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Questionnaire
Gran — Maureen Young — born 1938

Did you get evacuated?
Some of my brothers and sisters were evacuated — two sisters and one brother, because it was children over five who could be evacuated. They were sent to Pocklington, in York, because there were no shipyards or gas tanks. My brother, John, didn’t get a very good home and was a bit badly used. He went to the church, which moved him nearer his sisters, who had been sent somewhere else.

What did you do for fun?
It was all street fun. People were very friendly in those days — everyone knew everyone. During the day we were out on the streets younger than now. My friends and I used to search the streets for shrapnel form planes and see how much we could collect. At night, we used to tie a blanket round the table and pretend it was a tent. After that, it was your own imagination…

What music did you listen to?
We didn’t have music. All we had was a radio and my Mam and Dad domineered that. Just music in church — they used to put on sing alongs to keep everyone’s spirits up. We used to sing and clap along — it was good fun!

What did you eat?
My family was one of the poorest families but my Mam was really good. It was mainly just bread and potato. She used to make broth and dumplings, and suet puddings, corn beef pie, steam pudding. I enjoyed the meals thoroughly. We were always hungry. Food was rationed, so we had little. Workers were fed first and anyone else came after, if there was any left. Winston Churchill had promised we would always have bread, and we did.

Did you go out during the blackouts?
We couldn’t go out — we were in the house at blackout. I was just a child so I wasn’t allowed out and I was frightened of the dark anyway!

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