大象传媒

I was born in 1938 so I was only a child during the war. Here are some of the things I remember.
When the siren went we used to go into the cupboard under the stairs. One of the treats you could still buy was iced diamonds, little biscuits with icing on them. Although I was rationed as to how many a day I could eat they were never out of my sight and I can remember one day going into the cupboard and suddenly saying to mu mum "don't let gerry gun my sweets". I had left them on the table and of course she went back into the room and got them for me.
Later on my dad built a proper shelter in the garden which was always ready with things like an Aladdin Heater, kettle, tea, bedding etc. When the buzz bombs had passed over I was allowed to get out and watch them. One time, all of a sudden one suddenly went silent which we knew meant it was coming down and it landed at the bottom of our street.
I had a best firend called Brenda and if I invited her to tea I would have to share my egg with her so my mum would scramble it and from somewhere find enough bread so that we could have scrambled egg on toast. Brenda would bring a few jam tarts or something and we felt as if we were having a real banquet.
Later on my parents kept chickens so we had extra eggs and sometimes chicken for dinner. My dad also built a small pond in the back garden and kept a few ducks.
I was evacuated for a short time to a place called Enham in Andover and I hated every minute of it and eventually my mum gave in and brought me home. I felt safer at home with my parents than I did in the countryside.
Bath night was Friday and of course nobody had an abundant supply of hot water so my mum would put the copper on and when the water was hot enough she would get a big tim jug and fill up the tin bath in front of the kitchen range. I was first to have a bath. Abit more hot water and it was my mum's turn and last of all with the rest of the hot water was my dad.
Sweets like everything else were rationed and everybodt was allowed a quarter of a pound per week. Not everybody could afford to buy their whole ration, especially those with large families, but I was lucky. On a sunday morning my dad would take me up the road to the sweet/newspaper shop and we would buy a quarter of our three favourite sweets. When we got home we would share them out and if there was an odd one left over I got it even if it was someone elses favourite.
Another time I remember being allowed to go down the road to the greengrocers on my own. I was always told not to take things from strangers especially if one of my parents were'nt with me. I bought what ever it was I had gone to the shop for and the lady who I had seen many times when I had been shopping with my mum offered me a banana. I politely said "no thankyou, I am not allowed to take things from strangers". I walked up the road feeling very proud of myself for resisting the temptation and doing as I had been taught. When I got home and told my mum she must have had very mixed feelings because a banana was a rare treat but she never said a word.
When the war was over we had a wonderful street party. All the mum's combined their resouces and we had sandwiches, cakes, jelly and homemade lemonade. A chap who lived two doors away had a projector and he showed us films projected onto the wall between two houses. Later on he took four or five of us at a time for a ride in his convertible. Only a short ride but we had the time of our lives. My clothes were always bought from Marks and Spenser because although they were an little bit dearer they were made with bif seams which meant they could be let out the next year which cut the cost in half. (Nowadays they don't have seams at all).
No one felt they had missed out on anything and everybody was a lot happier and more contented than they are today. I just hope that it doesn't take another war to bring sanity back to this country.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.