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This story was submitted to the Peoples War site by Susan Sedgwick of the Lancshomeguard on behalf of Irene Hull and has been added to the site with her permission. Mrs Hull fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

When war started I was 15 years old.
My dad went across the road to listen to Chamberlain on the wireless,we didn't have one at the time. He tried to join the army but was rejected; I don,t think he ever got over it.
My brother Ken bought home some poullets from the market,they provided us with eggs all through the war. Dad bought a sack of icing sugar, I think it must have been solid before we used it all.
I worked in a shirt works which was changed to parachutes, windsocks, camoflage nets and wiring for pilots suits. Not much happened in Warrington in the 1st 3 years. Dad had bought a wireless and was glued to the news every night. That way we followed the Battle of Britain,it seemed a long way away to me. By this time I was 16 years old and still under my Dads thumb. I wasn,t allowed out every night and when I was I had to be in by 9:30pm before the pubs shut.
I arrived at work one morning and it had burned down, so we were transfered to Birkenhead working for Littlewoods making parachutes. We travelled everyday with some men that worked at Cammell Laird shipyard, nothing much happened , we were all too tired!
I left there and went to work at Burtonwood packing parachutes. I enjoyed working there, the men were technicians and treated us very well. On 4th July we all went to Southport to an Independence day Party, you wouldn,t have thought there was a war on. While our lads were on rations the Americans were flying planes over with food, they never went short.
By now I was allowed to go dancing. The town was full of different forces, it seemed as though we had been invaded.
I walked home one night and met an American crying he wanted to go home, he was only about 20, so I took him to the bus that took them back to camp. It must have been a terrible feeling to be a long way from home.
I used to get 5 Woodbines cigarettes and 2oz of sweets a week. Clothing coupons were very few. I managed to get some material from the market and made a dress on Mum's Treadle machine. It was the 1st dress I made and I was so pleased with myself. I had a jumper I had knitted. I undid it 3 times and made different patterns.
My cousin Ted brought me a pair of real silk stockings. I can,t remember where from, but I will never forget the night I put them on. I had a date with an RAF officer. I felt like a million dollars with my pure silk stockings. Walking past the Odeon cinema I felt them slipping down and they ended up round my ankles. I nipped down a side street and took them off. I met my date wearing no stockings, it was midwinter. I was never so cold. I never wore them again!
One night I went home with a scotsman in a kilt. We were followed home by 2 Americans. I'll never forget their faces when they caught up with us, we laughed all the way home.
Trucks of soldiers used to stop outside our house. My Mum used to give them cups of tea and anything she could spare to eat.
Coming home from a dance one night a yank followed me. He was becoming a nuisance so I told him to leave me alone. He said I was like all the Limeys, a bd. I asked him to repeat what he said and when he did I socked him in the jaw, such a beauty, he fell over and everyone around laughed and clapped their hands. I walked away very sedately until I was round the corner then I ran like hell all the way home.
There were only 3 bombs dropped on Warrington. One was on the canal on Chester road, and one on what looked like my Dad's work. I was stood at the door, watching these fires, when there was an almighty bang. It threw me from the door to the kitchen. Mum and Dad were on their way home from the pub. They ran home. Ken was under the table and I lay in the kitchen shaking like a leaf. The bomb had dropped in the canal behind our house.
My cousin Harry was killed in the Battle of Crete. He was in the Navy. I didn,t know him too well as he was older than me. I remember he was a nice person and very good looking. He was sadly missed by Uncle Harry and Auntie Betty.
I met my husband, Arthur, in 1943 althought we didn't marry until 1948.
We used to all meet in the Orford pub, there was quite a gang of us. They would sing RAF songs and we would end up in the village hall at a dance. Arthur was a good dancer but my date was Jimmy Murray, although we all went round in a gang. We had parties at a friends house. They lived down the road from us. The men used to raid the cookhouse. We had a great time until they were all demobbed and everything went quiet.

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