大象传媒

Mrs Maureen Bell

Mrs Maureen Bell was just turning sixteen when war started. It was a lovely Sunday morning when war started and people usually went to mass, as she came home from work everybody had come out of their homes to talk about the beginning of the war. Maureen lived in Darlington and when she first heard the air raid siren her family all hid in their back yard in a small Anderson shelter. Maureen had a few siblings and a mother and father; she left school at fourteen and wanted to train in childcare and when she passed she got a job at Grangetown nursery she was very lucky to get a job their as it had just opened. Maureen was very lucky that her house had not been bombed because Redcar had only one direct bombing on the Redcar social club, many important people were killed. Maureen took everything in her stride and worked through the War, as she had no choice. When Maureen was nearly reaching seventeen she got herself a boyfriend who was kind and loving they met at a dance that Maureen wasn't supposed to be at, they met each other three times a week and because they had no money went walking around Kirkleathem or if they were very lucky and had saved up they would go to the pictures or a dance their favourite was musicals like mayday and things like that, they later married and still are. The fashion in them days people weren鈥檛 really bothered because no body really had that much money so they went with make, mend and do and also knitting. Maureen later trained as a nursery nurse and was sent to oxford to train. Maureen then told us a great story about her brother fighting in the war, who died so she wears his medals with great pride and honour. Through the war they only received basic foods (rashions), she did not know anyone on the black market although she did think that the bar man was on it because he used to say give me your unused tokens and I will give you some broken biscuits or if you don鈥檛 want them some bacon bones which she thought was very unusual. Everyone in her neighbourhood was community friendly and their Sunday schools were very popular. There were no hairdressers back then so they used to tie a stocking around their head and curl their hair over to make a V for Victory. When the telegraph boy used to ride along on his bike with his suit and bag everyone used to watch which house he was going to if he had a yellow envelope in his hand that meant that some one had died sadly but bravely in war.

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