Memories of the War

I went to Callington first of all, which was an agricultural college, and I think it was nearly six months we were there, we learnt to do all the things you should do on a farm, which was very interesting, because some of the girls were from London, and they actually did not know that milk came from a cow, they actually thought it came from a bottle, really true! We learnt hedging and ditching, we made cheese… Then we went to all different places: I went to a tomato farm, which was absolutely hideous actually, we were in the greenhouses, which were horrible, then teaching the Americans to ……? Then they sent me to Stowmarket, where were learnt to milk cows, how to look after them, how to wash them, clean the machines, we had hand milking as well, we had to put it through the cooler, then put it into churns. We had to learn how to roll the churns, then in the morning the lorry would come, take it away. Then we had breakfast at about half past eight — you’d been there since before six. Then you had to clean out the whole of the shippen, then when you’d done that you had to go to the dairy, and you sterilised all the equipment, and when you’d done that, you had field work. You’d be cutting kale in all the frost, then 12 o’clock you could go home and have something to eat. In the afternoon you’d do the same thing as you’d do in the morning, milk the cows again. You’d do everything there was to do on the farm, you take the slurry (you know, the muck from the cows) out and fling it around the fields by hand. You’d take the horse and cart, I’d be sitting on the horse, with the cart full of muck behind me, and fling it all around.

We used to make silage, tread it all down. We used to wear hats, we’d be in this great big silo and the grass would come down on top of us, terribly dangerous when you think about it, and we’d be walking around to get it flat. There was the most terrible smell, I remember.

This was just after the war had finished. People thought that when the war finished, things went back to normal, but it didn’t, it took ages.

I was 12 when the war started, I was evacuated, I was sent away to Wales. We were there during the Battle of Britain, my parents and I, we got bombed out, the house was on fire, my mother was trying to put the fire out, we were all running around in circles. We forgot to let the rabbit out, and the poor rabbit got roasted alive. The cat got out and didn’t come back for three days. But we were out of the house for a year.

It was horrendous; it seemed to go on for ever. We were teenagers, and that it was which took our teenage years away. People were very nice to each other, that’s all I can say, people talked to each other. You did get used to the food! You didn’t know any different, you just got used to everything. There was the blackout, you couldn’t go out at night. There were American soldiers, a lot of American black soldiers. We lived in Weymouth. We were never frightened even though there were air raids. We’d be up half the night, my mother would say “you’ve got to be up for school”, you’d spent all night under the table. I never heard anyone being too miserable about it — maybe because I was young.

My children, I’ve got six, get fed up with me talking about it. I try not to go on because I had a granny who was always talking about the First World War.

We were all working towards the same aim, to win the war and it seemed very important. I can never remember my mother saying “dear, dear, it’s happening again”, we took it in our stride. I was never hungry, there were always something (to eat) It was wonderful to think of the Fat Ladies (I call them), who are in their nineties now who thought up all the foods and things and had to look after all the little children during the terrible time of nothing. We could make do, we never went hungry, we just took what we could.

I can remember going to school, after there had been an air raid and a whole row of houses would be gone.

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