大象传媒

This story was submitted to the 大象传媒 People鈥檚 War site by Wymondham Learning Centre on behalf of the author who fully understand the site's terms and conditions.

Husband鈥檚 Leave and Intruder:

I was at home in Norwich with my two children during World War Two, while my husband, Cecil, was away with the Army and only rarely had leave. Once when he was home we had to go to the Anderson shelter, which we shared with two other families.

The children usually slept and we women knitted. When the raid was over we went back to our houses and went back to bed. After a while I saw a figure pass the window and then return. I was frightened and woke my husband who went out and found the man in the dark and said. 鈥淗alt. Who goes there?鈥� He was surprised when it turned out to be the husband of one of the neighbours. His wife had not returned from the shelter and he had been looking for her. She had stayed in the shelter knitting, not realising the danger was over.

Sharing Space in the Shelter:

I told you that the shelter provided by the council had to be shared between several families. Two of us had two children, but the other mother had six children. However fast we ran to the shelter she was always there first!

Sharing:

We neighbours all looked after each other and helped one another out. Rationing meant that supplies were limited, but we had a system of swapping our food supplies so that if we wanted sugar we could barter it for, say, butter. In this way we managed very well and were not short of food. My mother had hens in her front garden and made bread with our flour. She and my Granny were good cooks and made stews and hotpots. She kept a chicken and fed it up for Christmas. I was not fond of cooking or needlework so their help was wonderful. Discarded clothing would be collected and we could go and choose things that we needed. Some children had no shoes and the teachers would give shoes to them.

Indoors:

We had to bath in a tin bath in front of the fire once a week on Friday night. Our clothes washing was done in an outhouse in a gas boiler.

The Americans:

When the Americans came to Norwich they were very popular. They were very kind to the children and gave them sweets. Once I was given a pair of nylons!

Motorbike:

As my husband was away I used to ride his motorbike when I could get petrol. We used to get a little petrol from people who had coupons and would sell it to us.
The worst thing about the war was worrying about the children getting to school and what to do if the siren went.

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