Could you tell me where you were born and brought up please?
French Street Bridgeton born 1934.]
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?
No memory of this
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.
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?
Just remember green I think it was for butchers, your gran worked in the butchers all through the war.
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?
We were sent to Moffat but we didn’t like it and Flo had some money I don’t know where she got it from but she got us back on the train to Glasgow the next day and we went home. (Flo elder sister and Bruce the younger brother of David)
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?
We had the ground floor flat and the neighbours came into our close, I don’t know why. There was something to stop the bombs coming into the close. We never went to the shelter. We didn’t like air raid shelters they were crowded. I was born 1934. It was sociable people coming into the close. There was a heavy curtain and as boys we looked out and watched the lights and the bullets trying to hit the planes. It was exciting. The nearest bomb was round the corner in Allen Street.
We lived opposite the gas works with one of the big storage tanks Once a bomb dropped on the gas works but didn’t go off because it landed in a pile of sand just over the wall opposite our house. So we’d all have gone it had gone off the end of us, they never got the gasworks or the yards that they were after.
There were occasional dog fights the planes were all propeller jobs and they were slow you watched them float across the sky. We watched them it was exciting. The trace bullets trying to get them.
Housing during WWII
Do you have any memories of people being made homeless by bombs? Can you remember bombed-out buildings?
My mates family were bombed out there. They weren’t hurt but they were fed up and emigrated to Canada straight after that. He was called Jim Sherriff.
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?
We went to school half time, not many kids went.
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?
We knew then the news was just to cheer you up they didn’t tell you what was eally going on.
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?
Saw newsreel at the cinema. They hid the bad stuff.
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?
Street parties but not vivid memories
Schooling Post-War
Can you describe schooling at this time? Any changes from during the war? Leaving age? We left at 14. I was lucky a neighbour worked at Albion just up the road and he got me into Rowans on an engineering apprenticeship and then I moved into the drawing room and eventually became a marine draftsman. Full time, very strict.
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?
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.
Working in the yards
Housing Post-War
Do you remember people being homeless then? Houses being built? Prefabs, people living in old POW camps? Where did you live?
Friend bombed out in Allen Street moved to Canada, Jim Sherriff he was called.
Courtship and Marriage
What was courtship like then? Were people married younger then? Do you remember lots of your friends getting married?
Well we left school at 14 so of course we married younger. People married by 21.
Food and Consumerism Post-Rationing
What changes were there to food, recipes and buying habits between 1954 and 1960?
Leisure -time
Any holidays in the 1950s? Any hobbies or pastimes?
Dancing organised dances with my mate raised money for charity.
