大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War site by Linda Firth of the Woodbridge library team on behalf of Gertrude Holmes, and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions

I was in Cornwall on honeymoon the last two weeks of peace in 1939. A lad had cycled over to tell the farmer we were at war. On returning to the small farm on the evening of the day Hitler attacked Poland, the gentle farmer's wife informed me of the fact, not realising the implications. They had no radio, electricity or running water.
We decided to return to London immediately to our new house and business. We packed up and left for home as soon as we could with a freshly made Cornish pasty. Travelled back through high hedged Cornish lanes with blacked out headlamps (our first experience of the blackout). Traffic heavy coming out of London.
Life carried on much as usual after the broadcast by Neville Chamberlain on the Sunday morning, followed by first air-raid warning. I found a new job, having resigned from my previous job on marriage as was usual, with small Jewish wholesalers in rag trade in Whitechapel, London. Both registered for National Service. My firm evacuated to Devon, but I stayed keeping a small office in the City for samples etc. You just had to keep on doing the ordinary things. One day I went and the factory had been hit. I opened the door and there was a great hole. The whole building had disappeared. I was so shocked.
I travelled to London all during the war. My husband was called up into the navy. Became used to air-raids and listening to planes going over deciding which were friendly or not. Barrage balloons, ack-ack fire, etc, the raids on the east end of London, the devastation of people's homes, the fire-bombing of London. Folks got to work.
Fortunate that my own home was lightly damaged - broken windows and doors blasted off hinges.
The end of the European war in 1945. Previously, my husband had gone out to the Far East to Japanese war,having previously been on trips in the Mediterranean - news little, careless talk costs lives. Saw him usually once a year. He had leave before his ship sailed for Japan.
Should have mentioned the V1's and V2's. Nasty things, and very luckily escaped when plate glass window was blasted miraculously over my head when V2 fell on Petticoat Lane early one Friday afternoon.
My husband was demobbed in Jan 1946 as Japanese war collapsed with the dropping of the atom bomb.
Life went on with the rationing and the blackout. We just managed somehow.
We all thought that was a war to end all wars, but what now?

Gertrude Holmes Born 11/02/1911

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