大象传媒

Introduction

This article is submitted on behalf of Mr Franklin Derek Tyrer, who was born on 15 October 1934 in Preston, Lancashire. Franklin is a 鈥楶roud Prestonian鈥� with vivid memories of growing up in the war. This article concentrates mainly on Franklin's memories of how his family coped with wartime rationing.

Franklin鈥檚 parents were Harold and Sarah Jane Tyrer (n茅e Savage). He has a younger sister, Maureen, who was born in 1936. The following account uses Franklin鈥檚 own words as much as possible, with only very minor editing. Franklin has read and fully understands the terms of the 鈥淧eople鈥檚 War鈥� website.

A little about the Tyrers of Preston

鈥淎lthough many pints have been sunk, and many horses have won and lost, I remember the war years as a very idyllic time. The summers were unending, and the winters were always guaranteed to deliver an abundance of snow, much to the delight of we kids, and to the dismay of our parents! Obviously it wasn鈥檛 really like that, even though it might seem that way looking back.

My parents were Harold and Sarah Jane Tyrer. Some people knew my mother by her full name of Sarah Jane, while others knew her as Sally or even Mrs Tyrer. To my sister and me, she was our Mum, although we sometimes affectionately called her 鈥楽arah Jane鈥�! I was born in Preston, Lancashire on 15 October 1934. My younger sister Maureen was born in 1936. My mother鈥檚 maiden name was Savage. She was named after her own mother, my Grandma Sarah Jane Savage.

Mother originally came from Whitehaven in what was then the county of Cumberland, now called Cumbria. By the time I was born Grandma Savage had been widowed twice. My Granddad Frank Savage was her second husband and he had died in 1931. We still visited Grandma Savage and other relatives in Whitehaven every year, even during the war years.

Back in Lancashire, this was where the Tyrers lived. My Grandma Tyrer's Christian name was Anne, and Grandpa's first names were Frederick James. I also had a close affinity with my cousin Fred Tyrer. People used to call us 鈥樷�楾he Tyrer Brothers鈥欌�� although we were cousins. We got up to all sorts of things, as all young lads do. We were close right up until he died tragically a few years ago.

My Dad Harold Tyrer didn鈥檛 go away to war. He worked in what was euphemistically called a 'Reserve Occupation' at what eventually became the British Aerospace plant near Preston. It used to be English Electric or GEC at one time or another. This factory he worked at was generally called 鈥楧ick Kerr鈥檚鈥�. It always retained this name for many of the locals until it's demolition in the 1990s. They made railway trains, and above all, the famous Hampden bomber. Then after the war the Lightning fighter was built there.

My mother used to take in boarders before, during and after the war. These were mainly 鈥榯heatricals鈥�. They went around the country entertaining everyone. That meant we had a lot of dancers, singers, actors and comedians staying with us. All these theatrical people played their part in keeping everyone鈥檚 spirits up during the war. So we had lots of entertaining in our house.

The secret market everyone knew about but nobody mentioned

My sister Maureen says she doesn鈥檛 remember we had any problems with rationing, and neither do I. That really sums up the situation. As children, we ate what our parents gave us! Like everybody else, I think my Dad Harold managed to acquire things at this mysterious, secret and mythical place that wasn鈥檛 affected by wartime shortages. They called it the 鈥楤lack Market鈥�! Consequently, we were never short of anything during what was called 鈥楾he Rationing鈥�, due to my father鈥檚 involvement with this secret market that everybody seemed to know about. It was all 鈥榟ush hush鈥�!

Access to things at this 鈥楤lack Market鈥� had all sorts of trade offs. One of my teachers at school was a Miss Kennedy. My mother was always one for 'pushing' us kids so she used to send Miss Kennedy little presents. By this I mean chocolate or perfume, which my father used to somehow obtain.

Also, my father used to make little Vanity Boxes out of scrap 'Perspex' which was used in the production of planes. These small pieces of Perspex were the discarded pieces, and all the workers seemed to 鈥榓cquire鈥�. Miss Kennedy received some of these Vanity Boxes as well. So, Miss Kennedy always ensured that I had two bottles of milk, which were allocated to the kids in those days.

The things mother gave us to eat and drink at home

At home, we had 鈥楪old Top鈥� milk and mother used to make us drink this. We had to take medicines like Parish's Food, which you had to drink through a straw. I heard it was supposed to rot your teeth! Other things we had to take because mother said so were 鈥楢ngiers Emulsion鈥�, a ghastly white concoction, 鈥楽cott鈥檚 Emulsion鈥�, a similar concoction, and 鈥榁irol鈥� a malt, which was very pleasant. To top it all, we used to have what mother called 鈥榖est butter鈥� smeared on our bread as opposed to the ghastly margarine which my Father called axle grease!

Then there were the tablets we had to take for our health. Among these were: 鈥業ron Ox鈥�, little pink pills which were for iron, 鈥楽even Seas Cod liver oil鈥� (argh!) and 鈥楨lasto鈥�, which dissolved quickly on your tongue. I never knew what purpose they served. But if Mother said you had to take them, then believe me, take them you jolly well did!

Another thing we were given was a malt, 鈥楻obeline鈥�. This carried the picture of a Tarzan like figure on the label. Child-like, we all wanted to be like Tarzan, so we relished this. 鈥楤emax鈥� was a cereal, which we had to take each morning, with hot milk. This was foul. To this day, I can still taste this 'Bemax'. It really was awful.

We had powdered egg, despite the fact that my father always had fresh eggs. He obtained these at 3/6p per dozen, from 'Farmer Chris'. In fact, I became very friendly with Chris later in life, due to my chosen occupation as a Racecourse Bookmaker. During the war years it certainly paid to have these informal contacts. Everyone seemed to know somebody who could do them a favour. It was a way of life.

My mother also had a big brown earthenware pot, which she filled with a substance called 'Isinglas'. This was made, I believe. from the bladders of fish. This preserved the eggs indefinitely. Also, mother got wind that there would be a pepper shortage. Mum then bought all the pepper that she could and stored it in the large 'Robeline' jars. These, filled with the pepper, we still had until well into the 1950s!

So, on the whole we ate fairly well in the war years. We always had enough food in spite of the rationing. While some of the things we were given were really ghastly, none of them ever did us any harm!鈥�

Conclusion

Franklin is known to some people by his second forename of Derek. I would like to thank Franklin for sharing some of his wartime memories, especially about the secret, mythical place in Preston where you could buy almost anything! I have written additional articles about further memories Franklin has kindly shared with me.

Franklin鈥檚 mother was a younger sister of my own maternal Grandmother, and I have known him most of my life. Franklin and Maureen鈥檚 mother Sarah Jane used to send photographs to her family who lived in West Cumberland during the war.

Franklin has been happily married to his dear wife And茅 for many years. They now enjoy a happy retirement at their home in Spain. This article is just one that I have written about Franklin鈥檚 wartime memories of growing up in Preston.

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