大象传媒

When war was declared in 1939 I was just seven years old, living with my Mum and Dad and younger sister, Joan who was 4 years old.

I have many memories of those days of the war, and I think the first thing that comes to mind is the allocation of gas masks to everyone. I can still see the van in our road distributing these cardboard boxes containing various types and sizes of gas mask. Unfortunately, when they got to our house they didn't have any left in my size and I was so upset, but the promise to bring me one the next day seemed to pacify me.

Then I remember the "Anderson" shelter, which was delivered in seperate sheets of corrugated iron to be left in the back garden until the men came to put them in position. This meant digging down many feet and dropping the sheets into the ground and then bolting them all together. Whnen they were all in position the soil that had been dug out was then placed over the shelter. There were also brick-built shelters in the parks and other places in case there was an air raid when you were outside. I remember there being one when I was going home from somewhere so I had to stay in the shelter in the park until the "all clear" sounded. (just imagine the anxiety my poor Mum must have felt not knowing where I would be at that time.

Our school had to be closed at the beginning of the war because many of the teachers were "called up" for military service and also very many of the children were evacuated to the country. Many went to Wales, a friend of mine went to Carlisle, but I was sent to Skelmersdale with many other children from our local schools. I remember standing on Orrell Park station with our gas mask over our shoulder, a little case or bag with our clothes and a little brown paper carrier bag full of goodies (sweets, fruit, biscuits, etc). Most of us were very excited, although some were upset at having to leave their parents and younger siblings, but all the Mums were wiping away a tear as the train pulled out of the station. The train took us to Ormskirk and then we were taken by coach to a cen tre in Skelmersdale where we were given over to the people who would be caring for us in their homes. I was taken by an elderly couple who had a daughter in her teens and they were kindness itself to me - they were lovely.

During our evacuation we atten ded the local school for half of each day and the loclal children were there for the other half. We also had a little youth club one evening per week in the Church hall which was run by our minister from our home Church, whom would cycle from Liverpool to Skelmersdale every Wednesday evening to see us, play games and tell us stories, then he would cycle all the way home and report to our parents if there were any problems. It was through the Rev. Priestley that I came home after only six weeks because I was, by then, really home-sick.

As the children gradually returned home,a problem arose about education. The schools could not be opened, so we had "home teaching". Groups of about eight ir ten children gathered together in someone's home and had some very basic education. I remember two things particularly - strings of beads which we used to do sums, and the piece of coal that we had to take each morning so that we could have a fire to keep us warm.

I do not remember too much about the War itself because I suppose I was too young to understand what was going on, but I do remember the air raid direns screeching out, almost always dudring the night and Mum and Dad would come into our bedroom, wake us up and carry us downstairs and outside into the shelter. We had hammocks andblankets, so quite often we would go right back to sleep. When we were settled Dad would go out in his ARP tin hat and arm band to check there were no lights showing in any of the houses, and he would make sure that ladies whose husbands were away in the forces were safely in their shelters with their families. The greatest sound on those nights was the ALL CLEAR.

Where we lived in Orrell Park we were fortunate because the devastation from bombs was centred further south in Bootle and Seaforth where the docks were. Whole streets in these areas an d in the town centre and the southend of Liverpool were completely demolished and people were left with no homes and only the clothes they stood in, sometimes only their night-clothes. I am told that in those very difficult times people were all very kind to each other and shared what they had with their neighbours.

Another thing I remember well is rationing. We were all issued with ration books which entitled everyone to a rationed amount of food per week and I do not know how our Mums managed to eke out the food and still feed us every day. There were several recipes put together using alternative ingredients to make cakes, etc. I also remember dried egg which was used very widely for cooking and baking. It was not only food that was rationed though; we had clothing coupons which had to be exchanged when purchasing clothes, blankets, sheets and any household items.

These are just a few memories I have of WORLD WAR II and I thank God I survived to pen them.

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