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I'm a pupil from Prudhoe Community High School, Northumberland, entering Mr & Mrs Outens joint memories of WW2 and they fully understand the website Terms & Conditions of use.
George & Doreen were 5 and 3 when war was declared. Their experiences of WW2 are from children’s points of view. Their school lives were interrupted and there were shelters outside classrooms and when the sirens went off to signal air raids they would hear 3 blasts and would be filed in to the shelters. They would sing or recite times tables while waiting to hear the all- clear. George went to a secondary modern school and Doreen went to grammar school.

Both their mothers were housewives. Georges father was deaf and so was constricted to work on the US airfield near their home. Doreen’s father was in the reserve occupation ford car company.

George had 3 brothers & sisters while Doreen just had the one sister. There were ration booklets for just about everything. This included meats, fats, sugar, sweets, soap, clothes… basically everything that was imported was put on ration. Vegetables were not on ration because they were grown in this country. Recreational grounds were turned in to big corn/ wheat fields. Almost every family owned a pet rabbit. It was killed for meat. It was likely that they would have their next-door neighbour kill it and then they would eat it themselves. Exotic fruits were unknown so most families had no idea what it tastes like. However children were given

Short skirts were in fashion at the time because it would save coupons for materials. Most parents would unpick their own clothes to make new ones for their children. Doreen’s mother bought an army blanket and had it turned in to coats for her and her sister.

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