91Čȱ¬

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When war was declared over the wireless our neighbour came round and asked my father, “Is it true, is the war on?”

I was living at 67 St Mary’s Street, Dunstable at the time. The next thing I remember was having to go with my family to get measured for gas masks. We had to take them with us everywhere we went.

My Aunt and Uncle lived in Croydon and were very close to a lot of bombing so my Mum offered to have their three children. There were 7 children in our house, all older than me, (three brothers and three sisters) and then we had three more! We always slept three in a bed because our house wasn’t very big. I remember the dried egg but we never really went without. Mother cooked good plain food; she was a very good manager. She was always very hard up my Mum, but she would give her last ha’penny away.

We used the cellar as our air raid shelter. When the sirens went we used to clamber out of bed, grab our coats, we never dressed, go down, and sit there and wait. When it was quiet we worried and then we heard anything it was frightening. My brother started knitting a dark green scarf. One night for some reason he wasn’t there, and I was. I saw it and thought I’d put some sleeves on and make a doll’s dress. He was a bit annoyed when he went down there the next time.

As I got a bit older I used to hear the older ones talking about the soldiers and the Americans, they’d say, “You be careful.” My Dad didn’t really want my eldest sister to get in with any army man, but of course she did, and he nearly went mad. He wasn’t American, he was from Devon. It took quite some time before she was allowed to bring him home. One day Mum said, “Albert’s coming today, so be on your best behaviour.” I was playing in the street with 2 or 3 other children when I saw this tall soldier coming up the road. He came to me and asked me if I knew where Winnie lived. I felt so proud to show him the house. I was pleased he’d asked me but I didn’t go into the house for a while. As it happened he was a really lovely man; they courted and got married. The wedding was held at Priory Church in Dunstable. She had a white dress and Ave Maria for her song. The reception was at home; we had food but I can’t remember having a cake. My dad was in the 91Čȱ¬ Guard and he was very merry that evening when he went out.

My eldest brother was a toolmaker; he couldn’t join the army but he was in the 91Čȱ¬ Guard. My other younger brother was called up which upset my mum. He was a stop at home boy, a big wrench. He was posted to sheringham for a while before going abroad. He used to write to us and one day I came home and my mother was crying. I couldn’t bear to see her crying, I said, “What’s the matter?” She gave me this yellow piece of paper to read. I didn’t really understand it, but he was a prisoner of war in Germany. They came out in 1945. The day he came home I didn’t recognise him one little bit. They’d starved him. It was awful, he was just skin and bone. My Mum nursed him back to strength but it took some time. He met a girl eventually and then they got married. He deserved a bit of happiness.

I was really spoilt by my family because I was the youngest. We beat the Gerries! My brother in law said in one of his letters. In every letter I have, it said, “I can’t wait to get home and see you all and Mum’s smiling face.” Everybody thought about coming home to Mum. We had a lovely, loving family. I have a Christmas card addressed to me from my brother in law who was in Italy — it’s a map of Italy turned into a Christmas stocking.

My father had served in the First World War and was in the 91Čȱ¬ Guard. He also worked at a garage. Winnie and Ivy were at work and my brother George worked at the garage with Dad. We used to do little things; we'd go to the Salvation Army on a Monday night and have a cup of pea soup for a penny. I was in the choir when the Mayor asked us to join the Dunstable Girl’s Choir; we turned it down, how silly. We had a new dress each year for the anniversary when we sang. George came home from the Sally Army with this enormous trumpet to learn. It was really funny. We girls used to like playing the tambourines, but we weren’t in the band.

My Dad loved Vera Lynn and the old songs, and he’d say, “Let’s have a sing song.” We listened to the wireless quite a bit. Our back garden looked on to Prosperous Row next to the Queens Head. It was a very narrow garden with a wide path and an apple tree. Dad had the barn and used to mend shoes there. We had a street party in St Mary’s Street at the end of the war.

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