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This was written some years ago by me the daughter of the mum at war.As yet it is not written fully to my satisfaction

I decided to write as the first person. All the details and information is strictly true as told to me by my mother Vara Pearce and Fred Pearce my father I have planned to re-write this work in more coloquial language but,havn't yet got around to it.

A Grimsby Mum At War

The day war was declared was a day I will never forget. We all knew that war was inevitable but, when the official news arrived in September nineteen thirty-nine, it was still shock to us. We didn’t. want this war and we didn’t, need it. We had some idea of it’s consequences and implications but, these could only be guessed at. We owed all our fear to that terrible little impinging despot  Adolf Hittler. How we were to hate and fear that name.
My first incident in this war was on the evening of the very day it was declared. It happened about seven o’clock. I remember the sirens whining ominously. Somehow I found baby and myself in the outside water closet. I can’t remember arriving there , but there I remained until the all clear was sounded. I had been petrified. I later learned that it was a false alarm.
The early days were tremendously busy for everyone. My husband
Was called up and he enlisted into the Navy. While awaiting his posting he was busy helping to issue and erect Anderson air raid shelters. Each of these was capable of housing a small family. Every home with a garden was allocated one. Since we and our entire street didn’t have gardens, a large concrete shelter was to be erected conveniently nearby. This would hold about fifty people.
Informative literature seemed to arrive daily. We also received ration books and gas masks. A special container arrived for the baby to be placed into, in the event of a gas attack. The thought of my husband leaving us was difficult to accept. We were accustomed to short separations as he was a fisherman but we knew that it would be very different from now on. The separations would be for longer and his destinations unknown. When the day of his departure arrived we were both sad. We knew that he had to leave at a time when we would need him most. One consolation was that the baby was too young to miss him too much.
One thing I found difficult to come to terms with, though I did eventually, was the blackout would look out of my window and feel completely isolated. This made me feel very nervous. In the beginning my mother would often stay the night with me. Much activity was still in evidence; new faces were about everywhere you went, mostly wearing uniforms of one kind or another. A lot of work was in progress at the bottom of the street. People would arrive hourly pushing old prams and handcarts, with such things as their iron garden gate or pailings. These would be melted down and delivered to the nearest ammunition factory.
Life carried on, it had to. We still managed to go to the Palace theatre and picture houses. The pubs seemed to be even busier which was surprising since there was supposed to be a shortage of beer and spirits. Happy songs such as Roll out the barrel and don’t hang your washing on the Sigfield line. New films were always being released; such as for whom the bell tolls with Gary Cooper. A new singer by the name of Frank Sinatra was very popular. He was the very first teenage idol. I must admit I thought he was pretty wonderful myself.
At one point in time I remember. Everyone about the area seemed to be wearing new shoes, women were seen wearing fully-fashioned nylons, a rare sight, and Kashmir socks. A blind eye was turned to this. The shoe factory Blindles had been blown up. However as always there is always an exception. One particular woman was too greedy. She tried to make a financial profit was caught and prosecuted. She received four months imprisonment for looting.
A local club owner built himself a racing car in his back yard. He spent a great deal of time on it and it looked good. It was named The Silver Arrow but alas when it came time to move it it was not possible to maneuver it through his exit from the yard. This poor man was the but of
Joke for many months to come.
At this time when my husband had been in the navy for about two years, I received a telegram informing me that his ship had been blown up. Luckily he was a survivor and dispatched to the naval hospital at Chatham.I left my children with my mother and proceeded to go there.This was no easy thing for me to do as I had done very little travelingespecialy on my own,and in wartime Britain the trains and stations would behectic. My husband was to remain in hospital for five long months.
On his return to naval duties it was found that his eyesight had suffered,this was one of the concequences he sustained from his injuries. He was officially discharged from the service.From here he took the option of joining the local minesweeping force on atrawler called the St Tudrow.Every succesful removal of a mine wastallied on the funnel of the ship with a little white arrow.The most succesful trawler from Grimsby the Rolls Royce, which managed to notch up twenty six in all.
Another job my husband undertook was to tow concrete air filled blocksover to the coast of France covering a wide areasuch as Dunkirk , Le Havre and Aramanches.These same blocks were then filled with sand and then half submerged to create a break.Old obsolete merchant tankers were also used. It was hoped that this would detre the Germans from staging an invasion directly over to us in Britain from the French coast.
I remember my husband coming home unexpectedly ,which was what he always did,this time I was really surprisedto see him,as he had only been gone two days.He looked dreadful when he came through the door. He explained that he hadnt been to sea. He said that he had just disapearedfor two days, he had to.He went on to say that when he was about to step aboured the ship he felt a strongcompultion to turn around and leave the war behindefor a little while.After unsucssesfully trying to persuade his friend Oscer to do the same he went away to lose himself .On his return he reported back to his Master at Arms expecting a severe reprimand howeverafter listening to my husbands explanations the man just patted him on the back and ordered him to go home to his family for a few days Apparently the ship he was to have sailed on had been blown up with all hands lost.This news filled my husband guilt and despair. In the circumstances he felt it was wrong for him to be alive when all his mates where dead especially Oscer. He was quite depressed for some timeand never forgot it. Well life carried on as nomally as as was possibleinthese uncertain timesMy children had increased to four . Basic neccesities were not to hard to come by now ,since the Americans were now in the war we had a little more variety.Beans in tomatoe sauce , unheard of over here, spam and corned beefwere in a good supply.Airaidsstill continued as always but nothingtoo extensive. It felt realy good to hear Big Bertha booming off;The sound of the boom was heared all over Grimsby. By now it was possible to distinguish between the different aircraft. We knew ours and we knew theirs.I remember the heavy drone of a Lancaster bomber. It always made me feel good inside. A night in June in nineteen fourty three was to be the worst night of m

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