Memories of growing up in war time Warrington

Throughout the week, we are telling the stories of Warrington in the war.

Today, childhood memories of living through conflict

WHAT was it like growing up during the war?

Peter Birchall, a former deputy head teacher at Lymm High School, has put down his memories of the war for his 11 grandchildren.

And he is sharing them with Warrington Guardian readers for this special anniversary.

“I was born on September 10, 1938, on the day that Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain flew to Munich to meet Adolf Hitler, in a futile attempt to prevent the outbreak of war.

“Twelve months later the Second World War had indeed begun.

“My first memory is of our so-called air-raid shelter.

“Many people had constructed underground shelters in their garden, a simple large hole lined and roofed with sheets of corrugated iron which was then protected by bags filled with sand covered by turf.

“My father however worked in the building industry and was able to have our washhouse, a small room opening via the back door, converted into a shelter.

“Reinforced concrete beams were installed as a false ceiling, a brick wall two feet thick, six feet wide and eight feet high, was built outside and in front of the back door to protect us from bombs.

“The one window was protected by steel netting and heavy wooden shutters and all the external walls were given an additional layer of brickwork.

“My twin brother and I slept in there in bunk beds during the worst of the ‘Blitz’ bombing raids in the early 1940s.

“I can recall hearing the drone of German bombers overhead and the distant sound of anti-aircraft guns or bomb explosions, and seeing shifting flashes of bright light from the searchlights trying to illuminate the enemy planes.

“Happily no bombs fell close to our house, but my father, who was an air-raid warden, saw low-flying bombers release their bombs overhead, to explode a mile or two away in Warrington.

“Food was of course in short supply and rationed. My brother and I never had any sweets or chocolate until we were seven or eight.

“Crisps and such were unheard of and biscuits were very rare and always plain.

“‘Tea’ was often very plain and simple, a lettuce sandwich, a spring-onion sandwich, even a condensed-milk or sugar sandwich.

“If mum got a joint of meat, it would do us three days: roast dinner on Sunday, cold meat leftovers on Monday and stew or shepherd’s pie from the scraps on Tuesday.

“Eggs were rare, unless you kept chickens or ducks in the backyard.

“The Government’s Ministry of Food provided ‘powdered egg’ which could be used to make cakes or a tasteless egg-custard.

“My grandfather grew a few vegetables and rhubarb in our garden, which helped to balance our diet.

“It must be said however that this poor menu didn’t affect our health; in fact children were very healthy on the whole and never overweight – obesity was unheard of.

“We were also very active. Television and computers had not been invented, the only sofa was in the ‘front-room’, for use by visitors or on Sundays, so we ‘played out’. There were few cars, so we played football, tick-and-pass or cricket in the street.

“We played endless street games like Stroke-a-back, Leevo, Kick-Can-Lurky and so on; and of course lots of skipping-rope games.

“I didn’t have a bike until I was 12, so I rode my mum’s, far too big, and of course fell off frequently.

“Clothing too was in short supply. Families had ration tokens with which to buy items of clothing, but the priority had to be for dad to buy clothes to go to work, or work clothes for mum, since in most families with young children dad was somewhere in Europe, Africa or Asia fighting the war.

“I knew many children who never saw their father until they were seven or eight, or who never saw him at all if he had been killed or remained missing.

“My mum was a trained dress-maker, so was able to make clothes for us and herself on her treadle sewing-machine.

“I have a photo of my brother and me aged six or seven, dressed almost from head to toe in home-made clothes, home–made shirts, trousers (short of course), overcoats and caps, and home-knitted pullovers and socks.

“Our shoes, though bought, were repaired – soled and heeled – at home. From an early age I was taught to darn and mend the holes in my socks, to sew buttons on my shirts and even to repair my shoes on the iron last with hammer and nails.

“We had very few toys. Only those which had been passed down by family or friends were available.

“Fortunately dad was a skilled joiner and made us several things out of wood, a fort, small cut-out figures, even a wheelbarrow.

“Christmas Day was very deprived by today’s standards.

“We had a stocking – definitely not a pillow-case or sack – and were delighted to find an apple, an orange and one or two simple little things inside. I recall my grandma saying: “What you’ve never had you never miss.” How true that was.

“We had occasional treats, due to the fact that close to our house was an American Army Base. The Americans had everything they desired in their camp shop and we very soon learned to accost them and say, “Yer got any gum, chum?”

“They often gave us packets of sweets or chewing gum, though gum was banned in the house and at school, and sometimes the American GI would respond by saying “Yer gotta big sister, mister?”

“Needless to say, a lot of ‘big sisters’ became very friendly with the American soldiers, many of them becoming GI brides, marrying their guy to look for a better life in the USA.

“Not having television, and with few books or comics, our main source of news and entertainment was the wireless, as we knew it.

“Children’s Hour at 5pm was a great favourite. I can remember hearing live commentary by Richard Dimbleby of the Allied armies crossing the River Rhine into Germany, in late 1944 or early 1945, as well as news bulletins about the Normandy invasion, the German’s surrender, the Nazi leaders’ trials for war crimes, and so on.

“Going to school meant carrying our gas-masks, of course, and practising putting them on.

“Nowadays all schools have to have regular fire drills. We had regular air raid shelter drills, when we would march in single file, and in absolute silence, to the dank, dark, smelly shelters across the playground.

“These weren’t demolished until several years after the war, so that we used to play many a spooky or naughty game in there when we were a little older.

“Happily no member of my family was killed or seriously wounded but my father’s father was killed in the First World War in 1917.” leaving three young children and a heart-broken widow who had a very hard life as a result.

“War is evil, bringing death and suffering, never forget it.