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This story was submitted to the People鈥� War by a volunteer from The Chepstow Society on behalf ofWalter & Pat Manson and has been added to the site with their permission. Walter & Pat Manson fully understands the site.s terms and conditions

Pat Manson

Home life.
My father made blackouts for the windows with large squares of linoleum and a wood surround. The linoloeum was painted black and small catches attached it to the windows. The air raid wardens came around and inspected the windows to see that no light shone through. If there were any chinks of light showing, there would be a knock on the door and 鈥淧ut out that light鈥�. As there was no street lighting, most people had torches, but you were supposed to keep them shining towards the ground.

School life.
At Chepstow Church School, we cut out strips of paper to stick on the school windows against bomb blast. At Larkfield. We had regular gas mask drills. When the air raid siren sounded I with two or three others had to cross the Newport road to the home of one of our schoolmasters - -Mr. Morgan,. There was an air raid shelter in the back garden. Mrs. Morgan used to arrive with sweets for us all. I recall making jam tarts from potato pastry in cookery lessons.

War events.
Our biology mistress organised after school walks for us to pick hips from the hedges. These were used to make rose hip syrup which was given to babies. Chepstow had several National Savings Weeks for spitfires etc., a target indicator was put up in the town, I remember one on the George Hotel. One night after an air raid over Bristol we found a large piece of shrapnel in our back garden, probably from the British heavy anti - aircraft fire.

Additions from Walter Manson.
I came home on leave from the army and went to visit my former employer W.R.Holmes, Jewellers, Chepstow. Mr. Eric Rees, the visiting optician was there doing sight - testing and Mr. Brailey the watchmaker, told me that Mr. Rees had just lost two children in the sinking of the 鈥淐ity of Benares鈥� on her way to safety in Canada.

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