大象传媒

I was 14 1/2 years old when war was declared and was working in a small firm on Team Valley Trading Estate Gateshead for a refugee.He was a Jewish German. In 1940 all refugees were interned and sent to the Isle of Man to be interrogated. I then went to work at Colmore Adhesives a subsidiary of Tyneside Safety Glass, producing lens for servicemens goggles, mirrors for planes, bulletproof blocks for tanks.
Food rationing was overcome by growing all our own vegetables and we also had an allotment and hens. Surplus eggs were stored in waterglass. I can never remember being hungry.
An Anderson shelter was put in our garden equipped with bunk beds etc. for air raids. Clothing coupons were distributed and people exchanged crafts and ideas - wool 2 ply and 3 ply cost 2d and 3d per oz. Most women wore suits. They knitted a bib in a fancy pattern and added a neck band. They looked very smart but unfortunately could never take their jacket off.
Entertainment consisted of cinema or dances costing 3d or 6d.
I always remember arriving at Kings Cross London early one morning during the Battle of Britain to find women and children sleeping on the tube station platforms. It really made me think how those people were suffering more than most.
As told to Lobley Hill Library staff.

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