a blitz baby

August 15th 1940 - I was expecting my first baby any day. The war had been spasmodic - we had the the Anderson shelter ready in the garden, but up to then we hadn't had a raid actually in our area. I remember the district nurse calling on the 16th August and she thought the baby would arrive any time; the lady next door had her daughter visit her with her new baby, they brought the baby in to show me and I remember laying him on the bed and thinking maybe by this time tomorrow I might have a little baby. The baby was obviously to be born at home and my mother was staying with me. Any how, later in the day we did have a raid and the water, gas and electric were affected. I had begun labour pains, so my husband and dad went off to the standpipe to collect water and my mum lit a fire to heat it. The midwife called again, and left a contact address. Evening came and so did Hitler and the bombs, our first real raid was very frightening, and the baby was on its way. Looking forward to the birth in a way helped me overcome my fear of the bombs and of course we had not experienced the full might of the bombs yet. As night wore on the raids increased, my mother sat holding my hand; my husband went off on his bike to seek help from the doctor. The doctor's house was in darkness, no Dr. Then he went off round the area looking for the midwife; the baby was arriving as the raid continued the baby arrived as the midwife did.(We heard later- the Dr. had been in his shelter). The baby needed reviving, the midwife plunged him into alternate hot and cold baths and he revived, but the bombing was getting worse. The next thing, the baby was wrapped in blankets and put into the arms of my father who went down to the shelter with the baby; my mother and I got under the bed and spent the rest of the night there. I felt dreadful being separated from the baby. In the early hours my when the raid had abaited a bit my mother crept out from under the bed, made a cup of tea and took it down to the shelter and came back with the good news that everybody including baby Barry was OK., my mother was so relieved she said we should say a little prayer of thanks for the safe arrival and next morning when I looked at the little baby I could hardly believe what we'd been through the night before. What an arrival.

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