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We lived in Anston near Dinnington, I was one of a family of 6 children. My brother Harold enlisted under age, and served in the Sherwood Foresters. They went over to France and were stranded on the beaches in Dunkirk, I think they tried to escape and were caught by the Germans. They were marched from France into Germany, a forced march, they were begging for food on the way. I remember my Mother and my Dad receiving a telegram saying he was missing presumed dead. They found out that he was alive and in a prisoner of war camp through the Red Cross. He was 16 years old.

I remember saying prayers every night for Harold, even though we weren’t a very religious family. My Dad died in 1944 before the War ended, and so he never saw Harold again.

My older brother became a Bevin Boy down the pit and was in the Home Guard.

My mother worked in a munitions factory in Maltby, she was told she would have to take in an evacuee or work in a munitions factory. After my Dad died I was able to have free school meals, but they made me stand in a different queue at school. My mother didn’t like this and paid for school meals. She had three jobs, and found money to send Harold Red Cross parcels. Harold said they hardly ever got them. My Dad was an amateur boxer, and Harold was always interested in boxing. It helped him in the Prisoner of War camp.

I can remember the big ack-ack guns near us, and massive barrage balloons, because we were in the path of the German bombers going over to Sheffield. I remember the raids on Sheffield and we could see Prince of Wales Road and Attercliffe burning. Everyone was very frightened, but my mother never let us go into the air-raid shelter, she put us in the pantry — I don’t know why!

I had a long walk to school, and I had to take a Mickey-mouse gas mask with me. After the war, my mother kept all the ration books and the letters from Harold as prisoner of war. They were very unusual the way they opened out, and there were crossings out. Any terms of affection were crossed out by the German censors.

When Harold came home, local people dyed their sheets and put up welcome home signs for him.

Harold stayed in the army for the rest of his working life, and went to Korea. Another brother, Leslie joined the Royal Engineers in the 1950s and also went to Korea. The Worksop Guardian had an article about them meeting up on the 48th Parallel.

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