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This story was submitted to the People’s War site by Joanne Burgess on behalf of Hilda Tate and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site’s terms and conditions.

Losing your husband:

I had been married one year when my husband was called up for the war. It was terrible when your husbands first went. I was also pregnant and three weeks before I was due to give birth my husband who was an RASC driver was sent to Holland where he stayed, apart from visits home, until the end of the war. The baby who was a girl called Maureen was nine months old before he saw her.

You can't have this.

I did different jobs during the war and at one point I worked in a grocery store. I remember the ration books and having to say to people ‘you can’t have this’ and ‘you can’t have that’. They were hard times but at the time you thought nothing about it. I did my best to let my friends have a bit extra. And if you were well in with people at the Co-Op then they would add bits on for you.

Shortages:

There was a shortage of eggs at the time and we would keep them in a bucket in the cellar, this kept them cool and made them last longer. Also there was a shortage of orange juice and it was allowed only to people with babies. Babies were also given extra cod liver oil because there was not much milk around. There were no sweets either and no stockings. The only way to get stockings was if someone swapped them for something else. There were lots of things that were in short supply but we actually did really well and at the time it felt like you were not short of anything. Things were scarce but you got by. We just helped one another.

Travelling around.

There were also good times too. I got to travel to different places to see my husband who was stationed all over. When I went to these places I was put up in people’s houses. I went to Wembley, London and also spent six weeks in Newcastle with this lovely couple and I also went to Southampton.

Pricking the Rugs.

We would use old trousers and coats and cut them in strips and make rugs from them. We called this ‘pricking the rugs’. Any old material we would cut them up. I remember Mum chopping old things up and sharing the material out. It makes you wander how you got through things but you just did.

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