I first came to Ealing from Birmingham in 1936 at the age of three, living in Egerton Gardens W13, At the outbreak of WW2 we were evacuated to Buckinghamshire, returning to Ealing 1941. living in Ealing Village. My memories of Ealing really begin during the war, going to the air raid shelters during an air raid. Watching German bombers caught in the search light beams, looking for lumps of shrapnel after a night raid. There was the Train Spotting that started with Ian Allan's books, ABC of GWR, LNER,LMS, SR, London Transport, etc. The great kick we got out of going to school by the coaches that were hired by London Transport to replace the buses that mostly, were leased, and withdrawn by, their manufacturer, AEC, when the Labout Government said they were going to natiopnalise public transport. From memory, we were late for school more than once due to letting the 'ordinary' buses go by, prefering the relative luxury of the coaches. Memories of watching the Home Guard creeping threogh the bushed on Haven Green. Hiding under the railway bridge on Hanger Lane to be close to the express trains heading to the West Country. Of hiding under the platform at the halt at Park Royal, with expresses thundering past two feet away. Tobogganing down the slopes in the park at the top of Hanger lane. The questionable night game of going from one end of a street to the other along the dividing wall between the back gardens, sometimes avoiding the torchlight searches of very suspicious householders. In a perverse way, the excitement of bombed buildings, either exploring the sites or being overawed by the damage we saw. My clear memory is of the Saunders store after a parachute mine fell on it. We used to watch the doodle bugs on their flight paths, baving guesses as to how much further it would go before the engine stopped and it fell to ground. With memories from the war, and the danger of the times, I remember that for me and my mates, it was also very exciting. There was always something to do, to watch, to anticipate, and to my present knowledge, none of my friends carried any scars from those days. I left Ealing in 1949 for the Antipodes, and returned twice since then, in 1955 for two years, and in 1988 with my fifteen year old daughter, for a month. From reading the 'Ealing Today' newsletter, it doesn't sound as pleasent a place as the Ealing I knew, which is a pity. That said, I am sure the 'EALINGITES' of today are as attached to their Bourough as I was. I would not have wanted to live anywhere else at the time.
Kevin John Brennan ● 6766d