Memories of a Wartime Childhood in London

by Douglas Model

This vivid memoir is incredible true story of the author, Douglas Model, growing up amidst the horrors of the Blitz and V bombs falling on London during World War 2. It contrasts his peaceful infant life in suburbia before the war with the terror of bombs falling closer and closer, trembling in an air raid shelter with his family, as explosions draw nearer. Between bombings, life was fairly normal; then the bombs and the fear would start again. Douglas recounts such events as playing games amid piles of rubble from bombed houses, collecting pieces of a downed German aeroplane, and learning about the fall of France and the concentration camps, until, at last, came the sweetness of victory and the end of Nazi tyranny.

224 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2022

Reviews

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Douglas Model has written a likable memoir of his childhood that is not completely what the book’s title “a Wartime Childhood” would suggest. He was six to eleven years old during World War II but more than a war memoir the book is a story of his family life in Wembley, Northwest London. His book is a chance to see how many things have changed as far as parenting, education, sanitation, and freedom for children to play at will. There are parts specific to the war such as building personal bomb shelters in your garden, what to do when bombing starts and newly created jobs for parents such as being fire wardens or temporary policemen.

Model’s family stories are better than his occasional attempts to analyze the war. That would have been better left to historians. His conclusions can be debatable and sometimes mistaken. Churchill’s “iron curtain” speech was not given to the U.S. Senate. A small error but it makes one wary of other things when Model goes off topic. Amazingly, the author appears to be still alive and must be in his nineties.