Could you tell me where you were born and brought up please?
I was born in Clydebank in 1937. Where I was brought up is a long story. After the Blitz in 1941 we were evacuated to Helensburgh as we lost everything in the Blitz. I went to 9 schools between the age of 4 and 11. My parents split up and remember accommodation was scarce. My mother at one time asked to sleep in the police station, so I was shunted from pillar to post sometimes with a relative but other times with strangers.
Just prior to WWII
Would you tell me any memories that you have of 1939, please? Fear of war? Any preparations for war being made? Air raid shelters being built? Housing-for your family and for others. Food? Healthcare? School? Parent’s work? Any holidays? Films, play, entertainment in general?
I was too little to have any memories of 1939.
Early Days of WWII
What do you remember about the announcement of war? How did you feel about the onset of war? Did you talk about the war with your friends – what did they say? What do you remember (if anything) about the sinking of the Athenia? What can you tell us about your awareness of people going off to war? The changing role of women? Can she describe any memories around munitions factories? People moving to Glasgow to work in them? The air raid wardens, blackouts, school? 602 Squadron.
Again I was too young. My brother seemed to have a lot of fun and I remember I too made spitfires out of paper.
Rationing
Could you tell me about any memories of rationing? Sweets (GIs with sweets?). Fish and Chips. Recipes, ‘Dig for Britain’? Clothes rationing- Coal rationing. Soap rationing? Etc. The end of rationing? Do you remember it being phased out?
I remember the rationing. My Dad one day buttered his bread on all sides before we realised he had used all the butter. He laughed and said that was how we used to eat butter. I remember too he used to boil an egg and cut the top off for me and then he had the rest that was at one time when I lived with my Dad for a short time. The only sweets I remember were when some American soldiers stopped by they always brought lots of sweets. One awful memory I have was when I lived with some strangers to me but obviously friends of my Mum, the adults all sat around the table after dinner and cut up old cigarette ends and made that tobacco into new cigarettes. I decided I would never smoke and I never have.
There was a rhyme at the time. Where was Moses when the light went out? Under the bed looking for a doubt. A doubt was a cigarette end.
Another memory was the way we found paper aand pencils so scarce. My Dad was a very good drawer and our amusement was to draw-often. I would say we drew daily.to this day i treasure paper and pencils. At school we had to hand in the ned of an old pencil before you got a new one. By ned, it meant it was a stub a little larger than the one you handed in, A brand new pencil is a treasured thing still. We are so lucky.
Evacuation
Were you evacuated? Can you remember any friends that were? Would you say there were more or fewer children at your school? Can you tell us about seeing evacuees leaving/coming home? Any children coming to Glasgow from other places?
I am not sure of the date but we were evacuated to Twechar before the Blitz I believe.That was my Mother and my brother and me. I believe after a little while my Mother decided if one of us was going to get killed we were all going to die so she took us home.
I think my brother went to Ghiga- not sure if that was later. Robert was 7 years older than me.
The Blitz
Can you describe how you felt when there was an air raid? Do you have any memories of a siren suit? The place you went to shelter? Did it change over time? What people chatted about in there? Were you aware of any other shelters in the area? Did you hear of anyone that died? Did you hear about the blitz in Clydebank and Greenock?
Interesting now that you have mentioned a siren suit I do remember that name, not sure if I wore one. I had a Mickey Mouse gas mask though, with lovely turquoise at the mouthpiece I recall. On the 13th March 1941 Mum, Robert and I were at the La Scala watching a Shirley Temple movie. My cousins have since told me that I won a Shirley Temple contest prior to the Blitz .That was where I first heard the bombs and my first really vivd memory. Mum picked me up and threw me under the seat. My understanding was that we had a young boy who lived in our close at 24 Second Avenue with us that night. I believe he was the only one of his family to stay alive. The dance hall across the way, had had two direct hits and people were coming in and walking like zombies down the aisle. I found that very frightening. My Dad was working at Singers and on his way to the La Scala he had to drop onto the ground three or four times as bombs fell around him. Miraculously no one in our greater family were killed.
I do have vague memories of the shelters but I think I probably heard people talking about it. One story was of a friend who was asked to bring down some tins of fruit so she had loaded her apron with as many as she could carry and as she got to the entrance of the shelter she heard the incendiary bomb and the contents of her apron up in the air. Those in the shelter thought they had been hit.
Housing during WWII
Do you have any memories of people being made homeless by bombs? Can you remember bombed-out buildings?
Bombed out buildings were the joy of my life. As a terrible tomboy I, along with a crowd of boys played in the bombed buildings whenever we could. I have been chased off a few by warders trying to stop us from harming ourselves but we loved it. I used to collect silver paper-wrappers from chocolates before the war. I incorporated these in my paper works of art.. Then we were told not to pick up shiny pieces of paper because they might be dangerous. I didn't think much of that.
Impact on Family of WWII
Did you have any family members that went off to war? Do you have any memories of friends whose parents were in the army/navy/air force?
No
Schooling and bits of war work
Can you describe what school was like during the war? Did your classes get moved to other buildings? Gas mask training? Any war work that you and /or classmates carried out? Gas mask training? School dinners? Patches of land with vegetables on?
I went to nine schools between the ages of 4 and 11 so you can see that I wasn't at any school for very long. Always the new girl. I loved the fact that you did some exams and moved up a class if you did well. I think Scotland had the best education system in the world at that time. I loved school dinners I think they cost about ten pence a week-maybe 1/10. I can’t remember.
Children’s understanding of events during WWII
Were you aware of The Battle of Britain, Dunkirk, D-Day etc? The progress of the war in general? Did you hear about it on the radio? Through newspapers? newsreels?
I think I was more worried about my parents having separated and their eventual divorce. Living with people who didn't want me in their houses. I have been catching up on that other history since.
Cinema and play and other entertainments and leisure activities.
Can you tell us about going to the cinema? What games did you play as a child? Any other entertainment or trips away during the war? Anything in local parks?
My Mum loved the cinema I think we must have gone about three or four times some weeks. I played a lot of ball games I recall a game called Statues was a favourite. Cricket with the boys. If I could cadge a play on someone's bike I loved that. But again as I was always on the move to a new place to live these are all sketchy too.
The end of WWII
Can you describe the end of the war? What was VE day like for you? Where there any immediate changes in your life and that of your family? What expectations did you have for your future? Can you let us know what it was like to have Social Security come in as a safety net for everyone? Do you remember what it was like when the National Health Service was introduced in 1948? Do you remember home remedies used before then such as cloves for toothache please?
I don't remember. Only thing I focused on was; am I going to see Mum or am I going to see Dad or am I going to see Robert ever again. I think my parents split up when I was five and divorced when I was eight then when I was eleven my Father took me and my brother to Australia and it was sixteen years before I saw my mother again. We left Scotland in 1948 and sailed from Tilbury on the anniversary of the beginning of the war on September the third.
Very interesting going through the Suez Canal at that time we Brits were not too popular.
One couple called Diamond left the ship but didn't come back my brother told me this much later. He turned 18 on the ship.
Schooling Post-War
Can you describe schooling at this time? Any changes from during the war? Leaving age?
I loved school it was my escape from whatever drama I was living. At one time I attended Bearsden Academy and thought it very posh. I started my schooling at The Hermitage in Helensburgh at 4. I upset my mother because I wanted to go to school on Saturday. Teachers were quite firm to say the least but looking back very fair-to me anyway. I left before the Qualifying so have no idea about what happened next.
Women’s work Post-War
Can you describe what was expected of women in terms of work? Would you describe your experience? What were your peers doing? Did they leave work once they had had children or when they got pregnant? How did the role of women in work change from after the war until 1960? The women you knew?
I think my Mum went on working until she too came to Australia in 1964. I dont think anyone could have told my mum what to do! Hahahahaha
My experience of course is Australian and yes as soon as you married in some jobs you had to leave work. I worked for the government in 1953 so had I stayed until the birth of my first child in 1958. I would have to have left. A lot of people lied.
Men’s work Post-War
What sort of work were men doing? What did the boys from your class go on to do? Did any of them do National Service and/or go to Korea.
My brother missed out on National Service as we left just before his 18th birthday.
Housing Post-War
Do you remember people being homeless then? Houses being built? Prefabs, people living in old POW camps? Where did you live?
We lived in a Nissen hut in Helensburgh until we found some other housing. It was very cold. We then went to the corner of Argyle and Sinclair Streets for a while then we lived in Mill Glen right next to the Hermitage. I loved it there.
Courtship and Marriage
What was courtship like then? Were people married younger then? Do you remember lots of your friends getting married?
Too young for this one.
