大象传媒

We were married on 15th April 1939 at St Alban's Church in Bow Street. It was supposed to be the 8th but Carl had pleurisy so we had to postpone it for a week. We rented a nice little house in Cobham Street, off Gresham Road. For our furniture, we saved up in Uptons and bought:

4'6" Oak Bedstead 拢 2. 5. 6d
Wire Mattress 拢 1. 5. 6d
4'6" Wool Mattress 拢 1. 12. 6d
Oak Bedroom Suite 拢11. 0. 0d
Oak Dining Room Suite 拢 9. 6. 6d
Feather Bolster and
2 Pillows 拢 12. 0d

DISCOUNT 拢 13. 0d
===========
TOTAL 拢25. 9. 0d

Unfortunately, Henry Walker who Carol worked for sent him to work in Pluckley, Kent for a few weeks so I travelled down there and stayed with him. It was a lovely place.

Car was also a Reserve Solider and on September 1st his number was called out on the wireless and his brother Sam and I had to ge thim from work and send him off to Altershot as the War was about to start. After he'd been gone two days, the Redcaps came for him.

I'll never forget Neville Chamberlain saying War had been declared. It was 11am 3rd September. Sirens were sounded straightaway.

I was not brave when War broke out. I went back to work at Taylor's for the next four years and moved back to Romney Street with my mother and Aunt Liz. Colin married Aline. He joined the R.A.F.

During the War, we spent a lot of time queuing for things. If we wanted any fish we had to take our own paper. We always queued for eggs, fruit or anything like that. People would sometimes go home, change their clothes and stand for a second lot.

Weekely rations included 1/4lb each of tea, butter and sugar and 1/2lb margarine. There was dried egg, too. Some nice things were made with dried egg.

We had a little dog and always had an idea when there was an air raid coming because he would put his head on one side and run in the front room to look out of the window.

So that the Germans couldn't see Middlesbrough from the air, everything had to be blacked out. Dave Cooke made us some boards to fit on the windows. Carl fixed the kitchen light so that when the door was opened the light went out. A lady in Stowe Street was always having to be told about light showing in her window. Her name was Mrs Joyce, the same name as the traitor who made the recordings saying "Germnay calling".

It was a good while before we got Air Raid Shelters in Romney Street, then we got one shelter for about four homes. We used to take a case in with us with all our belonging such as Insurance Policies and anything else important. We never had a lot to take in as no one was well off. Once, when my Mother and I were at Aunt Annie's house, the siren went and everyone rushed to their shelter but the residents wouldn't let us in. It was all set out with settees and tables. Another time a girl in Union Street had just had a baby but hadn't been "Churched" so the residents in Outram Street wouldn't let her in. The vicar wasn't very pleased he heard about it.

When the Co-op on Linthorpe Road was bombed it was terrifying. Carl had just come on his leave. We dashed out of the house then the bombs started coming down on us. We didn't realise how close they were. What a mess. The following Sunday they started again at the other end of the street. One neighbour was lucky enough to have an indoor bath and a brick smashed it to bits.

Carl was abroad all this time, first in France, then at Dunkirk which was very worrying as I didn't know whether he was living or dead for quiet a while. My mother-in-law and I used to go down to the station every night for a fortnight to see if he was on the Troop Train, then he came home one Thursday afternoon. He was a Private but had to come home from Dunkirk as a Major as that was the only overcoat he could find on the beach. He was very lucky as thousands and thousands were killed.

After that he was sent to Ireland to the Mountains of Morne where he stayed for about a year. Then he had Embarkation leave, then shipped off to South Africa, then India, finally finishing up in Persia. When he did come home he brought his medals with him and said they reminded him of 6 wasted years of his life.

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