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15 October 2014
WW2 - People's War

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My Gran's Story: Living in Leeds

by Rossett

Contributed by听
Rossett
People in story:听
Erica, My Gran
Location of story:听
Leeds
Article ID:听
A2238013
Contributed on:听
27 January 2004

The War was frightening but also exciting and I never thought that we would lose. I remember the blackouts, when we had no street lights and if we used a torch the beam had to be diffused which only let a pinprick of light through. The scariest moment was during one air raid because the house opposite was hit by incendary bombs causing a massive fire.

We didn't eat much because food was rationed so we had no luxuries such as cakes, biscuits and sweets. Fruit was also hard to come by and we could only buy home grown fruits and vegetables. We also ate a lot of Spam and bread as these were more available. The gas masks had an awful smell, made my face very hot and made me feel sick.

Nothing seemed weird or unusual because it was the way of life for everyone and most of my teenage years it seemed quite normal.

The air raid sirens didn't usually go off while people were at school, they usually went off at night times. The longest time we spent in an air raid shelter was about 4 hours. The air raid shelter didn't smell because it belonged to our family alone and it was well ventilated. I was fifteen when the war started and twenty-one when it ended. We also listened to the radio from the air raid shelter because it was our only source of information.

The War was very justified because otherwise Hitler would have ruled Europe. Yes, I have vivid memories because the war took place during my teenage years and they were the best years of my life. I feel sad when I hear about wars today because I know lives will be lost but sometimes wars are unavoidable.

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Rationing Category
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