Memories of a Wartime Childhood in London

by Douglas Model

In this vivid memoir, Douglas Model tells the incredible true story of his wartime childhood in Wembley amidst the horrors of the Blitz. Contrasting his peaceful infant life – which included a hiking holiday to Nazi Germany in 1934 – with the terrors of war, Douglas remembers his schooling, friendships and childhood mischief alongside the everyday realities of bombing raids, gas masks and rationing.
Memories of a Wartime Childhood in London provides an invaluable account of significant wartime events through the eyes of a child, including the fall of France, the Dunkirk evacuation, the horrifying discoveries of Nazi concentration camps and, at long last, the sweetness of Allied victory.

214 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 7, 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.