them blankets & gave them tea. Later they were allowed to go home as the hole where the bomb was supposed to be was found to be a lump of concrete which had been blown into the air & buried itself in the soil. Altogether they had 11 bombs fairly near that night & it's by no means their only experience & yet that woman talks about it quite calmly & even jokes too. Her road is roped off now for a real time bomb.
Earlier in the week in that same district the folks on a quarter mile radius were evacuated because a land mine had been dropped there. These are Jerry's latest & apparently are huge things dropped by parachute so as not to go deep into the ground. The parachute of this one caught on a house gable most fortunately & was later rendered harmless. Tottenham was not so fortunate, one there caused great havoc laying flat rows of houses, but I hear, with no great loss of life.
Our typist has gone home quite cheerful, she says her house is not so bad, but the stairs are a bit of a mess & one ceiling is down, but there must have been a week spot there! She was in to time this morning too. The only grumbling I hear is that we ought to give back what we are getting instead of bombing only military objectives. There is not the shadow of doubt bombs are being tossed about with one aim & one aim only to terrify the civilians & at present they aren't terrified. (the writing here may be jumpy. When you have a mobile gun at the end of the road & it suddenly starts banging it makes one jump).
... to be continued....
Enfield
My dear Mary & Co,
As the nightly wail has just gone forth (7.50 pm) I will get your letter off my chest. This week has been quite an eventful one in some ways. To begin with, Tom's hospital got a knock-out blow at 2.30 am on Monday morning, but fortunately he was sleeping here & got a nasty shock when he saw it next morning. A half-ton bomb caught the building in a glancing blow, demolishing two wards in its fall &, exploding in the road, made a nasty mess of the rest of the structure. The Tate Gallery next door suffered somewhat from the same bomb. Most fortunately nobody except one M.O. was injured. The patients had been evacuated to the basement and were safe, though some had to be dug out the next day.
Tuesday night, Tom's girlfriend's family (Margaret Robinson and her sisters, Joyce and Nancy and their parents, Gertrude and Harold. They lived at 53, Buckingham Avenue, Whetstone, London N 20) had a nasty few minutes with a bomb about 50 yards away.
Wednesday night we had a thrill. A number of bombs were dropped in Enfield, not that we heard them, the gunfire was too loud, but it seemed to me unpleasantly lively in our district, so we patronised the shelter. Despite the noise we were both half asleep about 10.15 pm when both heard a noise like a rushing mighty wind & then slight poppings all over the place. I said to Annie "Incendiaries" & dashed out. Fires seemed all over the place, but fortunately in our gardens mainly. After making sure that we & our neighbours had none & connecting the hose to the tap etc, I had time to look round.
There was one next door but two, & one about five gardens away in our row, & at the back, the next door but one gardens on each side of us had one, & at one of these houses a small boy yelled for "Help!". One, the furthest from us, was left to burn & my word it did give a light, the others were soon put under, one byone with the help of the A.R.P. who came along in a surprisingly short time. Near the back of us a couple of more serious fires got going & the fire brigade was some time getting rid of those. Three houses got messed up. At the same time a whole packet dropped in East Barnet, they had some H. E as well. After we had quietened down a bit, we went to bed. Small incendiaries are not too bad if one can dose them liberally with sand as soon as they fall.
It was estimated that about 400 dropped on that occasion, it sounded like it when they fell.
Perhaps you wonder how folks are sticking it & what they really say... not newspaper talk. We have a typist , a widow with two children, living at Edmonton where there has been an undue number of bombs dropped. I gave her a lift in the car tonight and this is what she told me.
She said she was in her shelter last night with her mother, her young daughter & a neighbour & her neighbour's daughter. They heard a bomb dropping & sat holding tight to each other as they felt sure it would hit them. It dropped in the next garden but one & threw earth and mud (it was raining hard at the time) all over them. Then they heard folks talking, so she went out & saw a "funny" sight & called her neighbour to see it... they both laughed it looked so funny. The house next to hers & the next to that had got no backs & a bit further along the road the shop was on fire from an oil bomb. The A.R.P. came along & told them to clear out to a public shelter as the garden adjoining had a bomb in it. She said the people in the shelter were expecting them & lent them blankets & gave them tea. Later they were allowed to go home as the hole where the bomb was supposed to be was found to be a lump of concrete which had been blown into the air & buried itself in the soil. Altogether they had 11 bombs fairly near that night & it's by no means their only experience & yet that woman talks about it quite calmly & even jokes too. Her road is roped off now for a real time bomb.
Earlier in the week in that same district the folks on a quarter mile radius were evacuated because a land mine had been dropped there. These are Jerry's latest & apparently are huge things dropped by parachute so as not to go deep into the ground. The parachute of this one caught on a house gable most fortunately & was later rendered harmless. Tottenham was not so fortunate, one there caused great havoc laying flat rows of houses, but I hear, with no great loss of life.
Our typist has gone home quite cheerful, she says her house is not so bad, but the stairs are a bit of a mess & one ceiling is down, but there must have been a week spot there! She was in to time this morning too. The only grumbling I hear is that we ought to give back what we are getting instead of bombing only military objectives. There is not the shadow of doubt bombs are being tossed about with one aim & one aim only to terrify the civilians & at present they aren't terrified. (the writing here may be jumpy. When you have a mobile gun at the end of the road & it suddenly starts banging it makes one jump).
... to be continued....
Monday, 19 September 2011
Tom Critchley to Mary Platt 14.9.1940
37 Lonsdale Drive
Enfieldå
Letters, like many other things, are not delivered in the normal manner these days. We have just received yours of the 11th. I replied to your last letter at once, but it seems to be a long time in reaching you. Anyhow you'll have got it by now.
I think Harry is right, it would be a job to get a phone call through these evenings.
While these excitements are on I had better write you each weekend, but don't get wind up if a letter is a day or two late in arriving.
We are in a fairly safe area, the only danger is from some ass dropping his load too soon and that is a very remote one. Being of a mathematical turn of mind, I have worked out the odds as being about a million to one of our getting a packet and that is negligible, so we can carry on and forget it.
As for the raids themselves, familiarity is beginning to breed contempt; take last night, we lay on the beds partly dressed 10pm to 12.00pm, slept part of the time, then got undressed properly. At various times there was a terrific roar going on through which we couldn't sleep, but in the lulls we dozed off again and from 3.30 to 5.30 the all clear came and we slept soundly.
I thought in the last war I knew what an anti-aircraft barrage was, but it was playing at it compared with what they are putting up now. There is a battery of 4.5's near which nearly deafens one, but there is a monster somewhere in the vicinity (the tale goes it's a naval gun) that shakes the house and the burst reverberates in the sky for nearly half a minute after the discharge... just like a heavy peal of thunder. We don't mind the noise so long as they are giving Jerry a hell of a time. Just before bed last night we sat chatting with Tom and this uproar going on ... with each extra loud uproar one or other said, "give it to 'em!"
Yesterday's day raid... the long four hour one... was in rain & heavy cloud. All we heard was occasional burst of gunfire and a plane or two now and then. As I was at home I took Annie in the car to do her shopping. One cannot let this type of raid interfere with the normal course of life too much. A really heavy do, like some we have seen, is a different matter. I wouldn't like to go out while they are putting up a barrage at night, lots of houses have got missing tiles and there must be heaps of lumps of shell falling all over the place.
We are on the edge of the buildings in this part of London, so I suppose get a heavy barrage here. Anyhow it drops to a large extent after planes pass over us. It's surprising what you can get used to!
Annie is just getting dinner ready (or should I say lunch) She's just interrupted to say the sirens are sure to go, they usually seem to at meal times. We had four meals yesterday and the warning was out for every one. Is it just cussedness?
The other night (Thursday). Tom was on duty at the hospital (fire picket) when a bomb dropped alongside smashing up an ambulance and blowing over two men who were with him. They asked for volunteers to shift the wreck and clear up the petrol. While he was helping, a chunk of shell fell close to him. He has 24 hours on fire duty and 24 off. When off he leaves the hospital at 4.30pm and comes home. As there is usually a raid by 9pm of course he cannot get back, so stays here until 6am and returns then. What a wangle! It's a good bit safer here than at Westminster. We put a mattress down for him in the dining room with the head under the table. The other downstairs room is our bedroom, the windows are stuck up with tape... not paper, then there are lace curtains, the pre-war casement curtains and, over the bay, a heavy curtain, so we feel fairly safe there, or as safe as in our shelter, where you hear too much that is happening.
Don't worry about us, we'll be all right.
Love Tom
P S We've just got a letter from Ronald dated June 17. He asks his mother to go out to him by air... some hopes eh!
What are you going to do with Molly? Has she decided what she wants to do yet?
What do you think of these for air raid warnings?
Thursday Sept 12 9.10 to 5.45 am Friday
Friday September 13 7.30 am to 8.30 am, 9.45 am to 2.00 pm, 3.55 pm to 4.10 pm. 9.00 pm to 5.30 am on Saturday 14th, 11.05 am to 11.20 am... to be continued....
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