While the Bombs Fell by Robbie CheadleMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed reading this book, which was full of nostalgic and poignant reminiscences about the 1940s, many of which applied to my baby boomer generation. The horrible fear for children and adults alike, of being bombed while you slept, comes through clearly in the writing. The privations suffered by the general population of food; clothing and utilities such as fuel and energy are well illustrated by the authors’ focussing upon Elsie and her family. The stories about this little girl’s life in rural Suffolk during World War 2 are obviously biographical and the name of Robbie Cheadle’s co-author is a bit of a give-away. There may be some fictional aspects to the book but I felt that the whole narrative provided an important authentic record of those times. Some of the anecdotes and chapters do jump about a little and could have been sequenced more logically. If there was a reason for this it was not clear to me.
However, some of the childhood memories were delightful and interesting to read, such as thoughts about Christmas and Jack Frost ‘decorating’ the windows with ‘feathery pictures’. There are examples of war time recipes for meals like toad-in-the-hole, that many younger readers would find quite enlightening, and which I remember personally. The mention of pictures reminds me of the old photographs used in the book to illustrate the real people that it tells tales about. This added an extra snippet of pleasure to the narrative.
Most importantly the book gives modern readers some idea about the genuine alarm and worry inflicted upon the general population by the war, while at the same time it reminds us about the downright hard work that was necessary in order to ‘keep on keeping on’ in those times. The diligence and bravery shown by the working classes should never be just taken for granted. Despite all of the negative influences the war and living conditions, inflicted upon the people in the book, the overall positive attitude that they continued to reflect – ‘keep on smiling’ – was inspirational to young and old! Recommended!
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