大象传媒

I was 12 years of age when war was declared in 1939.
If the air raid sirens sounded, we had to go into the metal Anderson shelters that had been erected in everyone's back garden. Dad had put bunk beds and seats in to make it more comfy, and Mam always had a bag of food and drinks in case we were in them a long time.
The electricity was switched off, and all the street lights were also off, so we used torches and candles in the shelter.
If there was an air raid during the night, schools were closed the next day. If there was an air raid while we were attending school, we had to go down into the cellar until the all-clear sounded. The cellar was dark and bleak.
Everyone had to have black-out blinds at all the windows so that no light was seen from the outside. Wardens would walk around the streets and if any lights showed he would shout, "Get that light out".
Food was scarce and rationed, we all had ration books for food.
When the war ended everyone was happy and after a while we had street parties to celebrate. Tables would be put in the street and everyone cooked something and we all had a great time. There were very few cars then so we had no worries about traffic.

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