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15 October 2014
WW2 - People's War

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A boy when the war started, a man when it ended

by Hitchin Museum

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Archive List > Childhood and Evacuation

Contributed by听
Hitchin Museum
People in story:听
Mr John Lee
Location of story:听
Cardiff, Normandy, Germany
Background to story:听
Civilian
Article ID:听
A7038560
Contributed on:听
17 November 2005

I lived in Cardiff when the war started. I was 14 and still at school. I remember helping to sandbag the classrooms as a temporary measure. Students were used to assemble gas masks.

There was an air raid on Cardiff when the school (Canton High School) was set on fire. I think they took pity on us and treated us softly at school as I got a pass in Latin and didn鈥檛 deserve it.

When I left school I worked on the docks repairing warships. We installed magnetic field coils (it was called degaussing kit) on the ships to repel the landmines.

I was called up for the Army at age 18. In the first 12 months I went to 11 different places in this country. Then to Normandy and was in north Germany when war ended. I was 20.

So I was a young 14 year old when the war stared and a man, at 20, when it finished.

This story has been submitted by Hitchin Museum on behalf of Mr John Lee.

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