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My Uncle Fred had joined the Merchant Navy at the age of seventeen and was involved in the Atlantic convoys. In 1942 we had heard that his ship had been sunk but that he had been rescued and was safe in USA. I was staying with my Grandma, his mother at that time, and often spent evenings with her undoing and rewinding wool from sweaters for her to r-knit. With the advent of rationing and most things becoming scarce, people were encouraged to ‘make do and mend’ and therefore recycling was invented although it was not called this. As we sat on the bed engrossed in the task of keeping the wool from breaking, Grandma looked out of the window and remarked that she could see a taxi with a sailor in it who looked like a thin Uncle Fred. It was indeed Uncle Fred who had brought with him from USA a kitbag full of chocolates, oranges and rationed items. Grandma was ecstatic to have her baby home and I was not unpleased to see the ‘goodies’, some of which I had never seen before.

‘This story was submitted to the Peoples War site by Rod Aldwinckle of the CSV Action Desk on behalf of Jim Ellis civilian and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the sites terms and conditions.’

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