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WW2 1939 /1945 - not a text book 鈥� merely my war
There has been a fashion recently to tell children in our primary schools about the 2nd World War. Their teachers are too young to remember much about it and their information comes mostly from books.
Blackout material was to be had in every draper's shop. Curtains had to made for windows and doors and in pPlace in ready for the end of the "phoney" war. Air Raid Wardens had to go round at night to ensure that no light was showing. My mother made a dressing gown out of black - out material and I made a cassock for a young nephew who wanted to be an altar boy.
Nowadays everyone is familiar, from films, with the sound of the AIR RAID WARNING and the ALL CLEAR Air raid shelters were built in streets and towns and town centres. Animals were not supposed to be taken into shelters but no one took any notice and people trooped in with their cats and dogs and budgerigars. I was sheltering in one, on the night Bristol was burning, and a man brought in his horse!
ANDERSON shelters were half buried in gardens - made from corrugated iron with bunks and a lot of unpleasant condensation. Another choice was a MORRISON shelter which was indoors, with steel top and bottom and strong wire sides. Parents and children could sleep comfortably in these.
In Bristol we had many air raids with high explosive and incendiary bombs. For our protection we had searchlights, anti - aircraft guns (Ack-Ack) and barrage balloons. After an air raid youngsters would go round looking for shrapnel.
Gas masks were issued to all -just in case - and we were told to carry them with us at all times each in its cardboard box with large string loop.
Before war started people who were responsible for groups had to attend a course of lectures on POISON GAS. One teacher from each school had to go round and I was the one from our school. An afternoon off school once a week - very unusual and very welcome. We were told the names of the gases and their smell. "Geraniums" was one I remember and "Mouldy Hay" another, if we could smell gas - respirators ON for everyone. We practiced putting ours on and how to ensure that others fit properly. Fortunately, although we were prepared, gas masks were never needed.
Schools had shelters in the playground for children and teachers. While waiting for the ALL CLEAR we passed the time with singing, tables, story telling, poetry and anything else teachers could think of. I can't remember whether we prayed and sang hymns but perhaps we did. We certainly sang war time songs like " Run Rabbit Run... " and "We've going to hang out the washing... " and "I've got sixpence... " Out of school time local residents used the shelters. water onto any flames. Buckets of water had to be ready for use. When an incendiary bomb fell through the roof of our garage and started a fire we put it out with the buckets of water; getting out the stirrup pump and setting it up seemed such a waste of time. When the air raid was over we were talking to our neighbours over the garden wall when, suddenly, we noticed that one of their bedrooms was ablaze - a fire bomb had gone through their roof. Water was very precious and we were told to have baths in 7 inches of water. Later we were told to keep the bath full of water as an emergency supply.
Evacuees.
Part way through the war some Bristol children and their teachers were sent to Exmouth. When we taken to a centre when a Billeting Officer found LADIES for us. The local "ladies" were all there waiting. Well dressed children soon found homes but poor children were left to the last. Eventually some poorer families took them, and in rather cramped conditions, gave them a lot of rough and ready care. A Billeting Officer took me to my "lady" - Mrs Hamson" in St Andrews Rd - and so, at last, we were all settled.
My neighbour, a nature of rural Wiltshire, told me of preparations to receive evacuees. Billeting officers went round to all houses to see what accommodation was available - not any, room for 1, 2 or several etc. and to ask what kind of evacuee the "lady" would like. Children? Teachers? Expectant mothers? Families? etc. In Mrs Mitchell's village very good relationships developed between evacuees and host families and many children never returned to the East End of London but stayed, grew up and married local boys and girls. But different parts of he country had different tales to tell.
The night after we arrived in Exmouth the one and only bomb they had ever had fell there, and many mothers came to take their children home, saying "If they are going to bombed in Exmouth they might as well be bombed in Bristol."
Identity cards were issued with individuals identity numbers, mine was OAVB 87 3, and we were advised to get them engraved on metal and wear them on chains round out wrists and ankles so that, if we were killed in an air raid, our bodies could be identified. .
Ration Books were issued and everything seemed to be rationed - food, milk, sweets, clothes and petrol. B U (Bread Units) were issued but never had to be used. Children had extra rations and at a certain age extra clothing coupons. More sugar was issued for jam making. Dried egg was available for cooking and to use as "scrambled egg" or to make omelettes. Both quite good.
Green grocers had very limited supplies of vegetables and, if news that tomatoes, onions or apples were "in" housewives were prepared to queue a long time to try and get a share. Butchers tried to make limited supplies of meat go round. Offal was unrationed and saved for favoured customers. If the butcher let a housewife have a meaty bone she was delighted- she had soup, marrow and fat - the suet she used to make the pastry.
New words and phrases started to be used. Spiv, Under the Counter, Black Market and others like Requisitioned and De - requisitioned and Blitz. There seemed to be an underground market for pretty well everything - cigarettes, clothing, coupons, petrol鈥� flash lamps and their batteries and so on. DAD'S ARMY on TV gives a very good idea of some aspects of the war. The official body was first called LOCAL DEFENCE VOLUNTEERS and the men were issued with arm - bands stamped L D V. It was later changed to the HOME GUARD.
Here is a list of rations copied from a plate bought in Yorkshire by my neighbour during a visit to EDEN CAMP HISTORY THEME MUSEUM at Malton N. Yorks. This had been a prisoner of war camp built in 1942 to hold Italian and then German prisoners.
1942-1943. RATION BOOK

Bacon and ham 8 ozs
Meat 1 lb approx
Butter 4 ozs
Cheese 2 ozs
Sugar 12 ozs
Tea 2 ozs
Margarine 2 ozs
Milk 2 鈥� 3 pints
Eggs 1 small egg every 4 weeks
Dried Eggs 1 packet every 4 weeks
Sweets 12 ozs every 4 weeks
When the war was over, sweets were the last things to come off rations. Actually there was plenty of food. BRITISH RESTIJRANTS were opened. Where one could have a good meal for 1/6 and no ration books needed - Hotels and Restaurants offered excellent off- ration meals - at a price. Lyons Cafes and Corner Houses had food for all and all ration free. I often went into a Lyon's Cafe near home for a cup of coffee and roll and butter - 2 pats - and this at a time when "big" butter week was 2oz and "little" butter week loz. Later a notice appeared, "Only 1 pat of butter per roll" so people took 2 rolls and 2 pats of butter and left one roll on the plate. Mothers with children, especially if they lived in suburbs, could not take advantage of these extras Winston Churchill was reputed to keep a cow in his back garden (at No 10) to provide his household with milk, cream and butter.
One day when my mother was in the house alone there was a particular bad air raid which once again, slightly damaged the house. This experience made mother ill and as soon as an Air Raid warning sounded she felt sick and had to rush to the bathroom, so my parents left Bristol and went to N. Devon. My brother and sister-in-law moved into their house because it was less damaged than their own. Tilers and glaziers were very busy repairing the damage. They put tarpaulin covers over very badly damaged roofs until they could carry out repairs. Glaziers used any glass they could hold of, might be coloured or obscured or of course what the householder hoped for. When a bomb fell on open ground it made a hole, deep and wide, which we learnt to call a crater. At the beginning of the war we were advised to stick strips of paper on our widows - up, down and across so that if a bomb blew the windows in or out, the glass would not shatter.
Filton on the outskirts of Bristol where aeroplanes were being made was the main target for the air raids. P- 1
When my parents were living in part of a farmhouse at Fairy Cross in N. Devon. They told me that every day the farmer set off into Bideford on his milk round with a large can of clotted cream, which he sent of by rail to the Ritz Hotel in London and at the same time picked up the can from yesterday. There was an abundance of food in N. Devon. The Pickards gave mother as much clotted cream as she could use as well as milk, eggs and vegetables. People would leave their kitchen doors open if they were going out and often, when they returned there would be a gift of beef, pork or lamb on the table. Chickens were easy to get. No one lived entirely on rations. Mother's sister Clare received parcels from S. Africa containing dried fruit, which she shared with mother. In return mother sent her eggs.
There were two prisoner of war camps in the neighbourhood and the prisoners worked for the farmers. The Italians were very popular and eventually they were billeted on the farms. The farm families often provided "civvies" and took them into Bideford to the pictures and to any local dance or entertainment. The Italians did not like the Germans.
Mother joined the W.V.S - Women Voluntary Service, set up at the beginning of the war to give help where needed. Mother undertook to store emergency blankets, bandages and dressings and other First Aid equipment ready for any "incident".
One newspaper published an amusing column called "News from a Safe Area" about an imaginary group of people who had left the city as soon as war broke out to go into the country. Amusing radio programmes appeared like "Flying Officer Kite" after the Battle of Britain.
GIs arrived to win the war for us. Their uniform was very smart - well tailored from good cloth - the ordinary GI looked like an officer. They were well paid and spent it freely at their own army stores. They were very popular with the girls and soon there were babies, engagements and GI Brides. The first nylons I ever saw were given to a friend by an American and they introduced us to biros.
We said they were 鈥淥ver here, over paid and over sexed鈥�.
But they were very generous and pleasant and gave lots of it when children asked "Got any gum, chum?"
There were no street lights and cars had masked dipped headlights. People offered lifts and I didn't hear of anyone that anyone had been assaulted, robbed, or abused in any was. Moonlight was very important for anyone going out at night. On a moonless night everywhere was pitch black and pedestrians bumped into one another. We listened for footsteps and briefly used our precious torches.
We were all encouraged to do extra jobs as well as our daily work - like fire watching, manning ls` Aid Posts, giving blood and so on. I went to Southmead Hospital three evenings a week from 7 to 10 pm, and one night a week from 10 pm to 7 am. We were provided with uniforms and were there to be ready for any emergency. We helped the nurses in the wards and had lectures on First Aid and other subjects they thought we might find useful. We were issued with silver A.R.P badges - Air Raid Precautions.
One wartime joke.
A girl - two A.R.P badges, one on each lapel of her coat. When asked why two, she said 鈥淭o let them know I'm A Regular Prostitute At Reasonable Prices."
Slogans and posters appeared CARELESS TALK MAY COST LIVES and DIG FOR VICTORY - everyone was encouraged to plant a few vegetables - no matter how small the garden.
It was said that a group of M of F officials went to Malta to show the Maltese how to use their land more efficiently. These experts noticed that they put 2 seeds into each hole. "Oh no, don't do that, one seed is quite enough." So the farmer who was being instructed planted only 1 seed in each hole. Later the M of F men returned to see the result of their good advice. Everywhere vegetables were ready to be harvested except in the field which had been planted under their supervision. Why. "Oh" said the farmer "When the seeds germinate the ground is so sun - baked and hard it takes the strength of two seeds to break the surface." (So there)
MAKE DO AND MEND. Mothers would unpick an adult garment and use the material to make something for a child. My sister - in law used a well worn jacket to make soft toys for her children.
HELP THE WAR EFFORT - BE SELF SUFFICENT. Scouts and cubs collected waste paper and housewives put leaking kettles burnt saucepans, tin cans and old garden tools on official dumps. Men with trucks and cutting equipment went round taking away unnecessary railings and other metal objects. Cheltenham lost a lot of wrought iron and the Sebastapol gun from the Crimean War. Very little of the metal was used and the dumps soon got covered with weeds and rubbish.
One day I took the children into the playground to wave to coach loads of soldiers who had been rescued from France by the fleet of Little Ships. I told the children to try to remember the day as soon it would be HISTORY.
Our school was very near to Avonmouth and when a ship came in the sailors brought bananas, oranges and other hard to get food like tea and tins of golden syrup which they gave away very generously they also had a lot of money to spend. Sometimes the ships brought in men who had been torpedoed and ambulances came to take them to Southmead Hospital.

Part way through the war I decided to leave Bristol and go to teach in London. I found how the Underground stations were used as air - raid shelters. Early in the evening families would take food drink and blankets and settle down to talk and sing, to laugh and cry, to quarrel and make - up - and to sleep. Rabbi Lionel Blue remembers going with his grand parents into an EAST END station and night after night meeting an Irish family, they all became very friendly and, as he says, if it hadn't been for the war we would never even have noticed them
Manufacturing industries carried on as best they could. Potteries could only produce basic items like tea sets, plates, milk jugs and tea pots and were not allowed to decorate anything. Furniture manufacturing could only make UTILITY things very basic and quite unadorned. After the war the Swedes came and bought every piece of utility furniture they could find, which inspired them to design the Scandinavian furniture which is what later we all wanted.
Swop shops opened. Goods were displayed in the window and priced. Anyone wanting to buy something had to take something in. The shopkeeper looked at it, estimated its value and said you can have anything marked 10/- 拢1 拢5 and soon on.
I took in an old alarm clock and got three pretty plates = a string of artificial pearls, a brooch, and an oval decorated pottery platter a statuette (bust) of Nelson. The shopkeeper priced things high enough to give him a profit then put them in the window - so everyone was satisfied.
I was in London in time to experience the Buzz Bombs, which were sent off from launching pads in Germany and were each powered by a motor, which made the buzzing noise. When the engine stopped (cut out) the bomb fell. It was said - if you could count up to ten and were still alive you would know that particular one hadn't your name on it.
After the Buzz Bombs I was sent with London children to S. Wales to Treherbert at the head of the Rhondda valley MY LADY was MRS JENKINS a miner's widow. I spent a whole year in Treherbert and was very happy there, but all that is another story.
Throughout the war all church bells were silent so that if we suddenly heard them all ringing we would know that the Germans had landed.
Fortunately they never did.

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