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i'm a pupil from prudhoe community high school,northumberland, entering mrs shane's story onto the website, and they fully understand the website terms and conditions of use
I was 19 when the war started. I lived at Wallsend near the docks where the navy ships came to be prepared. From what I can remember, the day war was declared was quite a frightening day for me. I was in the middle of Newcastle with my friend. We were on our way to finkle abbey woods. It was about 11.00am and the sirens went. We didn’t have a clue what they were for and weren’t sure what to do. A man came running along the street shouting ‘WAR HAS BEEN DECLARED’. We didn’t know what to do and just wanted to get home. We were dodging in and out of doorways, and cycled as fast as we could home, as we were so scared. As we ran in the doorway my mam shouted ‘war has been declared, where have you been’. We sat down and had dinner and then I rode half way home with my friend who lived at Howdon.
I worked in a rope factory making ropes for the ships. I had been working here before the war started. Now the war had started work got much more harder. I worked from 6.00am till 2.00pm. We only got a 30 minute break and you couldn’t be lazy. I only got 11 shillings, which is only about 60p in these days.
I had a boyfriend. He was a soldier in the tank corps. We got married while he was in the army. He was in the army for 7 years and survived the war. We went dancing at Wallsend memorial hall, the minor’s hall and the oxford in Newcastle. When I went dancing, I used to roll my hair up, wear a blouse and a skirt and wear court shoes. I used to have a bridesmaid’s dress, which I sometimes wore to go dancing but not very often. If you got a ladder in your stocking you would mend it yourself. Also if you had no stockings you would draw a seam up your leg with gravy salt. Once I had been coming back from the dancing and the sirens went and i was chased to a shelter. You could be there for two hours and you would be worried because you had to be home at 9.30-10.00, and you knew you would get wrong.
The food during the war was very wholesome, if you had a patch of garden you were encouraged to grow your own vegetables. You were rationed during the war. Per week from what I can remember, You got:
Ø 4oz of tea
Ø 4oz of margarine or butter
Ø 2 eggs if you were lucky
Ø 1 pound of meat
You would get flour, which was like oats, and you would sieve it through a silk stocking to make it smooth. Since there wasn’t enough fat we had to use liquid paraffin to make cakes and if we had no eggs we would have to use dried egg powder.
If your mam had no meat she would make a leek pudding. It was a treat if you got treacle and condensed milk, which you would put, it on bread. Which was lovely.
You would stand in a queue for half a pound of sweets, usually you would get boiled sweets but it was a real luxury if you got quality sweets.
During the war I went Wellbeck road in Walker to see the doctor. You had to pay to see the doctor, but it was very rare that you had to go. He made his own medicine and you had to wait your turn. If you were seriously ill and couldn’t go to the doctors, it would cost 6p for the doctor to come to your house.
I went to the dentist at Wallsend and had all my teeth out. I was given antibiotics.
If there were an air raid, everyone would go to a shelter; I had an Anderson shelter in my back garden. We also had black out curtains and if you could see light in your house at night the warden would come round and tell you off.
In 1944 I had a war baby called Michael. I had a home midwife and had a home birth. When giving birth I had no pain relief or drugs. I was visited at home for 10 days after the birth by the midwife, and when the baby was three months old the doctor came and gave him his vactionasions. You were encouraged to breast feed as it was the cheapest way.
When the moon shone it lit up the river and by this the Germans would be able to find their way. So there was smokes screens 15-20 yards apart. Which were set off when the moon shone down the river.
I remember walking into them and setting them off because it was pitch black and you couldn’t see where you were going. it was quite funny, but you would get wrong.

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