大象传媒

The material I have submitted to the WW2 People's War Website consists of extracts from letters and diaries covering the war years. They were written by my parents, Arthur and Gladys Allvey, and occasionally by their mothers, Violet and Ethel. They give a vivid picture of what it was like to live through those times, when people faced not only danger but everyday discomforts and inconveniences as a result of wartime conditions.

My family lived in London. Arthur and Gladys met when they worked for the same City firm. Later Arthur worked at Enfield Rolling Mills, a secure occupation, but he volunteered for the army. They married in 1941, and both before and after their marriage they were often separated. When Arthur was working at Enfield before their marriage they did not meet during the week but they wrote to each other. The correspondence continued during Arthur's training at various camps in England, and then his service overseas. He was killed on the Rhine, a few weeks before the Armistice, in March 1945.

They were prolific letter writers and their letters and diaries survived in carefully preserved packages for 60 years, but it is now time to carry out my mother's wishes and destroy these personal items. I am glad to have found the website as I have always felt that there was material among the letters which is of some historical interest, and now it can be put on record.