大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Anna Wilson of Leicestershire Library Services on behalf of Lily Bates and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

I was age 17 when the war began and lived in Earlsdon, Coventry.

I remember where I was when war was declared. The radio was on downstairs and I was just going upstairs when the announcement came. I stopped dead and remember a horrible feeling of shock and not knowing what it was going to entail.

I remember the first night the bombers came over. I was in bed and my dad woke me up. I was shaking so much that I couldn't get my buttons undone. We had an Anderson Shelter in the back garden and from that night, I didn't sleep in my bed again, I just went to the shelter, did my homework and slept there.

The bombing was bad in Coventry but it is a big city and Earlsdon didn't really get bombed too much. My father was an Air Raid Warden. I remember once that a Doodlebug landed very close by when he was on duty in the next street. We were really worried but he had just managed to get down the steps of the air raid shelter so was fine. I remember after one raid, my mother was amused to see that the pantry window had shattered but there was not one egg broken in the bowl we kept right next to it!

The sky was often bright red all around Coventry as there were so many fires. I remember when the Cathedral was hit and the IRA planted a bomb in Broadgate.

School
I was attending Barshill School when the war broke out and got really good results in my O-Levels. I wanted to go to college but my mother wouldn't let me, as she was worried about me travelling. I remember walking to school and seeing the smouldering ruins all around me. You just accepted it as there was nothing you could do about it.

Entertainment
I played the piano and practised every night. Piano lessons came to a stop because I had to travel there. We had a great social life. There was dancing in the centre of town, in the Ballroom. We also went to the pictures. The Catholic Church also had dances. I think I must have been rather good as I used to arrive at 8 and have every dance until 12! I remember being really embarrassed though as my father used to insist on walking to pick me up. He said that he would bring the dog and pretend he was just out walking it! I understand now though as I was very innocent. My parents didn't tell me anything about boys and they were trying to protect me.

Fashion
I was very clothes conscious, as every girl is at 17. I was lucky as my mother could sew and made all my clothes. I used to look in magazines at designs and tell her what I wanted. Material was hard to get though and we used to end up wearing some very strange outfits! I remember I had a long black coat with a fur trim and sweeping skirts. We had to wear all-in-one trouser suits called 'Coms' and underwear called 'Liberty Bodices' which I hated.

Work
When I left school, I work for the Trust Savings Bank or TSB. We had to use the strong room at the back of the bank whenever the air raid sirens went. The bank was next to the Post Office, which was hit by a bomb. The top floor of the Post Office was burnt out but the bank was fine.

Food
I can't believe that my mother managed on the rations we were given. I didn't realise at the time but I have seen the amount of food we had each week since. I remember hating the dried eggs. My mother always managed to have a birthday party for us every year though. She would save the rations so we had a really good spread with trifles and allsorts. We didn't have a vegetable plot as the Anderson Shelter took up the whole garden.

Romance
A boyfriend of mine was killed by a Delayed Action Bomb, in an air raid at the beginning of the war but we weren't very close. I went to the victory parties with another boyfriend. We were married in the September after the war finished. My mother made my wedding dress. It was lace over a basic satin dress. She managed to buy the material from the market.

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