大象传媒

Most villages organised functions to raise money to send Christmas gifts to serving men and women in the Forces.
One of our functions was a pantomime, Sleeping Beauty, scraping together what talent could be found to put on the show. It proved to be a success and was well received. One of the cast - the leading light - was a lady evacuee who had been a professional on the London stage, and with her expertise and encouragement a regular revue company "The Broadwell Revellers" was formed, putting on two shows a year for several years.
Our company consisted of, five ladies and two girls (we were about 13 years of age at the time) as well as a girl pianist, electrician and back stage helpers. As well as being a professional singer and dancer the lady was also an accomplished dressmaker who made all our basic costumes of blackout material and white butter muslin - neither of which were on ration - and others of coloured crepe paper, apart from what was borrowed or begged from friends and neighbours.
The programmes consisted of songs, sketches and monologues and as they improved so our fame spread abroad and invitations came to go "on tour" to neighbouring villages. The first of these was a request to do a performance at a nearby village the other side of the hill.

GOOD USE FOR A GAS MASK
My father, the village milkman at Coaley during the war, came across an amusing sight one day on his travels. An author, who was very tall, and his wife, who was very short, had taken a cottage in the village and eventually it became necessary for them to dispose of the waste from the "little house" at the bottom of the garden. They had prepared a hole in the garden and when my father saw them, had donned their gas masks and were carrying the smelly receptacle between them, somewhat lop-sidedly. A very enterprising couple.
SHORTAGES
Working in an office at Dowty, a bride to be was threatened with prosecution if she left without permission as she was doing war work. She took a chance and many anxious months and even years followed, though nothing came of it. Because there were so many girls getting married to their servicemen sweethearts the collection for wedding presents had to be stopped in the office. One girl was sold a very special tin of luncheon meat for her wedding reception, special because it was the only meat which could be bought at that time and the grocer had managed to reserve one or two wholesale-sized tins. At some public houses in Cheltenham it was known for people to go early on purpose to secure a glass, which they held onto all evening - due to short supply there would not be enough to go round. On the railway stations the WRVS frequently served tea in jam jars because of the shortage of cups.
GUARDING THE COUPONS
My parents kept a general stores in Dursley during the war. I remember the small pieces of paper all over the dining room table at the end of each month. These were the coupons cut from the customers' ration books and all had to be counted by us and woe betide anyone who sneezed or banged a door and caused any coupons to go on the floor. The coupons were smaller than a present day postage stamp and were put in different envelopes for tea, sugar, butter, bacon, cheese and so on. The following day it was my duty after school to take the sealed envelopes to the local Food Office at Kingshill House.

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