- Contributed by听
- Simon Tobitt
- People in story:听
- Irene Cooper, Keith Cooper, Bruce Cooper
- Location of story:听
- Dewsbury, Yorkshire
- Background to story:听
- Civilian
- Article ID:听
- A5096991
- Contributed on:听
- 15 August 2005
"Yes they were evacuated to Yorkshire. Quite a few children from their school mingled with the local children. In fact they cultivated a Yorkshire accent, Keith more so than Bruce, and they seemed quite settled there. They did have some air raids while they were there, and Bruce who was always very upset by the siren said 鈥淥h, they鈥檝e followed us here鈥 and Keith said 鈥淥h, they can鈥檛 hurt us here鈥. He never worried really about the sirens going, and yet he was petrified of thunder and lightening, which seemed quite strange and well, funny really. They really I suppose enjoyed it, to a certain degree, up there. Then they came home. Not all the school went to that particular place, some of them went more westerly than there, the other side of the Pennines. There was quite a lot to talk about, at the reunion et cetera. I used to go on leave, and I could go and see them there. Well, you couldn鈥檛 do much, everything was rationed, sweets were rationed. Really and truly they never knew what it was to go an buy a few sweets. As I say, they got by, now and again, family that my father knew, two of their sons 鈥 on in the Navy, one in the Air Force 鈥 sometimes they鈥檇 bring home some oranges. They always gave Keith and Bruce one. They used to just peel it, and have one portion each night. It seems rather unbelievable now, but that was the case: they rationed themselves, they were used to rationing and they rationed themselves. [The family they were with], there was an elderly man there, the husband, and the wife was his second wife, his first wife had died. They were quite nice people. But afterwards, Keith said that they were, if they punished them, they made them stand at the table, and not sit at the table to eat, and I think Keith was a bit of a rebel, he didn鈥檛 like it. However, they came home safe and sound in the end. So, you had to be thankful. I used to write to them [Keith and Bruce], every week I used to send a letter."
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