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This story was submitted to the People's War site by the Dunstable At War Team on behalf of Fred Moore and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

I was in accountancy to begin with but my parents were in very poor health and could not run the business on their own, (a small independent department store in Dunstable High Street). So I went in to help them, expecting to be called up — as it turned out I wasn’t, so in the family business I stayed...

Although the introduction of the Delco factory increased the population of Dunstable, the biggest increase in residents came from a terrific influx of evacuees. Most of these people came from the East End of London; very good folk they were. At the beginning of the war, some of the most requested items in the shop included materials to make blackout curtaining. Every public and private building had to be blacked out and as retailers we had to hunt around everywhere to get hold of these supplies. (I don’t remember having tape over our shop windows though but we did have the old fashioned wooden shutters that were pulled down at night, which offered a certain amount of protection). Rationing (coupons) were soon introduced and trading became very difficult as some goods were very difficult to find. Certain goods did not sell as people were only allowed to buy what they had coupons for. We struggled to find goods generally and other merchandise that did not require coupons. I think bedding was allowed to be purchased coupon free but it was a very rare luxury to buy a new suit or dress. We did manage to get hold of a tremendous lot of frilling. Ladies would use this to sew around the cuffs of an old dress to freshen it up. We also sold industrial ware; staff from the local factories used to buy their overalls from us. We also did a good trade from farm workers — they would buy corduroys and so on. All the clothing then was very warm and hard wearing (brand names included Lion shirts and trousers); well known in those days.

A Utility brand was introduced; it was of very good quality really and on one occasion we were very lucky to get hold of a lot of linen flour bags, goodness know where they came from! We had hundreds to sell. They were made from beautiful quality linen — it had to be to hold flour — these could be turned into tea towels, table cloths, pillow cases, some people made sheets out of them.

We made constant journeys to the warehouses scattered all over London to try and keep up our stock of goods in the shop. We would then bring the supplies back with us on the train or we had it delivered. There was always a certain amount of pilferage, so some of the goods that we ordered did not always arrive! Many London warehouses would try to help small retailers by letting us buy goods in smaller quantities. We had to take coupons that customers gave us to the supplying warehouses and I think when we ordered goods by post; we must have posted the coupons. The mark up on goods as very low and very strict. Inspectors went round making sure that everything was priced correctly. We were given booklets issuing us with instructions as to the amount we were allowed to charge customers for goods. These tight controls meant that trading became very difficult and it was almost impossible to keep our premises up to date with the lack of funds and materials.

There was a certain amount of petrol issued to business people and we managed to supply some of our customers in the surrounding villages, although not as many as we would have liked. Of course, this situation went on for some time after the war had ended. Public transport was very well used; there always seemed to be very long queues for buses especially after 5.30 pm. We shut our shop at 5.00 pm in order that our staff could actually catch a bus to get home.

I remember a large army camp based at Houghton Regis and at RAF Stanbridge. As there were a lot of soldiers in town we ran a canteen for them every night of the week at The Square in Dunstable. We provided them with hot food, egg and chips, sausages and so on, it was very popular and always full. Some men who were available helped out but mainly the ladies worked in kitchen. That’s how I met my wife; she was a sister of a solider who visited the canteen. A lot of them came to the church and this particular solider was invited to our home by my brother. My mother suggested that his sister came to Dunstable to say goodbye to him and that’s how we met!

The local Home Guard started off as the Local Defence Volunteer group, which I joined straightaway. We reported to the Police station in the High Street I think we paraded at the ground at the back. We started off with just armbands and then issued with uniforms when it became known properly as the Home Guard. I was posted to the Empire Rubber Works on night duty. About 8 or 10 of us would carry out our duties 2 or 3 times a week; quite a strain to be up all night and then have to work all the next day in the shop. We had a rifle but not much ammunition but we were a jolly good crowd, had good fun and kept in touch with each other for many years.

Then I was ill for about 3 months with rheumatic fever and could not join the army, which was expected of me. My brother worked as an accountant carrying out important war work so there was no question of him joining up. My other brother was a prisoner of war in Japan and worked on the Burma Railway. He kept a diary while he was there, which of course, we all know now was very dangerous. His wife discovered it only about 12 months ago, written in pencil on rough paper; it’s now held in the Imperial War Museum. Apparently he wanted to keep a record of what happen to his men so that he could inform their relatives. He recorded an incident when a Captain was beaten to death for having a radio. He also describes the hunger, starvation and the conditions that he was held under for 3 ½ years. When he came home he went back to work for Vauxhall Motors, a job that he really enjoyed.

I stayed in the family business; I enjoyed the atmosphere and the relationships that we as a family had built up with our customers, many becoming our friends. The business could not have kept going without my wife and I as my parents were in poor health and it would have been a shame to close the shop, it as had been open from before the First World War. Nowadays we have many second and third generations of customers visiting the store.

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