大象传媒

For most women during the war, they were seperated from their husbands who were called for duty. The womans role during that time was maintaining the house, looking after the children and filling roles that were usually reserved for the men.

My situation was slightly different, my husband was part of the home guard his duties included patroling the area during the bombings and, although most women would have loved to have been in my position - one particular evening i didn't feel very lucky.

I was in my early twenties when war broke out and had recently got married. I was teaching two young girls whose father ran a farm in garsington. I lived in Marston at the time and travelled the six miles on my bike to teach the girls. The journey was spoiled slightly because i had to go past the Cowley car plant, which meant having to deal with wolf whistles etc from the blokes who worked there.

As my husband was part of the home guard his duties mainly consisted of patrolling during the evening which meant i was home alone most evenings.
People would occasionaly make comments about how 'lucky' it was for me to have my husband with me saying things such as 'it's ok for some - the war has made no difference to them, while the rest of us have to do extra to support our families not knowing whether our men will come back'

They had a point - at least i had the chance to see my husband daily and have dinner together at night, as well as, do the things that young couples do in the first years of marriage.
Working as a teacher at a farm also meant i was lucky enough not to be to incoveneinced by rationing that affected most others.
I managed to enjoy luxuries such as bacon, eggs, jam and chicken.

Looking back i guess i was lucky, my lifestyle at the time meant i wasn't really affected by the war like others were, until one night brought the realities of the war to the forefront of my mind!

During this period a lot of information was held back - the reason was because they didn't want to create panic amongst the people. Situations such as 'lights out' became part of the norm - where at nine o clock all lights had to be distinguished
and everyone would sit in darkness.

One night the reality of the war hit home for me. It seemed like a normal tuesday night for me, i had finished all my chores for the evening and had prepared my teaching plan for the following day, after dinner that night my husband and me talked about amongst other things starting a family.

As my husband got ready for his normal evening of patrolling i still remember feeling excited about the future, looking forward to starting a family and becoming a mother - a whole new set of responsibilties.

As my husband got ready to leave for the night i jumped up and gave him a big hug as he went through the door and waved him goodbye.

During that evening as i was sewing by candlelight i could hear rumbling noises from outside. Being in a particular good mood i didn't really give it another thought. However, within a few minutes the noises became more consistent and louder - flashes of lights also shone in the sky, it looked as if there was a firework display happening a couple of miles away when suddenly it hit me - 'Oh my god, we're being bombed'
Within a blink of an eye my future suddenly seemed less secure, bombs are going off around me and my husband is out there in the thick of things with even more chance of getting killed. 'what about the children?, Oh no! i've jinxed it' these were the thoughts going on in my head - i genuinley thought i had jinxed our future by discussing it earlier that night.

That night was one of the slowest ever, thinking my life had ended i honestly expected the worse. Through all the panic and worrying - i must have just fallen asleep in my chair. The next thing i remember is being woken up in the early hours of the morning by a light shining in my face - it wasn't an angel taking me away - it was my husband. He was OK, he didn't die, after calming me down from the excitement he explained, that the bombs were dropping in Islip (about 10 miles away)
Fortunatly he did not have to patrol that area. From that point on i was always conscience that although the war didn't always infringe on my world - it was more a matter of luck than fortune.

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