Writing letters from World War Two

LONDON BLITZ

London 

September 1940

Dear Sam,

I’m writing to you from the Underground. It’s been crazy here. I’m cuddled up to Mumma shivering because of cold and nerves. I brought all the blankets in our house down here. I keep trying to sleep, but as you might expect, I just can’t.

Before I started writing this I saw a rat, I tried to kick it away, but I heard a colossal boom from nearby and was worrying more about the explosion than the rat.

It’s Autumn here, well the beginning, so it’s still hot. Every morningI go out to pick carrots, but I’m actually walking around the fence looking at the damage from the night before.

Mumma makes me walk down the street looking for water with a bucket and to fill the bucket up and to drag it all the way back. The streets are damaged, if not destroyed with cracks and holes that are very, very deep.

We live one street away from one of the underground train stations, so that’s where we go when the air raid siren sounds. We have a box by the door with pillows and blankets so when the air raid siren sounds we rush to the door and toward the station.  

Air raids are bombs dropped from planes that the Germans fly over London and all the other cities in England. Even with Dadda not at war we don’t see him very often during the day or night. He started working for the Fire Brigade and he’s called out practically every night. I’ve made a chart of how many bombs I’ve heard. I think it’s about 15 or 20 in about 5 minutes. 

Mumma looks very wary. Every night we come down here because we haven’t got an Anderson Shelter yet. Maybe because we live so close to the station. Have you been on a train? 

A week ago Mrs Nellie told us that where her daughter lives has been reduced to rubble, but she’s ok. She also told us about how her son-in-law was shipped to Egypt in the Army.   

Say hi to all your friends in New Zealand. One day after the war ends I want to go to New Zealand to visit you.

Yours sincerely,

Rosie Watts

London

August 1940

Dear Liam,

I am writing to you from an underground train station, it is so hot here. I can't sleep at night because  the sounds of the bombs whirling then exploding makes me so frightened. There are babies having their 1st birthdays in an underground train station, while none of them know that their homes have been blown up. 

I am terrified everyday thinking about what to do if a bomb explodes and hurts my friends that are hiding in an Anderson shelter. I heard one of them snuck out of their Anderson shelter and was injured by falling buildings. Last night another Air raid siren went off and a little girl was crying, so I cheered her up. She said her dad was in the army and she and her mum were terrified thinking about where he might be.

I'm going to sleep now  because I am exhausted  so this letter will stop here 

Please write soon.

From Sofia

London

August 1940

Dear Teyla

I am in our Anderson Shelter terrified and freezing. The air raid siren sounded and we raced out to the shelter. I can hear the whirl of German planes flying over London. I am terrified and I hope Mum and Dad are all right working as air raid wardens.

I heard the first explosion and the wail of the fire engine. I hear another.

When we came out of the Anderson shelter we immediately saw that the train track that runs behind our house was demolished as well as a gaping hole in the road. There was smoke billowing out of the back of our house. 

When Mum arrived home, she put her hands on her hips and said that we need to stay out of our house because it could collapse at any moment. I know that was the scariest night of my life and I am frightened for another night here in London

I hope everything is okay back in New Zealand and that you and your family are okay. 

Love Pipi