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This story was submitted to the People's War site by Marie on behalf of Gwennie Matilda Howard and has been added to the site with her permission. Gwennie fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

When the war came we had Stoney Cross airfield near to us and Broomy Lodge was taken over by the Military. We had Ibsley airfield which was by Rockford School where we all went. There was a gravel pit we had to go by to get to school. Mr Penny used to work there in one part of the pit. In the other part bombs were stored and the lorries used to come and load up with them to take Ibsley airfield. There were two guns - one on Rockford common and the other at the top of Chatley Hill right next to the gravel pit.

The army used to come with their tanks as the heath land was ideal for them. The hills - or mountains as we called them - were all churned up with the tank tracks. Some were Matilda Tanks, I know because by brothers asked them. When they told my brothers they were Matildas my brothers said my sisters name is Matilda. Every time I went out they started singing Waltzing Matilda, I could have killed my brothers.

The army came playing friend and foe - one lot looking for the other - there were plenty of gorse bushes to hide in. It was interesting to watch. We used to look for the blank cartridges. One day we found a live one, I don't know what happened to it.
The American soldiers were stationed in Newland Wood which is in the Linwood Road. One end were the white Americans and at the other end were the black Americans.

There was a big gun on Rockford Common and another one at the top of Chatley Hill and the bombs were stored in the gravel pit nearby.

The spitfires took off from Moylse Court. This was all enclosed by barbed wire and you had to have a pass to go through. Mum worked for Lot Miles who had gardens there. She helped with the vegetables that were grown and sold there. She had tohave a pass to go through to work. The barbed wire covered the two bridges that crossed the river at Moylse Court that led to the airfield at Ibsley where the spitfires and bombers were stationed.

We went to Rockford School all the time the war was on with the aeroplanes taking off and coming back in again to land until the day a Spitfire hit the hut where we had our dancing lessons. We were just coming down the school steps to go across to the hut when it happened. We had to go back inside and duck down behind our desks as the ammunition was exploding everywhere.

We had a few evacuees that came to our school. Raymond Stickland who was the Forest Agister had twin boys, Morris and Reggie Stairs. Mary Shutler and her brother cam to live with their Auntie and Uncle - Queenie and Les Shutler. They had a taxi business at Lynwood. Mrs. Lord who lived next door to us had twin girls. I can't remember their names. There was Richard Todd who came from London. He was the worst one, he threw an ink well at our teacher. We were all shocked. You couldn't hear a pin drop as you normally would have been able to. We weren't even allowed to whisper. If you did you had the ruler. Mrs. Diminnightus had a shock that day. She taught standard one to standard seven and she was a right swine. Miss Margaret taught the infants. We only had two classrooms.

The Italian and German prisoners worked in the forests near us, Linford, Appleslade and Redshoot. I don't know if they collected the acorns and fur cones like we used to with Mum for the Forestry people.

I was home from school one day when an Italian prisoner called round to see my sister Violet. The next day I was home and put a bucket of water by the window. When my sister went into the bedroom to change I locked the door and put the key down my bra. When he walked past the bedroom window Violet came out to go out the door. She asked who locked the door, I told her I had and told her if she opened the window to him I would throw the bucket of water over him - she could talk through the window. He wanted a glass of water, I warned her not to open the window, in the end she did. Well I drenched him with the water. I hope that he got dry before he returned to work. What happened after I don't know as the next day I was back at school.

When the Americans were here I hated them with their stockings, cigarettes and candy. Mum used to go the pub with them. Dad had his cigarettes and then there were the rows. Mum and I went to the pictures one night. On the way home we called in the London Tavern for a drink. Mum had a beer and I had lemonade. A black American came in. I told Mum he came to see Violet. The next day I was home from school and this black American came over. He was sitting outside on the grass with Violet. I went out and he called me a whisky drinker. I said it was lemonade, he said it wasn't so I called him a bloody black beer drinker. He got up off the grass, I was in the gate and indoors with the door locked before he could catch me, even though he jumped over the wicket gate. I didn't see him again.

We used to walk all over the common. I used to take my dog Toots with me, she was a greyhound cross, a very faithful dog. If anyone just touched me she would grab them, just warning them. One day I came across a parachute with a parcel on it. I marked it with a stick and reported it to our air raid warden as we were told never to touch anything. Anyway some time later I had a five-shilling postal order come. It was a lot of money those days.

When we went to Rockford School we had to go down Chatley Hill. There were two ways - one tar road that the cars and lorries used and above a rough gravel road which we used. The pilots that flew the bombers had taken over the big house in Chatley Wood. Every morning as we went to school, five pilots used to come down on bicycles and the Big Nob, Mr Walrus we used to call him because he had a beard like a walrus, I think they were Czechs. One morning they came down on their bicycles and all five lost the torches of the bikes. When the Big Nob came down in his car we stopped him and showed him the torches, he picked them up and after that he always put his hand up when he went past.

On the common itself were - what we called - Ak Ak guns and one just above Chatley Hill. I think they were there to protect the Ibsley Airfield and the bombs in the gravel pit. This was our only way to and from school so we had to go that way. When the siren went for a raid we used to hide behind the gorse bushes. Our walk to and from school took us between Stoney Cross airfield and Ibsley airfield. It was a good two mile walk across heather, bracken and gorse bushes.

We had to have our windows blacked out so no lights showed. One night we watched twenty incendiary bombs being dropped on White field Plantation to set fire to the heathland and light up the airfields. The heath burned for weeks.

One night we stood on om: front porch and watched two aeroplanes shooting it out. Mum called it a dog fight, I don't know which was which.

The nearest we came to being hit was one night when we heard a whizzing noise go over the house and waited for the bang, but it didn't come. Next morning going down the gravel road to school there was some dirt on it. We walked across the heath for a bit, there was a big hole with a small piece of shrapnel in it. I don't think that could have made that big hole because the ground was very gravely and peat. I think there is a bomb down in the bog there some where.

For a long time after the war I used to dream of being chased by aeroplanes. I used to hide in our big shed that Mum bred the baby chicks in, but when I came out they were still there. That went on for years. We always used to hide if we saw a plane, friend or foe.

As we were between the two airfields after a raid there were a lot of aeroplanes returning to base.

At night when there was a raid the skies were alight with the search lights so they could spot the planes. There were also barrage balloons in the sky. There was always a lot of activity around where we lived with the Americans, guns and bombs and army manoeuvres with the tanks.

Dad was not in the army. He was not called up because he worked on the farm. He was in the home guards though.

When the war broke out we were all issued with gas masks and identity cards, ration books and clothes coupons. All our food and meat was rationed and meal and corn for the chickens and pigs. Mum used to sell some of our clothes coupons as we couldn't afford to buy a lot of clothes anyway. We had to have blackout material at all our windows so that no light would shine through at night.

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