Josephine Cooper

Photograph of Josephine Cooper.

Josephine Cooper

Recollections of the Blitz and evacuation to Stoke-on-Trent.

Sheltering in the Wharfs

Josephine was born in Wapping and moved to Shadwell in 1937. She lived a pleasant life in a close community and attended the local church school. When war arrived Josephine and her sisters sheltered at the Wharfs. They were not frightened as they were made to feel safe by their parents, grandmother and aunts who lived close in the Riverside Mansions.

Evacuation

Then one day they went to their father’s shop to be met by the police. Their father was given ten minutes to pack a bag as the corner opposite Raines Mansion had been hit and was in danger of collapsing. The family went to Hawkhurst in Kent where most of Josephine’s father’s family lived. They stayed there for a few weeks before being evacuated to Stoke-On-Trent with two aunts and their children. The family never returned to Wapping although after some years they moved to South East London. As an adult Josephine returned to Wapping Catholic Church but was saddened by how much the war had changed her and so many other children’s lives.