大象传媒

This story was submitted to the people's war website by Nina Davey on behalf of the author Harry Pilgrim and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

My father, who lost his younger brother in WW1, saw his roll as making every effort to ensure we were as self-sufficient as possible. We had our own borehole for water and made our own gas for cooking and some lights. Runner beans were salted, eggs preserved and fruit bottled in Kilner Jars. Throughout the war hotel and restaurant meals were free of ration 鈥� except that you could not charge more than five shillings 鈥� 25p today! Only after 72 hours staying in an hotel did you have to hand over your ration book. Other than that the establishment claimed the ration for the meals server.

There was no piped water in the Mawnan area and those that did not have their own well/borehole had to carry water from standpipes 鈥� the remains of some still exist. The army arrived half a mile away in Church road to install miles of wire netting spread over a large field. It was an early form of radar. Someone in Whitehall decided that Mawnan Smith was the nearest place to get water and ordered a 3鈥� pipe to be laid. There was insufficient water in the village even to fill such a pipe! This pipe was re-discovered when St. Edwards Catholic Church was built. The whole of Latimer School was evacuated to Mawnan Smith, using the Memorial Hall for lessons. I used to go cycling with them and also played cricket.

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