I am 26, work in an art gallery in Buckinghamshire, and am also something of a historian and artist. I have included here an interview with my late grandmother, who grew up during the Second World War.
My gran was a spirited woman, a devout Methodist, with a love of dogs, boats, mountains, music and caravans. This interview was carried out a couple of years before she died.
She was evacuated at the start of the war, at the age of 12. She then returned to Newcastle and experienced the bombing, as well as witnessing the activity on the river and in the dockyards on the Tyne. She saw war damaged ships sailing in and vast convoys mustering for their Atlantic crossing. Later, as a teenager, she joined the Womens Land Army. She encountered German and Italian POWs, who sometimes worked on the farm (she tells of the Italians' roudy reputation with local girls). She also found herself part of the Earl of Northumbria's plans to meet the expected German invasion of the Berwick area, with the Home Guard.
The interview, which I found fascinating to do, also covers VE day and the immediate post war era. IT ends with some thought provoking and uncannily prophetic comments. I'm sure she would be glad to have her words repeated here, so that others can glean some knowledge about the war from her experiences of it.
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