´óÏó´«Ã½

My Memories of the War

I was born in February 1936 so of course I do not actually remember the declaration of war but from as young as four years old I remember a lot of changes in the world around me in what was then a small village of Blaby.

For a start a lot of the local fathers and older relations had left home and gone off to join the forces. Three or four of my uncles had gone and others were joining the home guard. The wireless was always on and my mother was always listening to the news updates on what was happening and where it was happening. Mother was always listening for any special items that may give some indication of how the war was going where she thought my uncles might be. (I remember later on in the war when the Japanese had entered the fighting that she got a message that one of my uncles had been captured and she cried. Later on though it appeared that he escaped so all was well.) he hated the ‘Nips’ as he called them ‘til the day he died for the cruelty he had witnessed.

My father was passed unfit so he joined the Home Guard. As he had been an army cadet when he was younger he was soon given his sergeant stripes and every weekend they were on manoeuvres in the fields at the back of the houses where we lived. Of course, there were sometimes accidents and when they occurred nearby the victims were brought to our house where mother used to help bandage them up with their field dressings. They also used to march through the village and parade on the green which was near the Bakers Arms. This was convenient because after church parade on Sundays they could always whet their whistles afterwards. Even the padre Canon Smith would sometimes pop in for half a pint.

This story was submitted to the People’s War site by Liz Towner of the CSV Action Desk on behalf of Ronald S Cass and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site’s terms and conditions.

© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.