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As a child during the war I remember vividly a lack of milk, butter and bread and particularly sweets. On the rare occasion sweets were available they were a big luxury. I remember in particular the secrecy required to obtain them. My mother used to say to me ‘don’t tell anyone, but I hear the corner shop has sweets’ this was because if you did tell anyone, chances are you wouldn’t get any. One thing that struck me as odd was the corner shop and its display, if bread was in stock there would be one loaf in the window, not only this but also a cat, do not ask me why but there was always a cat in the window and occasionally a loaf of bread.
Also as child it was compulsory to carry your gas mask with you at all times should there be an air raid. My memories of the air raid shelters were very grim and remember my despair at hearing the sirens go off, which went anytime night or day and when they did we all had to head for the shelters as fast as we could, because in most cases the bombing had already started. The shelter itself was basically a whole in the ground with a shelter over the top and a black out curtain over the door, this shelter was located in our garden, but used by four families, which is a good example of the community spirit during the war. Another example of this was my father’s garden and poultry, such as our pig which we had to kill for food, which we shared with the street and lasted in our larder for over a year.
One fond wartime memory was my older brother, who served as a dispatch rider in the 8th army came home on leave and gave me a banana, which I had never come across before and it wasn’t until after my first bite my brother informed me you had to remove the skin! I also remember saving half and taking it into school the next day to show off to my friends, but I kept the banana for my self.

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