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I Remember I Remember
A Scottish Family’s War

We were a family of four when the war started. My Mother and Father, my Brother who was 18 months old and myself, aged three. We lived in a bright friendly street bordered on one side by Harrison Park in a suburb of Edinburgh called Craiglockhart. A stretch of the Forth and Clyde Canal ran parallel with the top-end of the park. We were well served with public transport at this time. From Polworth Terrace we were able to take a tramcar into the city and trains ran near at hand to and from the Calais Station. I used to go on the tram once a week to my dancing class at the Pools Synod Hall, off Lothian Road, run by a well-known dancer called Jean Reynolds.

I remember we also had a selection of lovely old shops. A Dry Salter (hardware store) in one corner where you might be lucky enough to buy sticks to light the fire! The Chemist with rows of apothecary jars on the shelves and where Mum used to buy ‘spirits of soap’ to wash our hair. The Newsagent and toyshop was a magical place to us children. At Christmas time interesting parcels were kept under the counter for ‘Santa’. Not far from the toy shop was a bakery which looked like a cellar and had to be entered by a flight of metal stairs which were a bit dark and scary but the wonderful smells of bread and rolls being baked enticed us in, a loaf of bread cost 4½d (2p), and of course we can’t forget St Cuthbert’s Store (Co-op). Every district of the city had a St Cuthbert’s somewhere, selling groceries and household goods.

My Dad had a fruit and vegetable business not too many miles from where we lived and in those days deliveries were made by horse and cart! I vaguely remember a lovely old shire horse called Major! No fancy ‘delivery vans’ then! My Dad sat on a high seat in front of the cart and operated the brake b y turning a wheel with a handle on it, rather like the ones used to drive trains.

We were very lucky in our part of the world that we didn’t experience the horrors of the ‘blitz’ and the bombings which occurred in other parts of the country although in keeping with the rest of the British Isles we did have an air-raid shelter in the back garden, we did have black-out curtains and sticky tape on the windows to prevent them shattering, as well as warning sirens. I remember my Brother and I, were issued with amusing looking ‘mickey mouse’ gas masks which we carried everywhere. In 1940 we were evacuated to the country (East Linton) for a short time.

A DIFFERENT WORLD

Many of the Dads in our street became members of the Home Guard or ARP. (Air Raid Precaution) Wardens. My Dad was in the Home Guard for a while but early on in the war he was called up and after training, joined the sloop H.M.S. Rochester as a telegraphist and our lives were changed forever! He had to give up his business and my Mother took a job running a Day nursery for a while. To swell the finances, we often had a student staying with us! It was a very worrying and traumatic time for my Mother. She often didn’t hear from my Father for months at a time and then when a letter did arrive it was sometimes censored, with lines blackened out!

HOME LEAVE

When Dad came home on leave we were very excited and we hoped that Mums family who lived on a farm in Inverness would send a chicken or fresh eggs, as they sometimes did, to make it even more of a special occasion, but the time always passed too quickly. The partings at Waverly Station when he went back to his ship were very emotional! — We were only one of many families waving goodbye to loved ones we might never see again!

KEEPING OUR SPIRITS UP

Keeping your spirits up became so important and looking back my Mother did just that! She took us to the Palladium Theatre to see Harry Lauder and Harry Gordon — very popular entertainers at that time. They made us laugh and forget our troubles for a while. We often went to see a film at the local Lyceum Picture House and I became a great fan of Jeanette McDonald and Nelson Eddy! My Mother always had great difficulty in getting me to leave the pictures as I always wanted to see the film round again! A special treat was being taken in to Patrick Thompson’s — a lovely old department store in the ‘Bridges’ in Edinburgh to have our hair cut. We used to sit on swivel chairs with horses heads attached — just like sitting on a horse! Later we went to the restaurant for afternoon tea and listen to the three-piece orchestra that always played there.

Throughout the war years there was great camaraderie in our street. Neighbours were always there for one another, be it helping out with a cup of sugar or a bucket of coal! We younger folks were always dressing up and putting on concerts in the park and the ARP. Wardens were wonderful at organising parties for servicemen’s children. We made a lot of our own entertainment — there was no television in those days! There was always great activity going on, especially in our local church. We had a wonderful Minister who with his wife and family devoted themselves to the community. They involved us in absolutely everything! Scouts, Guides, Brownies and Cubs, Sunday school, plays and Christmas tableaux. You name it, we did it!

VICTORY CELEBRATIONS

In 1945 we celebrated VE. Day and the end of the war with a street party. The street was decorated with flags and bunting and the mums and grandmas baked cakes and scones with their precious rations and we children grew more and more excited as the day of the party approached.

HOME COMING

My Father did survive and eventually came home to us! His experiences changed him completely and it was many months before he was able to speak about any of it. All he wanted was peace and quiet! A few years later we moved to the country for that reason. My Father’s business was a casualty of war and on his return he had to seek new employment, which was in the shoe trade. Later on he and my Mother ran a guesthouse.

World War 2 was a dreadful time in our history but through the years since, the one thing that has always remained in my mind is how close it brought people together!

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