And I was 8, soon to be 9 in early December. Memories are a bit vague but we still played 'cowboys and indians' and went to school! My dad joined the ARP and a warden shelter was dug and built on a 'council' nearby - so called because on every corner of the new overspill estate where we lived the council put in loads of shrubs. This shelter was deep and had comms to here and there. It was a stop off for cops, who patrolled the streets, for a free cup of tea. There was a dart board and my dad had a team that took on others teams in the area, my dad then formed a league and it was all very relaxed until the war started in earnest.
Anyway, days came and went quite normally and the war had not yet come our way. That was to change during the next few months.
The first bomb we had landed about 150 yards up our road and 'Mrs Penny's' house along with two others were demolished. But worse was to come, although our corner of London escaped major bombing and nowhere near as bad as the East end of London.
So, the time before all that was simple and normal. I think rationing had started, our local aerodrome, Croydon, about a mile and half away, had ceased flying civil operations and the RAF moved in. That was exciting for us kids and we often had Spitfires and Hurricanes, Ansons and Gladiators overhead training I expect and waiting for what was to come.
For us kids at that time it was VERY exciting and even stayed that way during the Battle of Britain and the years following until the V1's came very very close. On one occasion only 150 yards away, as we ran down the slope of a near shelter. That bomb hit St.Helier (Carshalton, Surrey) hospital but if it had hit 75 yards to left and 70 yards farther on it would have done enormous damage and killed hundreds of patients. In the event it hit a small doctors abode 15 feet from the main road. We were on the other side when the engine stopped - and ran like hell.
Two days later my mum decided that with dad away in Africa we would evacuate and went to Derby for 6 months - then came home to the V2's but that's another story.