At school we were often asked to give money for the 'Spitfire Fund' and we eagerly took our pennies in.

Even as children we wanted to be part of the war effort.

Women were also asked by 'Mrs. Salvage' to 'Give up your frying pan for a Spitfire' and Lady Readingof the W.V.S. said:-

'Very few of us can be heroines on the battlefront, but we can all have the tiny thrill of thinking as we hear the news of an epic battle in the air, "Perhaps it was my saucepan that made apart of that Hurricane.

A Fighter plane outside our Town Hall for 'Spitfire Week.' We raised £5,374.2s. in five weeks. An amazing amount in those days.

Back again to school. I loved our Scripture lessons and remember learning - The 10 Commandments, Isaiah Ch. 53, the Beatitudes, the 23rd Psalm and many others. This learning to memorise whole chapters of scripture helped in other ways too. At Sunday School we always entered for the Scripture Exam which was a nationwide exam and part of the syllabus was to memorise certain verses. Almost every Church in the town entered children for this exam and there was great rivalry to see which child could be top of the town. There was even a prize for top of the country! We also vied with other churches to see who could win the Shield for a year. This Shield was given to the church who entered the most children and who received the highest marks. We were always anxious to know our marks and who had won the Shield as the name and date of the Sunday School was entered on a smaller shield which circled the main one. The results were always read out on Good Friday after marching, but more of that later.

One red-letter day I received an Airmail from my Aunty Edith who was a Nursing Sister looking after our troops in Egypt and other areas in the Middle East. When she eventually returned to England, she brought me a small wooden box from Damascus which I still have.

One day at school we were having a Gas Mask Drill when there was a terrific crash and glass spattered all over us. The room became pitch black - it was the barrage balloon, which was supposed to be tethered safely on its site opposite us, blocking out our light as it crashed against our window. Somehow it had got loose and decided to pay us a visit!
The classroom windows were shattered, we were covered in dust and glass as we dived under our desks with our gas masks still on. What a noise we made as 30 girls squealed through their gas masks, but what a giggle too!

If a barrage balloon got loose from its moorings it would fly up into the sky and was good target practice for the R.A.F. yet even then it could be dangerous as if it fell on a house it could do as much damage as a bomb! If it became split it would zip across the sky much as a party balloon does when let loose, an hilarious sight!

If the wires caught overhead power cables a whole town could be blacked out for hours so being on a Barrage Balloon Site was a very responsible job and I have no idea how 'our' balloon escaped from the site opposite us.
The picture shows Air Force personnel preparing the balloon for its ascent.

Coming back from the village I remember looking out of the train window and seeing more and more barrage balloons the nearer we got to the towns and coast. It was the one thing that made me realise what we were going back to. All the train station names were blacked, out and I remember hearing of a German pilot whose plane had been 'downed' being taken by the Army to his P.O.W. Camp. As he passed station after station, desperately trying to find out where he was going, he was completely puzzled as to why the British had called so many towns "Bovril" - one of the few hoardings left!!

The War affected all areas of our lives. We now had B.U.'s Bread Units - as bread was in short supply. If you ran out of B.U.'s you had no bread, it was as simple as that. 'Pull your belt tighter' they would laughingly say. 'There's a war on you know!' In fact one woman was fined £10 plus costs for giving bread to the birds - a tremendous amount in those days. One poster put it bluntly when it said :-

"A sailor's blood is on your head If you waste a scrap of bread."

Printed under this Poster are the words:- 'Be British to the bone and save your Bones' even the dog is helping!

Another poster said:- "If every bone in every home is saved" The country will have the bones to produce nitro-glycerine to propel hundreds of thousands of shells."
We were also told :-
"Buy nothing for your personal pleasure or comfort, use no transport, call on no labour - unless urgent necessity compels. To be free with your money today is not a merit. It is contemptible. To watch every penny shows your will to win."

I have written these few posters down to give you some idea of what it was like during the war when every scrap of food was watched, every penny carefully thought out before spending. Yes, the war affected every moment of our lives. Even our clothes had regulations. Dresses, skirts and coats had to be a certain length, elastic waistbands were forbidden on skirts, fancy belts were not allowed, even shoes had to be no higher than 2 inches. Men were only allowed 3 pockets on their suits and three buttons and so it went on. Our yearly ration of clothes coupons was 66 and it was 6 coupons for a nightdress, 8 coupons for a pair of pyjamas, 11 coupons for a dress. It was 4 coupons for a man's pair of underpants and half a coupon for a handkerchief. Hitler's evil fingers poked into every aspect of our lives.

The black-out made the streets very dark. There were no beams of light coming from house or shop windows and, of course, there were no street lights. Many people fell as they tripped over in the pitch dark, and my Dad, on Special Police duty, ran into a lamp-post whilst chasing someone.

The blow to Dad's head was so severe that it left him with dreadful headaches for the rest of his life.

I well remember the day he came home and showed us his Police Gas mask. He looked like an alien and it quite frightened me as I looked at this strange creature who was my Daddy.

Seeing this picture does not have the same impact as when this apparition walked into our sitting-room!

We were able to use torches in the black - out but they had to be shaded so that only a tiny dim beam was shown. The few cars that were on the roads also had their lights shaded. I remember walking home on the nights when it was foggy the dark and fog seem to mute any sound and it was almost claustrophobic, a feeling of suffocation seemed to be all around us. It wasn't pleasant. We also had to be very careful we didn't knock into anyone nor fall over the kerb which many people did.

The nights when we could see clearly were when we had a 'Bomber's Moon' - a full moon. Whenever the full moon came we could hear people call to each other 'A Bomber's moon tonight, Jerry will be over' and he was! They came in their hundreds as they tried to bomb us into submission, they didn't seem to realise that the British people did not give up Ever!

In the cinemas a notice regularly came on the screen 'There is a raid in progress, please make your way to the nearest shelter.' There was never any panic, just a groan 'Oh, Jerry's here again, that's the second time I've tried to see this picture. I'll have to ask Hitler for my money back' and everyone would laugh. But one day, when those in the cinema had gone into the shelter in our market place, the shelter got a direct hit, and everyone was killed. It was dreadful.

Evacuees waiting in an unknown place for an unknown stranger to collect them.

Mile End Road in our town (South Shields) after a night's bombing.

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MY WAR

'I just don't care.' 'I just don't care'   These words ran round my head My little brother stood by me Then together we were led 2. The last to go; the empty hall Evacuees all gone, Echoed to our tiny feet As we were pulled along 3. The "great adventure" - now a dream Reality rushed in Unwanted; lonely; sad and lost Our new life now was grim 4. For seven months we lived like this Then back home we were sent To bombs and sirens, gas mask drill And all that this war meant 5. But very soon Mam said "Enough!" "To the country we will go" And found a cottage in 'the wilds' After searching high and low 6. Idyllic; Great; and Wonderful To us it was a dream Happiness now flooded in Where heavy hearts had been 7.Our friends, the school,the Church, the farm We loved it, every bit The stream, the fields,the animals For us it was "a hit" 8. But good things always end one day And back to raids we went Another school, another home, And sleepless hours we spent 9. Our shelter was a second home Long hours we lived in there At home or school when sirens wailed To this place we'd repair 10. But one dark day - my darkest yet I stood before the rubble Where once my friend's neat house had stood Was chaos, dust and muddle 11. "They're dead my dear, go home, don't stay These words I dimly heard As kind hands turned me from the scene My eyes with tears were blurred 12. I never will forget that day Nor Irene, my dear friend For me, the sights and sounds of war Will never, ever, end. E.Aynsley ©

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