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My lasting Memory of World War II is………………it was 1942, August for the first time I saw a couple of aeroplanes flying in the sky above my village. I come from Orissa an Eastern State of India. I was a young girl at that time. The Second World War horror stories spread in the village. People heard that the Japanese are coming to bomb over our area. It was midday when a group of large fighter planes flew away over the village. The sound of the planes was so loud people thought something bad was going to happen. Everybody came inside for hiding until the noise had stopped. Emergency food rationing system had been introduced by the government. It was very uncomfortable not to have enough kerosene for the lamp at night. A lot of people had to take their night meal before sunset. For any emergency at night they saved kerosene. No bombs ever dropped on our village but planes flew over from time to time on their way to the coastal port of Paradip until the war was over. My elder brother had joined the RAF. My Mother and I worried for him until he came back from Lahore. In 1945 people heard a public announcement saying war was over it brought peace of mind to the villagers. The horrific sound of fighter planes had stopped.

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