大象传媒

This story has been to submitted to the People鈥檚 War Website by Anne Wareing of the Lancashire Home Guard on behalf of Elizabeth Mason and has been added to the site with her permission鈥�

I was 14 years old when the war started. I remember vividly the previous few days. We were on our summer holiday from school 鈥� due back on the 5th September 1939. News was coming through of Hitler鈥檚 determination to march on Poland and we waited on tenterhooks for his next move and finally on the 1st of September he marched and severely blitzed poor Poland. On the Sunday war was finally declared and I expected the world to have stopped going round.

To begin with the government closed all schools, cinemas, theatres and anywhere else that people congregated, this was later relaxed.

I remember my first experience of leaving the classroom to go into an air -raid shelter. We always carried our gas masks and out door coats with us for just such an emergency. Luckily it was not an air-raid. (Not a bomb dropped on Accrington).

I remember the bombing in Whalley Road Altham. As I was on my way to school the morning after, I saw our local air-raid warden, who told me where the bombs had dropped and as it was on my way to school, I was able to see the damaged houses. Unfortunately it had killed one man. Things were relatively quiet after that for a while.

I left school and started work in a local aircraft factory. I remember going with some friends to the bottom of a local hill called the Coppice one night around Christmas time. I think it was about 1942. We watched the reflection of the fires in Manchester as it was being bombed. It must have been hell!

Day to day living was humdrum. My mother worked wonders with the rations as I can honestly say I was never hungry.

As I grew older and started socializing the highlight of the week was the Saturday night dance in the Majestic ballroom. There were always plenty of partners as we had the Pioneer Corps. stationed here (they used to make the smoke screen whenever any bombers were around). Also we had the RAF they were in charge of the big grey barrage balloons, we were there to deter dive bombers. Many a time the balloons came down in flames during thunderstorms. But to return to the dancing, sometimes we danced with boys home on leave and it was truly awful when someone came up to you and told you the boy you had been dancing with last week had been shot down over Germany.

There was hardly any make-up and one enterprising chemist used to make his own. Word passed around quickly when it was available. When the clothes rationing was announced, it was a real blow. Laddering a pair of stockings was a catastrophe. So we used to put gravy browning on our bare legs and put a 鈥榮eam鈥� up the back with an eyebrow pencil.

When I was 18 I met my future husband (in the black out!) This next bit, was told to me by him. He lived in Oswaldtwistle and one night a doodle-bug landed on Haslingden Old Road; which they all heard. The next night their father got them all out of bed as he said he鈥檇 heard another one. They all huddled together under the stairs for ages, until my husband said, 鈥� It seems to be hanging directly overhead, so I鈥檓 going out to see!鈥� When he came back it was to tell them that there was a fire at the top end of the street and the noise they had heard was the fire engine pumping water.

V.E. Day came eventually and I was married 10 days later. I borrowed nearly everything I wore that day. My dress was from a friend of my sister鈥檚, my headdress and veil from a friend of my future sister in law, my shoes from another friend and my long underskirt from the lady next door.

A lot of memories, I hope they will be of interest, after all they did all happen over 60 years ago.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.