大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War site by a volunteer from Radio Newcastle on behalf of Mrs R Sloan and has been added to the site with her permission. Mrs R Sloan fully understands the terms and conditions of the site.

I was seven years old when war began. I belonged to a large family: Father and my brothers worked in Swan Hunter's ship yard. My eldest brother was called up into the army, the others helped with fire watching and home guard duty.

We had an army camp on Walker Deme and the guns made a loud noise on occasions. Then at the end of our street (Tynedale Terrace) the RAF arrived to set up a barrage balloon site beside the railway end of the terrace. We thought it was fun when the WAAFS had to set the balloon ready. The next memory is the siren - I hated that (moaning minnie); then there were the smoke screens - horrible smells from them. It must have been a struggle for mother but we were never hungry and everyone helped one another.

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