大象传媒

(Written by Margaret Lang (nee Muir), for her 11-year-old grandson.)

When World War Two broke out I was a girl coming up for 10 years of age living in my home town of Greenock. My first recollection of the war was the sinking of the liner'Athenia' in the Atlantic with a big loss of life, ordinary citizens returning to the USA and Canada from Europe. Of course, there was no television then so we relied solely on the wireless (as the radio was called) and also the Movietone News at the cinema.

By the time 1940 arrived we had been issued with gas masks (in case the Germans used gas) and we had to carry these with us to school. If you forgot your gas mask you were sent straight home to get it - no waiting until lunch time to pick it up.
I lived with my brother and sisters in a tenement property and our close was shored up with iron struts, also the washhouse in the basement, and a baffle wall (built of bricks) was positioned facing the entrance to the close to minimise bomb blast. Greenock, situated on the Clyde, was a target for enemy planes as there were numerous shipyards and the river was the base for lots of ships coming and going during the war, both by our own navy and other countries occupied by the Germans.
The Home Guard was formed and also the ARP (Air Raid Precautions). The latter group of men patrolled the streets at night to check that there were no lights showing. We all had blackout curtains at the windows and if we did go out in the evening to the cinema (we had 5 picture houses in Greenock) we had to carry a torch with us.
All the big mansions in the West End of the town were requisitioned by the Forces and were only returned to their owners after the war.

Food rationing began and then clothes and sweets, petrol was not available to ordinary citizens but few of them had private cars. I spent my first 8oz sweetie ration (a month's allowance) in Woolworths on the first day it came into force - Rowntree's gums and pastilles. After that I relied on my father to keep me in sweeties.My mother used to queue for our food rations every Monday and they had to last for a full week. We never starved but you did miss the little luxuries, like cake and sweet biscuits.

Early in 1940 I lost a cousin at sea. he was 29 years old and a much loved only son. He commanded a small Royal Navy vessel which was sunk in the English Channel.
Also in 1940, a French destroyer, the 'Maille Brize' was anchored off Greenock Esplanade when she exploded and went down with a great loss of lives. Our primary school was a First Aid Post, we were sent home immediately so that the casualties could be brought there. After the War a memorial to the men of the 'Maille Brize' and the Free French forces was erected on the Lyle Hill in Greenock, overlooking the river. It is called the Cross of Lorraine and is a popular tourist attraction. General De Gaulle was the leader of the Free French Forces and after the War became President of France.

In 1941, air raids were becoming more frequent. When the siren sounded we had to get out of bed, dress warmly and go down to the washhouse in the 'dunny' as we called it. We stayed there until the All Clear sounded and then went back upstairs. my brother refused to leave his warm bed!

Early in May 1941, on two successive nights, Greenock was blitzed. The target was the shipyards, but they were practically untouched. The East End of Greenock was wrecked and I had an aunt, uncle and two cousins who were killed. They were in the Anderson Shelter in their garden which took a direct hit. I also had a friend who lost her father that same night, leaving her mother with three children to bring up on her own.

Immediately after all this bombing the evacuation of many children took place. My father and mother decided to send my sister and I (the two youngest members of the family) to stay with an Aunt and Uncle in Durisdeer village in Dumfriesshire, where my father was born and brought up.We spent May to September 1941 in Durisdeer and loved the village life. We went to the local primary school where there were two teachers, one head man and a lady. After two months at school it was holidays and we enjoyed playing in the hills above Durisdeer.I remember walking the 4 miles each way to Drumlanrig Castle on a Sunday for an 'Open Day'. I thought it was a beautiful place. In the War years the Castle was occupied by a girl's boarding school from Edinburgh.

HMS Hood, one of our largest battleships, was sunk while we were in the country. A cousin lost her fiance who was in the Royal Marines serving on the Hood. If I recall correctly there were only around 6 survivors out of nearly 2000 men. My cousin got married in 1943 to another Royal Marine serving on HMS Victorious!
By September 1941 Greenock was no longer being targeted by enemy planes. The bombing was now centred on London. We returned home and I entered secondary education, learning commercial subjects and French.

America entered the War in December 1941 after the bombing of Pearl Harbour. Greenock was the base for the liners Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth. They were so fast they could cross the Atlantic in 4 or 5 days. They brought over thousands of American servicemen. The war took a turn for the better with American support.
We had an aunt and uncle in America who sent us food and clothing parcels. They were very well received and my mother dished out the tinned butter, fruit and cold ham very sparingly. It was such a change from spam, and rabbit, when available.The Kraft cheese from America came in a great big long block - what a treat! Fresh fruit was always scarce and bananas did not get back into the country until after the War, unless some of the seamen managed to bring some through. My father worked in the local sugar refinery so we were never short of sugar.

In 1944 I started work with an insurance company. The War ended in May 1945 and there was great rejoicing and celebrations in the streets.

Although the War was over, rationing continued until 1953 and shops began to carry the goods that had been unobtainable for so many years.

As a family we came through the War very well, but lots of families were bereft. This is why we should always remember the dead in November each year.

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