大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War website at Newhaven Fort on Septrember 18th by Amanda Wilkins on behalf of Hilda Brooker (nee Snow) with her permission. Hilda fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

I was a teenager in the early 1940s and everything was short. My mother cooked everything from the garden, fruit etc. She had been a customer at the Home and Colonial store for years and the
manager of the local store sold her a large catering pack of custard powder as she had been such a good customer.

I came in and she had all these paper bags and she was measuring out this powder for all the neighbours in The Square. She had loads of bags. She told them she had it and they all wanted some.

I was 19 when I joined the Women's Land Army and lived next door to the farm I worked on near Newchurch in the Isle of Wight.

I met this poacher and he gave me two rabbits which I sent home to my mother. In those days when you sent them you had to wrap the heads up because of the blood and you tied the legs up, then put the label on the head.

When I got home my mother asked why I had sent a card saying she was getting two rabbits as she had only received one.

What had happened was my mother was out and our neighbours had taken them in. So they enjoyed a rabbit for their supper as well as my mother. They were notorious for it, when we lent them some coal in a bucket we never got the coal back - or the bucket.

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