´óÏó´«Ã½

Entertainment and celebrations

Saturday nights there would be the weekly ‘hop’ with recorded music. The jive had arrived from the states with Americans and some students were great performers, but it was far too athletic for me. On special occasions we held a ‘ball’ and all the girls wore long satin, silk or velvet evening gowns. These were mostly home-made as they required too many clothing coupons from our ration books.

On VE night we could hear the celebrations in the street but we were not allowed to leave our halls of residence after 10pm.

Jewish German refugees

Early in the war the Jews with German nationality who had fled to England could join the Royal Engineers but were not allowed to be armed, many were stationed in a pre-war housing camp near Bideford, and would take exploratory walks through the Devon lanes. My father loved to walk and would stop to chat, often bringing them home for a meal. We got to know some really well. One day when looking at the popular magazine Picture Post, we saw an article about prisoners in a concentration camp, showing then in the obligatory striped pyjamas. One felt sick in disgust. Apparently one Jewish friend was sent to a camp but his Import/Export firm paid for his release and sent him to London. Like so many he eventually stayed and married an English girl.

Of course, they were not engineers but professional people from all walks of life. One was an Austrian barrister and a very good pianist. Sadly he died shortly after the war, his sister asked my mother to unpack a trunk we were storing and send out his personal belongings. Among his court clothes she found the most exquisite hand-made shirts with the finest decorative tucks, a joy to see after years of deprivation.

A Jewish family from Czechoslovakia bought a house near to us and set up factory. Obviously they were able to get out in time, but their train journey over the borders was a nightmare. They were so worried their three year old would not let then down by some inappropriate remark.

© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.