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I was 3yrs old when war was declared. The youngest of ten children *five boys and five girls*. We lived in a converted pub, which was divided into two houses. The billiards table was still in next door and this plus the additional draw of two pretty daughters was like a magnet to many G.I.s . So plied with the ubiquitous cry of ‘got any gum chum’, I did pretty well for some sort of sweets, which as well as everything else, was in short supply. My dear old Mum had Son’s and daughter’s in the; Army, Navy, A.T.S. and Munitions and later a Son in the R.A.F. A regular war effort on her own!Pop had done his bit in the First World War, so I was fortunate in having him at home. At school we were issued with Gas Masks, some Mothers brought Mickey Mouse ones, which were much envied by the rest of us. We had great fun pulling them on and quickly taking them off again, because of the awful smell of rubber. Luckily we never had to wear them.
We also had a third of a pint of milk, which coming from a large family I loved, along with dripping. A tin of salmon was coveted like the Crown Jewels and was kept for Christmas. I was popular because I didn’t like the taste.

‘This story was submitted to the People’s War site by Rod Aldwinckle of the CSV Action Desk on behalf of Ruth Burford and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site’s terms and conditions.’

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