大象传媒

Susan Ridley was a young child at the end of World War Two.In this article she tells us not only her thoughts and feelings of her experience of after war life, but also of her familys' and the people around her.
At the beginning of the war her Mother (Bobby Gowler) and her father (George Gowler) were just married, so when George was called up Bobby new she had to follow him. At the time they were living in the North country, but due to the war and their role in it, they never stayed in one place. George Ridley was a cook in the 16th British field dressing station. Although being a cook and his main part was to feed the troops, a downside to his role was that of being a part of going in and 'clearing out' the bodies of the men.The cooks had one rifle, but they never used it, it was always kept clean just incase.
George's memories include landing in flat boats at night and the sound of the men screaming. But most men like George over the years tried to erase those bad memories of the war, of the men dying before them.
Susan's Mother Bobby Ridley was also in the British army, her involvment included being based on the ground controlling the guns and radar that shot down overhead planes. Their logo was a witch on a broomstick and the slogan "We sweep the skies". Susan has photos of her mother stood next to a shot down enemy plane, that they had shot down themselves.

As a child Susan herself still felt the after effects of the war, while she was in school she always saw solidiers in their uniforms, and many children had panic attacks because no-one had told them the war was over, and these carried on haunting them until their early twenties in some cases.

So in Susan's case the war affected her in different ways because of her family background and her own experiences.

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