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This History project is on My Family History and my Grandmas’ experiences in World War 2: by Lydia.

In 1939 on September 1st, German forces stormed through the Polish border, this day has been known as the Blitzkrieg or the Lightening War. Whilst the war was on, both of my Grandmas were children. They lived in contrasting areas in England; this meant that the War had different effects on the area and the people. My grandmother, Mary and her parents were involved in voluntary services (‘The War Effort’) and Margaret's father worked in a high up job in The Ministry.

Roy (My Grandfather), was involved in the Royal Air Force. He arranged the supplies e.g. Food, Clothing etc. for the armed forces. He was based in Norfolk, Asia and Africa.

Mary’s Memories of World War 2

(Grandma on my Father’s side)

Age During the War: About 11

Families' reactions when they heard about the war: They heard the news off the wireless; all of the family were very scared. They were living in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, where my grandma was born and brought up.

What changes were there?
1) Always had to carry a gasmask.
2) Rations- lots of major food supplies were short. People had a Rations Booklet; these were paper books with a thin cover and the ladies in the shop used to cut the coupons out or cancel them off.
3) Evacuees- Compulsory, my grandma had two evacuees, a little boy came from London and my grandma’s mum had to choose a little boy. Most families did not want an evacuee and did not give them as much fuss or attention. Many parents couldn't visit much, because they had jobs and it was expensive to travel by train. The evacuee's mum did visit once and then took him back. They got an older boy to take in. You had to have an evacuee if you had a spare room in which case you had to put in a bed; or if you had a double bed and only one person slept in it, you had to have an evacuee to share.
4) Clothing coupons- 1 set of clothes a year
5) Black-out glass, tape on the glass so if the windows did smash, shards of glass wouldn't spray out and injure people.
6) Shelters - table shelters and an Anderson shelter in the garden.

Overall Memories and Stories
One day two German planes flew over, one dropped a bomb opposite. Mary (Grandma) was in bed; the windows blew in and the house rocked, curtain rails fell. This sliced some houses in half and most people were still in their beds. When the second plane came — people were playing hockey on the field, everyone ran into the cellars at school, when the ‘all-clear’ came, they went back to the pitch. On the pitch there were lots of machine gun bullets.

All the road signs taken down and swapped around to confuse the Germans.

Railings taken away from the front of houses for metal to build aircraft.

Posters put around saying ` Careless talk costs lives'

They were always lived in constant fear from the German planes (They could recognise the sound of the engine) and that they might invade.

Their Parents’ Jobs During the War
Grandma’s Dad joined the ARP (Air Raid Patrol). As a flight lieutenant he could not fly, because he was colour blind. He left Singapore before it was raided, also when in Singapore he caught malaria, my Grandma’s mum was taken in an open lorry every day to work in the Greenhouses; this was the WVS (Women's Voluntary Service). Her brother joined the RAF as a flight navigator. He started this job near the end of the war; one of the planes he navigated for was a Mosquito. Grandma’s cousin was taken prisoner in Singapore.

Long Term Effects
The doors of the house never shut properly again!

Facts
There were sandbags in case of flooding.
Nylon parachutes are made out of used clothing. They had to queue for food.

Margaret’s War Experiences

Interview with my Grandma on my Mother’s side

Age during the war: 3

Family’s reactions when they heard about the war: Most of the men heard about the war and passed it on; everyone's parents were scared about what was going to happen.

What changes were there?
Food was short because ships were being bombed. There were rations on dairy, meat and fish products. If you wanted a decent and varied diet it was best if you grew your own vegetables and kept chickens for eggs and meat.
I always had to carry a gas mask. Mine was a Mickey Mouse one. The idea of the Mickey Mouse ones was to make the image of a gas mask less frightening and safer looking to the children. Rations - lots of major food supplies were short like fish, meat and dairy. We had ration books with stamps in them.

Black out glass, tape on the glass

Shelters - table shelters and an Anderson shelter in the garden.

Overall memories and stories:
My mum didn't like going in the shelters, so my dad built a little shelter from the piano and sideboard and we hid under the table. One night when the bombing got really bad, we had to go to the shelter; we were running and my mum tripped over and fell, luckily two people pulled us into the shelter.

Parent's jobs during the war:
My dad was a draftsman so was exempt from being called up. He joined The Admiralty and was sent to London, Park Royal to live. The bombing got bad and we got evacuated to Exeter to live with my Auntie.

My great Grandad stayed in London as a draftsman, he was involved with drawing maps sent to the troops. When Winston Churchill was planning to end the war, by reclaiming France, my great grandfather drew up all the maps of the French coast. He knew about D-day before it had happened.

Long term effects:
When the war ended my father’s job did not exist; he had to be moved to another branch of The Ministry.

Facts:
At school, all children had a little camp bed. They had an afternoon nap to catch up on sleep, if they had been up all night with bad bombing

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