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This story has been submitted to the People's War website by Liz Andrew of the Lancshomeguard on behalf of Mrs Nancy Melling and added to the site with her permission.

The War started in September 1939. I was married and my husband was in the Fire Service. He had to go and get his special uniform straight away. We felt rather nervous because we didn't know what was going to happen. There seemed to be quite a lot of bombing straight away - always in the early evening - after tea time.

Before the War I worked in sewing but, once the war started, I joined the Fire Service. We lived in a part of Manchester called Levenshulme but I worked on the switchboard down in some cellars in Didsbury, on Palatine Road. We had the afternoons off and we used to go to the Pictures - I remember seeing one of the films at least three times - it was Mrs Miniver. I remember the Fire Officer giving me instructions to call him at three o clock and I was on pins fearing I might not be able to. Once I actually took a message from my husband who was firefighting down south.

Later he suffered an accident on his way to a fire and he injured his back and had to come out of the Fire Service. After the War he died before he was sixty.

At home we used to swap our tea for sugar with our next door neighbours. I remember it being an exciting time and we actually really enjoyed it.

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