Blitz Survivor.

Allan Mitchell, our history professor's husband, came in to talk to us about living through the Blitz in London. His very first memory is sitting in his mother's lap in their bomb shelter while his mother tried covering his ears in vain as bombs dropped and sirens rang. The noise and stress nearly drove him mad. So, his mother had him, at age six, and his sister, at age twelve, evacuated.

They were both sent off to Yorkshire and told to stick together. Shortly, they were picked up by a family with two young boys. While they were on a camping holiday, somehow the soap bar got into the drinking water. The father of the family was convinced Allan had done it and beat him heavily for it. That night, his sister and him ran away from the family. They were found by the police and reassigned to a new family. This family was quite poor, but shared what they could. One day they heard bells ringing, signalling the war being over.

Thus, they were returned to London and reunited with their mother. Fortunately, their house survived and their father returned from fighting. However, their uncle's fate was not so lucky. He died when his house was bombed to ashes just a hundred feet away from their house. Although he returned to a devastated London, he continually referred to it as a wonderland. And through the youngsters' eyes, that is exactly what it was. The children had such a good time playing and exploring in all the ruins. Allan even shared a game that the gangs of children would play in the rubble, which was a variation of hide and seek.

He also mentioned the kindness of the American soldiers. He said children would run up to them asking, "Got any gum, chum?" Apparently, it always worked and out came a thin wrapped piece of gum. Allan said that the first piece of fruit he ever ate was an orange given to him by an American soldier.

Overall, his insight and view on World War II with his personal experience was deeply engaging.