大象传媒

Florence was born after World War II but she can remember stories that her father told her and she has read letters which her father sent home from his post in France and when he was a prisoner of war.

Florence鈥檚 parents were married by special licence on the 3rd of September 1939, at St John the Baptist Church in Newcastle on Tyne; the day Britain and France declared war on Germany. Their wedded bliss was short lived when her father, Jimmy, aged 30, was sent to France to serve with the Gordon Highlanders, whilst her mother and brothers were evacuated to Seascale, near the Lake District.

Jimmy was taken prisoner of war and was held at the Stalag prison camp for 5 years. In a letter written in 1943 Jimmy talked about his home coming now being in the hands of the British Army again. He also tells of the pleasure in having tasted white bread for the first time in years.

Florence remembered a story about her father鈥檚 return from the War. Her brother had never met his father before so, when Jimmy got off the train and held his arms out to greet his son the boy understandably ran to his uncle.

After the war, while the country was still in debt and trying to repair and rebuild, the families all received parcels from family and friends who were living in Canada. Florence can still recall the magical feeling each Christmas, as the family eagerly awaited their gifts from abroad.

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