大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War site by Lin Freeman of Radio Derby CSV on behalf of Mr John Taylor and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

I was born 15th December 1929. I was nearly ten years old when war broke out. My father was called up in the RAF in 1940. Whilst he was away, like many families, we saw a dramatic reduction in our income. I decided to supplement this income by delivering morning newspapers and working for a greengrocer delivering vegetables and fruit. During summer I worked helping to gather in the harvest and later on potato picking.

I bought a broody hen and a dozen eggs and produced 12 healthy hens with a regular supply of eggs. This was done annually.

As school boys we were issued with gas masks. Once a term we were required to wear the gas masks during one lesson. Because the teacher also wore a gas mask communication was at first difficult, our speech was so distorted that little progress was made during the lesson.

Although York was not raided by a lot of German bombers, when the sirens went in the night we all proceeded to the Anderson shelter we built in the garden. Not a pleasant place made of corrugated iron which used to fill with water after heavy rain.

Every Saturday morning I joined a large queue at the Coop butcher shop in York. If fortunate enough when my turn came I could buy a few extra sausages. Food was rationed but mother always managed to provide a satisfying meal.

When working at a farm in Summer 1942 there were Italian prisoners of war working there. They were idle and spent more time fraternising with the Land Army Girls.

Father was demobbed in 1945 and life returned to some normality.

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