13th September 1940. 'Mental sunshine'

13th September 1940. The air raid shelter

5th October 1940. Life at Archway

I wonder if I can convey to you a picture of life at Archway at the moment. For the past few weeks we have been a Feeding and Sleeping Centre for those made homeless by the air raids. Every passage in the Hall has been filled with people going to one or other of the rooms. Our untireable sisters are carrying countless basins of stew from the kitchen to feed the multitude who have come from Bethnal Green (sic), or Shoreditch, or Highbury, or our own district . Those suffering from shock have beds in the primary department. Also in the Primary Department are sleeping quarters for men on night duty. The Billetting officer is on the premises all day trying to fix up homes for all who need them.

24th October 1940. The shelter prayer

The cross of Archway is still standing. The Hall is still undamaged, and I think I can say that all our people have so far escaped serious injury. Two of our young men - Jim Lyddon and Percy Whitehead - have left us during the past few days to join His Majesty's Forces. We wish them both a happy time, and we hope the day is not far distant when they, and all the rest of you who are away will be back with us again. The shelter is still crowded. At the request of the people I conduct family prayers in every part of it every night. We have our own shelter prayer now [Go back to the timeline and click on the second picture to see the Shelter Prayer]

5th November 1940. Life as an air raid warden

I am now an Air Raid Warden. One night last week, I was astonished to see a window in Holloway Road blazing with flames, and entirely unscreened. We sleuthed round the pitch black streets and alleys looking for the scene of the conflagration. We tracked it down to … the front door of a tramps' doss house inside which there were about twenty of the brethren sitting around a fire. "Have you had an incendiary bomb in this house?" we called to them excitedly, but they looked at us dumbly as if they had never heard of an incendiary bomb. With the determination of true authority we marched upstairs, and there we found one of the brethren kneeling beside a little book-case that looked like a flowerpot stand striving to extinguish some blazing books. Apparently he had fallen asleep by the fire while smoking and a spark from his pipe had set his whole library ablaze.

23rd November 1940. Taking refuge in the boiler room

Last week it was a grim night outside, rain pouring down and guns crashing every few minutes. I had to go through a puddle to get into our boiler room, and even inside it was grim enough, for boiler rooms are not intended for bedrooms. One side were the great dusty boilers, on the other the air-conditioning plant and in between a heap of ashes from the furnace. Every remaining inch of space was occupied by human bodies. In one corner two women were lying on a spring mattress. In the other corner a mother and her dark-eyed baby girl were lying on a mattress on the floor. Two boys were asleep on another mattress thrown over some seats, and several men and women were scattered in nooks here and there or talking together in the small space by the door.

4th March 1941. A quiet night along the Holloway Road

I am on duty tonight - Shelter Warden and Fire Watcher combined. I can hear groups of young men singing lustily somewhere along Holloway Road. In the days before the war I disliked intensely people who sang at midnight on the roads, but there is something cheering and reassuring about it now. There is an alert on at the moment.

It is now 1am. The guns were very lively about a quarter of an hour ago, but everything is quiet now, so quiet that a footstep on the pavement down below has sounded quite loudly. I expect the "all clear" presently. Then I shall turn in for a bit. Guns again! Jerry is persistent tonight. I have just been on the roof. A starry night with a few clouds. The raiders have gone for the moment. The cross is still pointing at the stars. Ah, the "all clear" at last. Everything is still all right at Archway.

26th March 1941. The Boys' Club at Archway

If you could see the Archway just now, all crowded with young people all of them as happy as if Hitler had never existed. The Boys' Club began tonight with about 40 boys collected from the Tube and other shelters and from the neighbourhood. Think of that in war time and in an evacuation area! I had the room beneath crowded with people for the Shelter Cinema, and when the boys really got going above us, the Shelter Cinema people got nervous. They thought it was the Blitz preluding the invasion. They have had a rough deal these boys who have missed so much school and who have spent so much time in Shelters.

22nd May 1941. Giving out shelter tickets

I was unable to write my letter last night, as I usually do. I had a very big job to do last night, as all the bunks in the Shelter had to be officially allocated. It meant getting every person's name, address, age, ticket number and national registration number. I began at 9.15pm and I finished writing the first list at 4.0am this morning. But it is right now, and we have a complete list of all our shelter family. The War news has not been so good lately, but we in London are just as confident as ever about the final outcome. I have not heard a word of depression or doubt all through these last days. We are not influenced by the ebb and flow of the present battles. We know that we are contending for great spiritual principles that cannot fail.

February 1944. Air raids begin again

Once again I am writing, as in the mighty days of the Battle of London, from my office. I am here on duty lest I should be needed. We have had a sharp return of the Blitz - but, of course, nothing like 1940. A bit of damage has been done, but Archway is still safe. The shelter is filling up again and there are a good many people in the tubes; but everybody is in the highest of spirits, and you need not be anxious for us at all. And what a barrage we put up against the Raiders when they come! It is simply terrific. The night sky when he raiders are over is like the loveliest firework display you ever saw.

17th July 1944. V weapons

Now that Mr. Churchill has made a public statement on the matter I feel that I can go a little way further in relieving your anxiety regarding the flying bombs - otherwise known as "Doodle Bugs", "Vengeance Bombs", "Bob Hopes" (this latter because you bob and hope for the best!)

The first thing I want to do is assure you that all those connected with Archway are still uninjured. One or two have lost windows, and have suffered some damage to their property, but no one has suffered any personal injury, not even a piece of glass so far. One man and his wife belonging to Archway were right in the middle of a crowd very near to which a flying bomb fell; nearly everyone else in the crowd was injured, some very seriously, but our two members did not even suffer the slightest scratch. Since then they have had another bomb that wrecked their premises, but still did them no personal harm.

A great deal of damage has been done, but I think the thing that would impress you if you were to look at London now would be its sprightly appearance and the comparatively small evidence of damage anywhere. One of the intriguing sights of London at this present time is to see two ladies conversing with each other lying quite flat with their cheeks on the pavement. This happens very often when a flying bomb appears in the vicinity.