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

I was five years old when the war finished. I was born one month after the start. I remember sheltering at the bottom of the garden.

I remember VE day. It was the first time we could switch on lights, it had been the blackout before. During the war was the first time I heard swearing: ‘Put that bloody light out!’ because of the blackout. All the children were living at home, then we were evacuated to Reading.

My father was in the army in Italy. My mother worked in the Ford factory. My stepdad was one of the first on the beaches at Dunkirk, he was a medical seargeant, he was there to support staff and get people out. He had painful memories of this.

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