大象传媒

I was ten years old when war was declared in 1939. Living on a farm in South Derbyshire with my Father, Mother, and 8 year old brother. My mother put sticky tape on all the windows and made blackout curtains so no lights would show. There was no electricity installed, lighting was parafin lamps and candles, Dad had a tilley lamp for the cowshed as he hand milked. When the bombing of Birmingham began we had 3 evacuees, two girls and a boy. They stayed a few months then their parents fetched them home, after this two Italian prisoners of war were sent to help on the farm. They didn't like farm work, Dad would sometimes go down the fields to find them asleep under the hedge. After this we had two Germans who were much better workers. My mother worked very hard, cooking was done on a black excelsior range with a side boiler for hot water. This had to be blackleaded. We were luckier than most people foodwise, as we had our own chickens and eggs. A pig was killed once a year so bacon and ham lasted quite a while, mother was a very good cook she went to the local town to shop, many things she had to queue up for. We did have a butcher, baker and green grocer who called once a week. At age eleven I went to the Upper School. Once a week we had cookery classes, the schools was allowed rations forths. My friend Frances and I had the honour of making a cake for the headmaster.
In the winter of 1947 we had lots of snow, the drive was blocked. We had a Czechoslovakian refugee staying with us then. It took Dad and Carl 3 weeks to clear the snow. The German planes used to fly over the farm on their way to Birmingham. Mum and Dad made a bed for us under the Kitchen table. There was a stray bomb dropped in one of our fields, no damage was done only a big hole in the ground. After all the worry of the casual labour Dad was taken ill and we left the farm when I was sixteen.

'This story was submitted to the People's War site by Sara-Jane Higginbottom of CSV Action Desk Leicester on behalf of Barbara Olive Jarvis and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.'

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