“Even now at the sound of the siren, that used to herald the approach of enemy aircraft, I get a strange feeling of sickness in the pit of my stomach. We lived in Wakefield Road, and I was six years old when war was declared and twelve years old when it ended. I went to Ditchling Road School (now the Downs School) and then in 1944 to Varndean School. There were shelters at the schools and we had to practise how quickly we could evacuate the classroom; in the early part of the war there was also gas mask drill. We carried our gas masks in cardboard boxes with string as a strap. It was a suffocating feeling with a strong smell of rubber when you put your gas mask on, and after a few minutes the perspex screen, which you looked through, steamed up.”
One of the great fears of the British people during the Second World War was that poison gas would be used against civilians. There were also fears that a new gas would be developed that would penetrate civilian gas-masks and would be undetectable in an attack until it started killing people.
Gas masks were issued to the whole population, people were ordered to keep their masks by them at all times and there were gas practices, in which tear-gas was released in public places, to drive this message home. The gas mask itself was ugly and an uncomfortable object to wear; an ever-present and sinister reminder of the horrors of total war.
Under the top playground at Downs Junior School there is an original WW2 Air Raid Shelter and the only original shelter open to the public in the South of England. Take Shelter is an is an immersive museum that allows visitors to go into the shelter and experience what life was like for children in Brighton during the war years. Visitors can view rare local photographs and archive video clips and a bombing simulation.
Take Shelter is open for visits during the Brighton Fringe Festival in May and on Heritage Open Days in September. Access to the exhibit at Take Shelter is very limited: The original staircase entrances have been removed over time and access is only possible via a man-hole.
For more information about Take Shelter, or to get in contact to arrange a visit, go to: takeshelter.org.uk
The next stop is The Franklin Arms pub on Lewes Road. In front of the school, cross Ditchling Road using the pedestrian crossing and go down Upper Hollingdean Road. Pass under the railway bridge into Hollingdean Road until you arrive at Sainsbury’s at the main Lewes Road junction. Follow the pavement round to the right, past the supermarket entrance and cross over Lewes Road using the set of pedestrian crossings at the top of Upper Lewes Road. Continue South towards the seafront. After about 4 blocks, stop outside the Franklin Arms.