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This story was submitted to the People's War site by the Barnsley Archives and Local Studies Department and Tom Bagnall and Ashley Powell from Darton Community School on behalf of Joseph Alan Haigh and has been added to the site with his/her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions."

I was only a child at the age of six when the war broke out. I lived just outside the town in a row of terrace houses. When war was declared we had rations. No butter and just a small chunk of margarine. We ate more healthily. Sometimes we made a stew, which would last at least two days. We grew a lot of our own vegetables. We used also go looking for coal! We used to help people to get their coal in for sweets or something good.

There were two different kinds of air raid shelters. One was an Anderson shelter and the other was a brick built shelter with a concrete roof, which was at school. The air raid shelter was damp and dark. We sometimes had to sleep in the shelter.

I didn’t see or hear any bombs, although they were dropped on Leeds, Wakefield and Sheffield, we were fortunate.

Dad worked at Fox’s Steels and walked to work. Mum worked in a munitions factory at the bottom of Kendray.

A lot of people were called up for the forces; mainly men and women took on the men’s jobs. People were coming home injured, some with limbs missing etc. Friends’ fathers and relatives died.

The biggest thing I remember was we had to ensure no light shone out at night from our house. We had to use curtains or anything else to stop light showing, the air raid wardens used to go round and make sure, as if they could see a light so could the air craft. Cars and buses couldn’t have lights. There was also petrol rationing, so not many vehicles were being driven.

Sweets were rationed. At Christmas we got an apple; orange; small bag of sweets. There were no trips. We only had a radio, no television.

Ammunition was stored at Penistone. There was a Canadian Camp at the bottom of Cemetery Road.

Neighbours could leave their door unlocked and windows open without worrying.

I can remember a lot of parties at the end of the war.

I joined the Royal Navy at the end of the war.

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