LETTERS

Memories of the tower

Posted 1/6/15

To the Editor:

After seeing the story in the Beacon about Leviton, it brought back memories I have of the tower in 1941-1945. Sometime in 1943-45, and it may have been sooner, the tower became an …

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LETTERS

Memories of the tower

Posted

To the Editor:

After seeing the story in the Beacon about Leviton, it brought back memories I have of the tower in 1941-1945. Sometime in 1943-45, and it may have been sooner, the tower became an observation post for enemy planes. You could not go down Airport Road, as it was blocked off with sand bags and machine guns. Only military could use the road. If you wanted to go around the airport, you used Strawberry Field Road or Atlantic Avenue in Lakewood. This was because they brought in squadrons of fighters and pilots to train.

The tower became very essential. A large group of women was formed and their job was to climb to the top of the tower and with binoculars scan the sky for enemy planes. There was no heat and every side was open to the weather. It was very difficult in the winter, although the days were short. My mother was a member, and two or three days a week she would check in to do her time. She did report seeing one of our planes go down in practice.

In 1942-43, I was 12 to 13 years old, and I played a small part in this, although at the time I wasn’t too happy. My job was to take care of my 3-to 4-year-old sister when I got home from school and to get supper ready for my mother and father when they came home. I wanted to go and play some football in the fall with my friends after school. So I came up with a plan. When I got home, my mother was out the door on her way to the tower and I then started on supper. I cleaned the potatoes and put them in the oven (unlit), got a package of sausage, or maybe pork chops, and put them on a pan ready to bake. Once this was done, I grabbed an alarm clock and went out to play some football. I took my sister with me and she would play in the backyard that was fenced in. She was safe there, as this field we played ball in was at the corner of Post Road and Holmes Road. When I got there, I would set the alarm to go off in one hour. At that point, I started the oven to bake the potatoes, then I went back to play ball. I reset the clock for a half-hour. When it went off, I went home and put whatever meat we were having, then went back to the field. A half-hour later the alarm would go off, which meant I was done for the day. I would get my sister now and we would go home together. When I got in, I would turn the meat I was cooking over and then open a can of peas or string beans or whatever and have them ready to go. My last chore of the day was to set the table and supper would be ready when my parents came in. So that was my contribution to the war effort and my story about Leviton.

Graham Mann

Warwick

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