Mum & Dads Geneation.

[Theland]

I so admire the generation that went through the war, on the the battlefields or the hardships at home, then after the war, poverty and rationing.
So tell me about your memories of that generation.

[emmie]

my oh was born when war broke out and he remembered being hungry all the time, yet his sister refuted this after he passed away a few years ago. Not sure that he ever got over the air raid warnings, where they had to go down to the Anderson shelter to supposedly keep safe.

[waterboatman]

That should be MUM never spoke about what she did!

[Milo2]

My grandfather had problems with chest infections for the rest of his life, following his service during the war but as others have said he never spoke about what had caused this. My father in law was a POW in the Far East and again would never talk about it. He also had health problems and died in his early 60s.

[emmie]

Many died from privation during the war, even after coming home.....sad and terrible in equal measure.

[davebro]

My dad had been in the guards in the inter-war years but was discharged on compassionate grounds when his father was blinded in an accident and he was needed at home to support his mother and younger siblings.
By the time the war broke out both my mother and father were in "reserved" occupations essentially making armaments. Rationing was tough but the family had a smallholding raising chickens and growing some food which helped.
Rationing continued for some years after the war and housing was a particular problem. Initially pre-fabs then council houses started to be built but we managed to buy a small terrace property - one of only two for sale in a sizeable town.
We thought we were a step up cos we owned the house even though it had only 2 bedrooms/no bathroom/outside toilet, while the council houses had 3 beds & a bathroom!

[maggiebee]

My dad was in the Royal Tank Regiment during WWII. He never spoke of where he was or what he did, but I do know he was injured and was in hospital in Port Said, so he must have been in North Africa. Mum always said that the man who went away to war was not the same one who came home. He lived until he was 95.

[retrocop]

My mother was a Cinema projectionist at the Odeon Cinema, Kensington at the top of Earls Court Road. During the blitz she was supposed to stop the film and flash up a warning on the screen that an air raid was approaching. All the patrons would then leave for the air raid shelter.When the 'all clear' sounded the patrons would return and after a suitable delay she would commence where they left off.
One particular evening she had arranged to meet some of her female friends in the local Lyons Corner House after her shift at the cinema ended. During her shift there was a air raid so she delayed the film for some time and then re-commenced it when the raid was over. When she was relieved by her friend who was delayed by the air raid my mother ran for her rendevous with her friends and found the smoking ruins of the Lyons Corner House which received a direct hit. All her friends were killed.

[ummmm]

How do people cope with that??!

[retrocop]

//That should be MUM never spoke about what she did!//

Lol WBM,
That reminds me of the Wartime posters about secrecy:
Be like Dad. Keep Mum or
She's not so dumb. Keep Mum

[retrocop]

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/22549

[retrocop]

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/9738

[jourdain2]

My father never spoke much about the war, Mum had a few anecdotes about a couple of German POWs they were friendly with (she could speak German) and they came to visit after the war finished. Dad was born 1903, so was too old for active service and also he was half-blind in one eye, but he became a quartermaster at Leeds for the duration.

Mr. J2 was 6 in 1939 and was evacuated twice, once during the phony war (to Canterbury)for a short while and then for much longer he was sent to a village near Swansea. He had to learn Welsh at school and he and his friends watched the bombs falling on Swansea docks.
He remembers sleeping in his Gran's Anderson shelter and also sitting under a table in the hall during raids. He returned from Wales in time for the V2s and (like other boys) scrambled in the ruins for schrapnel to swap - the good bits were those with letters or numbers on, he says. When we visited Eden Camp (outdoor museum) a couple of years ago he froze at the sound of the V2 which greets you as you enter. He also remembers being hungry.

His stepfather was a mechanic with the Desert Rats and we have a journal he kept - complete with photos and ephemera.

I remember pushing my ration book onto the counter for my sweetie ration - and also the day a few bananas first arrived in the local market.