"I was born in Cambridge Street in 1933.

"One of my earliest memories was of standing outside of our home, 30 Cambridge Street, and looking north east. There I saw an air ship sailing in a south-westerly direction. I was the only one out in the street, no one else saw that air ship. I guess I was about 3 or 4 at that time. I often wonder if that was a British or German craft, and what date that might have been.

"I also recall going to the public library on my own for the first time. The library was next to the public baths and wash house. The librarian suggested that I would enjoy reading 'Just William' which I borrowed and later went back for 'William the Conqueror'.

"Piggymuck Square was where they located the community underground air raid shelter during the War. Many was the dark dreary night when we had to take cover in it. The homes that had cellars, like number 30 and up on the even side, took their coal delivery through round man hole in front of the house. Someone had left the iron man hole cover off number 40 or near that house, and going to the air raid shelter in the dark, I found that hole in the pavement (or sidewalk as it is called in Canada, my home).

"Piggymuck Square had swings, but it was on a hard surface, not grass. My cousin, who lived in Alfred Street, was standing on a very active swing. She had an itchy nose and took her hand off the swing rope to scratch it. She suffered brain damage after coming into contact with the hard surface.

"Such are the things that memory is made of."

HUGH JONES
Victoria, Vancouver Island, Canada

May 2002