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I had two children during the war.
My husband was in the Home Guard and then developed TB.
I was in Ealing not far from London.
At night the search lights were all in the sky and every night there were bombs.
Once all London was a blaze — the skyline was lit up. The bombing was dreadful.
We had an Anderson Shelter dug in the garden.
The entrance was small and sharp.
I was expecting another baby (my second) so it was hard getting in.
My two boys were scared so I would sing the whole time to keep them quiet.
As they got older the boys would collect shrapnel as a hobby.
All the food was rationed, hair clips. Sewing needles and coal was rationed.
My eldest child was always hungry.
I had to lock my bread away or else he would have eaten it all.
One day when he had friends round they ate all the carrots we had planted.

I remember the street party.
The day I heard the war had ended I didn't know what to do, so I took my two children on a bus and we went through all of London and saw all the street parties.
We stayed there for a while and then came home.

My youngest brother was killed during the war.
My eldest brother was in Burma and my sister's husband was a Prisoner of War.

This story was submitted to the People's War Website by Lisa Reeves of CSV Action Desk Leicester on behalf of Marcelle Sullivan and has been added with her permission.
The author fully understands the sites terms and conditions.

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