Context and background information about my interviewee
Mike Donnelly, who is my grandfather, was born in the mid 1930’s in London. He was a young teenager at the time when the Second World War broke out.
He lived in a semi-rural, medium sized neighbourhood about 5 miles outside of the centre of London. He was used to hearing the sounds of thousands of bomber planes fly over his house on their way to Germany. He grew up with a large military presence in his neighbourhood and was used to seeing armed soldiers in his road.
Mike’s father luckily did not have to enlist in the armed services as was the Chief Metallurgist at a factory a few miles away, in an area called Acton. The factory produced essential parts for spitfires (fighter planes), ammunition, weapons, and even tanks. His father received an MBE award for the part he played in helping the war effort and was looked at with great respect after the war.
At home, the Donnelly family built an air raid shelter which they often had to climb into when German planes flew above London. At school, there was also an air raid shelter which the students had to climb into. Grandpa Mike said that although it was terrifying, it was also exciting to the young boys as they did not really understand the severity of it all. The children at the school also had to come to school with gas masks in their backpacks. None of the teachers at Mike’s school were male, because all of them were forced to enlist the army.
Unfortunately, Mike and his family lost many of their friends in the war. Two of Mike’s neighbours that were brothers had been killed in the space of a week. They were both 18. Many of Mike’s uncles were involved in the armed forces, and all took part in the North African Campaign in 1940 to 1943.
Unlike many others, Mike’s best memory of the war was that he and his family were together, unlike all his friends in his neighbourhood and school.
In the centre of London, many of Mike’s family-friends’ houses had been destroyed by bombs. When the war ended, there was a celebratory party thrown in Mike’s neighbourhood. Excluding all the young boys, Mike’s father was one of a very small number of men to attend because they had all been killed during the war.
When the war ended in 1945, Mike and his family moved to South Africa where he spent the rest of his young life.
The interview with Mike Donnelly
1. What was it like growing up in the time of the war?
It was terrible. I was very young at the time but was still very aware of most of the fathers being away and later the noise of thousands of bomber raids going over our house on the way to Germany. During the blitz I could see the glow of fires against the sky over London.
2. Did the war affect your daily life at school?
We were subjected to air raids and had to take our gas masks to school every day. Often, during air raids, we would go into air raid shelters and classes would stop until the all clear. We were terrified but at the same time quite excited, not really understanding the severity of everything.
3. What was your first memory of the war?
My parents building an Anderson Air Raid Shelter, which was erected in our dining room and having to go into it during air raids that happened when I was at home.
4. Do you think that if you didn’t grow up with the war, your views on life would be different?
Yes. The war obviously made a deep impression on all of us children. We were very conscious of fathers and sons not returning to their families and the heartache that brought.
5. Did your family do anything to help the war effort?
Yes. My father was the chief metallurgist at a factory, in Acton, manufacturing essential war materials. He went regularly into London during the blitz. He was subsequently decorated for his work during the war with an MBE.
6. What were some of your best and worst memories during the time of the war?
The best memory was that, unlike many others, we were able to be together as a family due to my father not having to do active service because of his vital work making essential parts for spitfires, other aircrafts, and even tanks.
My worst memory is when our neighbour, Granny Kitchen as we called her, lost both her sons within a week. One was a tail gunner in a Lancaster Bomber and the other son was lost in an Atlantic convoy.
7. Was anyone from your family or anyone from the area where you lived at the time in the armed forces?
Most of our neighbours had fathers and sons away fighting in the war. In addition, all my South African uncles were enlisted in the army and were involved in the North African campaign.
8. After the war, how long did it take for things to go back to normal?
Shortly after the war my father was sent back to South Africa to start a subsidiary factory in Boksburg North. I went to school in Cape Town at St. George’s and the rest of my young life was spent in South Africa. I was therefore not aware of how it affected the people of England and especially those who had lost their homes to bombs or had lost loved ones.
9. Did you know anyone who was injured or killed in the war? If so, how did that affect you?
As mentioned previously, I knew my neighbour’s sons even though they were much older than I was, but I remember them showing me their wonderful Hornby Train Set and was very sad when neither of them returned from the war. I also remember their mother weeping with my mother on many occasions.
At the end of the war our neighbourhood had a celebratory party and everyone from the neighbourhood attended. I remember, besides for me and all the other young boys, my father was one of a few men to attend as all the others had been killed during the war.
How did you enjoy being involved in the recording of “Oral History”?
I greatly enjoyed participating in your recording of “Oral History”. I enjoyed it because it allowed me to share not only facts about World War Two, but also my personal experience, emotions and memories. I find the whole recording of our conversation so interesting because it is so different to anything that I would have done at school. I like the fact that my grandson (the interviewer) can now better understand the way I grew up during the time of the Second World War. I also think it’s important to record as many people’s history that were involved in historical events, so they can be studied for historical research, and so that their personal history won’t be forgotten when they die.
