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15 October 2014
WW2 - People's War

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My Parents' WW2 Story

by supertherese

Contributed by 
supertherese
People in story: 
my parent's www2 story
Location of story: 
Alexandria Egypt
Article ID: 
A2040274
Contributed on: 
14 November 2003

Five children in our family, without a steady income, as my father, civilian, in the Merchant Navy,relied
upon ships, arriving at the Port of Alexandria, my parents decided to have lodgers, in our house, two Maltese Naval officers. We lived in close proximity, of the Port of Alexandria. Us children, called them uncle, They often brought us chocolates, and jam. One night I saw my mother getting in one of our lodger bedroom, to steal his money, I've asked my mother, why did she have to go into his bedroom so late in the night,she told me, to sort out his dirty laundry. In 1939, we heard the strident sound of the Air Raid siren one of our lodger, took my one year old youngest sister, to have a walk across the road from our house, as he wanted to have a closer look at Hitler's aeroplanes dropping bombs,my sister started weeping wanting her mamy, few minutes after a bomb was dropped at the exact spot, where they were standing. 'What a miracle, my mother exclaimed!! We saw rats as big as rabbits, roaming all over the place. In 1942, the British ship upon which my father worked for a while, was torpedoed, my mother, told us children 'Papa est mort' our mother tongue being French, 'Papa is dead', To our releif, some of the survivors were rescued, amongst which, our father life was saved, being a civilian, in the British Merchant Navy no recognition was awarded to my dearly beloved father. One day my father, I was 10 years old, that he had met, a Maltese lady who looks like Diana Durbin, to which I replied, 'But mother too, is pretty.
We had to move to the suburbs, by the sea shore, in 1943, mother said ' living by the Port was rather dangerous' One afternoon. I peeked through, our lodger bedroom keyhole, and I saw, my mother on top of one of our lodger in bed, I could not understand, what was going on?

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