Early Years
I know very little about my father’s childhood what I do know is that he had a loving family and had a congruous and loving relationship with his beloved siblings. He had a great admiration and respect for his brother William, and he adored his sister Rosetta, and she also thought the world of him and by all accounts she spoilt him.
George was a very active lad enjoyed his sports, had a great bunch of friends which got up to a lot of antics and always had time for fun and a laugh, he was also an above average student who had an active and enquiring mind and an interest in his education. The family was a very poor family they had very little belongings and would have struggled daily to put food on the table, money was always very scarce this they accepted this was their lot and they lived life accordingly with lots of banter and laughs and no doubt the odd tear.
George’s mother Rose died in 1942 at the young age of 41 leaving George at 15 years old, Rosetta a 14-year-old and William Arthur Yapp 20 who had by now enlisted in the Army and was already away at war. I do not have a lot of information about George’s mother Rose but what little I do know is that whilst they were living in Elmfield road she was bombed out twice. First was on the 7th of October 1940 and bombs fell into the Lee relief channel vicinity opposite Elmfield road close to where they lived it caused lots of shrapnel and blew out nearly all the windows in the street. The second report for the 5th of December 1940 the report reads. "At 11.45 p.m. the day ended with one HE. [heavy explosive] bomb in Elmfield Road (probably part of a Leyton stick of bombs), which killed two people and injured 18 others." This bomb seriously damaged houses numbers 47-61, luckily the bombs just missed the house of Rose, William, George, and Rosetta were living at 41 Elmfield Road! This deeply frightened Rose and she moved from 41 Elmfield road with George and Rosetta to her parents in North Hertfordshire.
This was somewhat of a shock for George as he was a very active lad who had lots of friends and best mates that he spent a lot of his recreation time with.
The change of environment was something that he was not to happy about, London was a vibrant place for a young lad with so many things that he and his mates could get involved in, not all of which I suspect were all above board especially as this was in the middle of the second world war. Where there were lots of areas and buildings in a state of disarray, lots to explore and adventures to be made. He had no fear as did most young boys at that age even though it was not the safest place to live in, but as with most things in life the population had by now developed to adapted to the risks. He now found himself in the country side all strange to his usual environment but I am sure that after a settling in period he made the best of this adventure.
I do not know how long George and Rosetta spent at their grandparents in the North Hertfordshire. country side I also think that his mother was not too well with the fright of the bombing I suspect it would have been fairly short visit as it would have been a bit overcrowded as I understand Rose’s parents had a small home, possibly just the time it took to repair the damage to their home.