大象传媒

I suppose you could say my war wasn鈥檛 too serious, me being 9 years old when it began, I know it would be very different now. I think my first calamity was where I lived, round the front of our house, we had railings and what was known as my swinging gate on which I spent many hours. One day I came home from school to find it gone! Part of the war effort I guess, but that didn鈥檛 help me much.

Another memory, I was a member of the Girl Guides and our local ARP (Air Raid Precautions) were always wanting volunteers to lie around on bombed buildings, looking all hurt and bleeding so they could find us, treat us and take us off to hospital. I was most disgruntled as my Mom wouldn鈥檛 let me do it!

One thing I did enjoy though, was the fact that our school was used for bombed out people, and there were a lot in Sheffield, so we had our lessons in peoples front rooms. Our teacher taught 5 year olds so it was a doddle. I guess I did very well for sweets, as I had both my brother鈥檚 and Dad鈥檚 ration.

One memory which wasn鈥檛 good though and has always stuck with me. At the start of the war I was in Blackpool with my family when they brought the evacuees in. There were lines of little children with the people in charge, going from door to door, asking to be taken in. But as all the houses were boarding houses for holiday makers, nobody wanted them, it was heartbreaking. I can remember my Mom crying. It was all so sad.
Well that was my little bit of the war. I always wanted to go in the Land Army, I think it was the uniform. I even think I was a bit niffed when it ended and I was only 14, so that was that.

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