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This story was submitted to the ´óÏó´«Ã½ People’s War site by Wymondham Learning Centre on behalf of the author who fully understand the site's terms and conditions.

On June 21st 1941, a very hot day, I married John, my first and only boyfriend. The extra ration coupons we had received meant that I had been able to buy a wedding dress (and some utility furniture). John wore his naval uniform and looked very smart. Whilst we were being photographed, I could feel the heat of the tarmac through my shoes and my feet felt very hot.

As it was a small wedding, providing food for the reception was no problem. However, it broke my heart when I learnt that it was no longer possible to produce white icing and that I would have to settle for a chocolate cake. As, at that time, my husband was stationed at Harwich, we spent our honeymoon at my Aunty May’s house in Ipswich, before John returned to his minesweeper and I resumed work in Marks and Spencer in Woolwich.

During a visit to John’s parents in Bexleyheath, Kent, the sirens alerted us to an imminent air raid. Instead of rushing into the Anderson shelter, we went into the communal shelter in the middle of the road. During the raid there was a loud explosion and we knew that something very close to us had been hit. When we emerged from the shelter it was frightening to see the devastation. The neighbour’s house had disappeared. Amazingly, no one had been hurt and John’s parents’ house was undamaged.

During 1942-43 I was expecting a baby, whilst working in a munitions factory, making cases for bombs. One of the workers, May, became a good friend and looked after me during my pregnancy.
After Theresa was born, I was evacuated with my two sisters, Gladys and Doris, who each had a child. As we were waiting for a train to take us to relatives in Spalding, Lincolnshire, the sirens went and, as there were no shelters in the vicinity, we felt very frightened. We all lay flat on the floor, protecting the children as well as we could. My two sisters stayed with one aunt and I with another. I would spend all day with Gladys and Doris, returning to my billet at night. After a while, for some reason my aunt said that she could no longer have us and that I would have to return to Kent. I was glad to be back with my mother in Welling.
My mother was a great support. She kept all the ration books and did most of the shopping which often entailed standing in queues for a long time and sometimes arriving at the head of the queue only to find that stocks had run out. In the evenings we would listen to the wireless and I passed the time in the air-raid shelter knitting jumpers for my husband to wear during night shift on the minesweeper.
When John was demobbed he returned to his pre-war job with London Transport, eventually working up to the position of depot manager.

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