PUBLIC COMPOSED

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23507, 18 November 1939, Page 8

PUBLIC COMPOSED

iWARTIME IN ENGLAND EVENTS ON SOUTH COAST WARNINGS OF AIR RAIDS The remarkable composure of'rcsi' dents of, the United Kingdom in tW face of war alarms and excitements is '' illustrated in a letter received by Mrs H. Cleghorn, of Q Ayr Street, Par'ncll" ' from a friend living at Worthing, 0 n the Susses coast. From the corrcspon. dent's reference to an air raid warnintr* It appears that, with" somo people at least, these happenings. are, regarded simply as part of the natural order of events. ;' -•■■■

"Now we are settling down to things," the correspondent wrote on October 11. "While' we were at breakfast there was an air. raid warning. '\Ve finished breakfast and then looked out tbo windows; we did not know at that time that the raid Was nowhere near us.

"The only persons about were the air raid wardens. We were amused to hear later that the bathers refused to come out of the sea when told to do so and I don't blame them, as,it a lovely morning."

Referring to people from evacuated districts, the writer said she had been informed that most of the mothers who had been billeted with, their children in Worthing had returned home as tliey "could not hit, it off" with the people accommodating them. "Quite a lot of evacuated mothers came here just for a holiday," she says. "They have goneback because things began to pall. They will wantxto return if air raids start but they will not bo helped by the ' Government again."

Referring to the condition of some of the evacuated families the correspondent mentioned the experience of a woman who took charge of four poor children. She could not persuade than to take off their clothes and go to bed, as they were used to sleeping in their clothes, with anything they could find to cover them. None had seen a bed with sheet:; before. They did not like sitting at table for meals as they had been used to eating on the doorstep. Evacuated children were taken for walks in 'the mornings and went "to school in the afternoons, it was stated. On the other hand, local children attended school in the mornings and did homework in the afternoons.

The correspondent added that during air raid warnings all .horses had to be unharnessed and tied to trees or posts to prevent stampeding.