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Memoirs of a Teenage Schoolgirl in WW2

My father was in the army and the day before war was declared my poor mother had just moved from one married quarters to another and she had 24 hours to find somewhere else to live. She told me that the only thing she regretted was leaving six pounds of sugar behind.
In that first year we moved eight times.

In the early part of the war I stayed with my aunt and family. Often we just had to pick up our meal and run to the shelter when the sirens went. My aunt was a school cook and she made a lovely curry that we often ate while in the shelter. My cousins and I got tired of going to the shelter each time so we just went under the stairs. While I was at my aunt's we had a German bale out of his aeroplane. Gosh, what a rush there was to find and capture him.

When my father came back from Dunkirk we finally moved to a little village with one shop, a village green and a telephone. My father was stationed in the town about a mile and a half away. We lived in a little wooden bungalow that smelt of apples as it had belonged to a shepherd who had stored masses of apples there. It had an old fashioned fireplace with an oven, no electricity, an outside loo and water from a pump outside the back door. The water was lovely to drink. Times were hard for my mum but we children didn't realize just how much as long as we were fed and watered and kept warm. Everyone was so helpful to each other. Where rations were concerned,if one was short at times someone always helped out. We had our bad days but we didn't think too much about them as we knew we had to get on with life. I remember having a coat made from a blanket and underwear from parachute material and buying "non-coupon wool" to knit with. It is surprising what things can be done when you have to do it.

As time went by various soldiers from many regiments came and went. I used to deliver newspapers to a wide country-round on my bicycle, leaving the shop about 7am and getting back at 12 noon, hail, rain or shine. Nothing nasty ever happened although I did get soaked on some rainy days. At one time we had Canadian soldiers stationed in one of the big houses and I had to deliver newspapers to the sentry at the lodge. One Canadian soldier used to greet me "Good morning little lady and a bunch of roses". That always made my day. After the Canadians left, the Americans arrived. On the whole they were a lovely bunch of lads. I remember one day when I was looking out of my friend's window in the town, an American soldier came along, lifted a dustbin lid and spent a penny! We were all amazed and needless to say we had a good giggle…….
During the winter, when the "Yanks" were around, we had quite a lot of snow and we had snowball fights. I was literally picked up and rolled all the way down the street. We had dances in the Town Hall and we girls used to be able to walk straight in but the poor boys had to queue as there as only so many were allowed. Then one day, very suddenly, everything went silent. No more hustle and bustle. Our soldier friends had gone. The invasion had started.

We were very lucky living in a village. We did have a few bombs dropped around in the fields but happily no-one was ever hurt or killed.

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