大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War site by Bev Dann of the County Heritage Team on behalf of Mrs Rosemary Whife (nee Andrews) and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

I lived in Felixstowe and was four years old when war was declared. My father was in the T.A. and went to war in 1939. My mother, grandmother, brother and myself then moved to East Bergholt where we lived for two years and from there we went to Stratford St. Mary. I can see in my mind the convoys of soldiers coming down Gun Hill and also remember that the soldiers used to come to the cottages in the evenings for cups of tea. How I hated that awful gas mask that we had to carry everywhere. The overhead aircraft used to drop silver strips (these were used as anti-rada) and I used to collect this along with pieces of shrapnel. I learnt to knit at an early age and made socks and balaclavas for the soldiers. At the time of the doodle bugs I moved back to Felixstowe and can remember watching and waiting for the bang! On V.E. day there was a bonfire and big celebration the site that is now the Crescent Road car park. My dad returned from the war like a stranger and although he never talked about his war, I believe he was a driver and one of his tasks was picking up the bodies of those who had perished in the concentration camps.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.