Norman
Born in Willesden, London in February 1938, Norman was evacuated to live with his Grandma for a time in Pentre, Wales, where he remembers the sense of freedom, running up the mountains and playing by the river and streams.
Upon returning to London, Norman recalls counting spiders in the top bunk of a damp and dingy Anderson Shelter, collecting shrapnel from exploded bombs and seeing fighter planes engaging in dog fights above the city…
Norman as a young man
Norman as a little boy
Norman in his back garden on the site of the former Old Station House, where he lived next to the railway bridge at the corner of Harrow Road and Wrottesley Road in Willesden, London
Norman remembers being in his Mum’s arms, when they lived at 43 Lowfield Road, as they watched an anti aircraft Barrage Balloon which had caught on fire, lighting up the night sky in Kilburn in North West London
In 1945, a V2 Rocket landed close to Norman’s home at 43 Lowfield Road (shown by the arrow) in Kilburn. Norman was 7 years old and remembers the damage it caused, blowing the windows in and the roofs off the top six houses in the road. The pink circle shows where the V2 impacted next to the railway lines. The shaded purple houses on Iverson Road were badly damaged and there is now a small park where the houses once stood, though the houses either side are still there.
Map image from https://www.layersoflondon.org/ © OpenStreetMap contributors
Norman, March 2020
May, Norman’s Mum
Norman’s parents, May and Cornelius
Norman’s Dad Cornelius, at work
Norman remembers the unforgettable joy and relief as a 7 year old in London during the Victory in Europe (VE) day celebrations in May 1945.