Neighbors would patrol the streets all night to report any fires on the house roofs that were ignited by the bombs. But life went on. I remember the postman stepping over the piles of rubble in the street to pick up mail in the red pillar boxes [postal boxes].

 

Rationing

We had strict rationing, with very little food available because of Germany’s strategy to limit food imports as a way to win the war. The German U-boats sank the ships bringing food, as well the ships carrying children to be evacuated to the United States and Canada.

We had ration books, allowing us to just small portions of meat, cheese, eggs, butter, sugar and tea. Because oranges were reserved for children and pregnant women, I once lined up for three hours at the greengrocers for five oranges for our family. We each had one egg a week and often that would be our dinner on a pile of mashed potatoes. If our mother made a cake, she used her week’s ration for that. For half a penny a day, we could buy one-third of a pint of milk at school. We had Victory Gardens where people planted their own vegetables in their yards or parks.

Clothes and shoes were also in short supply and provided on a point system. Paper was scarce and rationed as well. I remember my teacher counting the pages of my exercise book before issuing another.

 

Loss and sacrifice

My grandparents, Arthur and Hilda Colbourn, left their London home to live in Poole, a south coastal town in the county of Dorset, where they owned pleasure boats. The boats sailed daily to Sandbanks, Studland, and Branksome, taking passengers back and forth to the beaches.  In 1940, the boats were all taken for the rescue of the soldiers from the Battle of Dunkirk in France. And, so my grandparents lost their business.

My grandparents’ home in London was requisitioned by the government to house a family that was bombed out. They were never able to recover their house from the squatters.

Their son, my uncle, Harold Colbourn, who had served all through the war in the British Navy, was asked to return to the Mediterranean after the war for just one month to clear the mines set by the Germans. He was killed while on the mission.

My grandmother and grandfather lost their son, their home, and their business.

 

Life carries on

I could never envision life without war as five and a half years seemed an eternity in an impressionable schoolgirl’s life. We tried to have fun though, giving concerts for our parents. They had to pay sixpence to watch us sing and dance in aid of the Spitfire Fund. Spitfires were England’s Royal Air Force high-performance, single-seat, fast fighter planes. The planes were produced continuously throughout the war. I remember that the wrought iron fences were removed from private homes to help build the planes.