´óÏó´«Ã½

This story was submitted to the People’s War site by a volunteer from CSV Berkshire on behalf of Kathleen Newberry and has been added to this site with her permission. Mrs Newberry fully understands the site’s terms and conditions

When the war broke out my husband had a greengrocer’s shop in Westbury-upon-Trym in Bristol. He used to go to market each day to stock his shop with the vegetables and fruit which were in season and available. Each morning when the lorry arrived back at the shop, word would very quickly get around the locals what my husband had brought fresh in that day. Before he had finished unloading, a queue would have already formed. To ease this situation we started unloading at the back of the property, but in no time at all customers posted themselves at the front and the back of the shop to monitor deliveries and the queue would form just as quickly.

In those days we lived above the shop and when the bombing raids started over Bristol we felt very frightened and vulnerable. An air-raid shelter was built in the back garden for us and our neighbours, but it was dark and uncomfortable. My husband was unhappy at being in such a small confined space, something that was to stay with him for the rest of his life. To make things a little easier for ourselves we preferred to stay in the shop, just the two of us, in the cupboard under the stairs. The raids themselves were very frightening and it was with great relief that we heard the ‘All Clear’ sound and we were able to come out. We always came out with considerable trepidation wondering how severe the damage during the raid had been. So stressful were the night time raids that we eventually decided to stay with friends in Portishead where there were less raids and where we felt much safer. We used to travel out to Portishead in the evening and return home to the shop the following morning.

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