大象传媒

14th January 1993
Grandma鈥檚 Memories of the war
I was almost twelve years old when the war started and I can remember my father sitting with his ear cupped in his hand (he was a little deaf) listening to the announcement that war had started, over the wireless. We always called it a wireless, not radio as now. It was run off an accumulator which was recharged every week. This was made of glass and contained acid and lead compartments and distilled water (we think). A man used to fetch the one we had and bring a fresh one.

My father had been gassed in the First World War and was too old for this one and not fit enough anyway. We were all issued with identity cards and gas masks. We had to take them with us everywhere. It used to be a bit of a nuisance to carry the mask everywhere you went.

Then there was the blackout. We had to have black curtains over the window so no chink of light could show outside. The street lights were all out so it used to be pretty dark outside. You would look forward to the moonlight, for that was the only light you had.

When food was rationed it didn鈥檛 seem to make much difference to us as we were a large family, ten with mum and dad. Then my eldest brother joined the Air Force at eighteen years old.

We still went to the cinema and dances, only there were more partners as now,
soldiers were billeted at the local chapel. We also had evacuees from London, most of the young boys wanted to go on farms. They were very disappointed.

The nearest we got to being bombed was when they dropped some in a field about a mile away, but we used to see fires all around us as they bombed Bradford, Leeds, Huddersfield and Dewsbury. It was like being in the war without the realty touching us. We were so lucky.

My mother鈥檚 brother and sisters lived in Sheffield and so did her parents and they were bombed every night for weeks, and even were machine gunned through the day. Granddad, my granddad that is, said 鈥淣o Jerry was going to get him out of his bed鈥� so he would stay in it through the bombing, until one night it was so bad they persuaded him to go to the shelter and that was the night an incendiary bomb landed on his bed and set fire to it.

My brother Bill was sent to India after about two years in the RAF My brother Arthur joined the Army about 1944 (I think) and he went to Belgium and saw lots of prisoners that the Germans had starved, he saw some terrible sights.

When the Americans came over they brought nylon stockings so fine you could see through them. We were used to wearing a thick pair that was shaped behind the calf and we called them 鈥榝ully fashioned stockings鈥�. It was either wearing those or painting your legs to look as if you were wearing some.

We didn鈥檛 have television but we used to listen to some good bands. When Hitler finally killed himself, and the war with Germany was over, practically every street in Britain had parties. A guy that looked like Hitler was strung across our street and a bonfire underneath it. It was marvellous but not over.

The lady next door to us was waiting for her son to come back from Japan. She didn鈥檛 know how he was because they were known to be crueler than the Germans. When they finally dropped the Atom bomb in Japan the war was over there too. When her boy came home he looked terrible and it took a few years to get well enough to start enjoying himself again.

When the war was over the clothes started to change. There was more material and the long look came in. Dresses ended about six inches from your ankle. I went on holiday to Bridlington. I hadn鈥檛 seen the sea since going on a day trip when I was fourteen.

Things started to improve. The best thing was the National Health Service Scheme. Before that my mother always owed the doctor money and used to pay him 6d a week which is all she could afford.

The government had to start building houses again so people had somewhere to live. They built prefabricated houses and bungalows. Your great uncle Dave and aunt Vi had one; it was put up in the ruins of a large house that had an orchard. They had two large plum trees, a peach and pear tree in their garden, and after taking part in D-Day he deserved it.

Hope this helps

PS
Forgot to mention that after the war a lot of people emigrated to Australia for
拢10.00 per adult and I think children went free of charge. My sister and
husband plus two children went for 拢20.00 and it took one month on the liner that
took them to Adelaide. They loved it there and now have grandchildren and
one great grandchild.

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