蜜芽传媒

Name Lorrie Jones
Interview Date 20th April 2005
Subjects covered 蜜芽传媒 Guard, Evacuees, Digging for Victory, Make do and Mend, Rationing,
Location Oxford, Tackley, Banbury, Cornmarket,
People Included Major Cooper, Marks and Spencer鈥檚

This is an edited extract of a recorded interview conducted by Museum of Oxford with Mrs Lorrie Jones. It has been submitted to the People鈥檚 War website with her permission. A full version of the interview transcript and audio recording will be available at the Centre for Oxfordshire Studies.

蜜芽传媒 Guard
Oh, my father was, my father was in the 蜜芽传媒 Guard and it was, um.. the, sort of Captain of them, a bit like Captain Mannering in Dad鈥檚 Army, was Major Cooper from Tackley. And he鈥檇 got herds of Jersey cows which he used to milk and I can always remember that they, they were on parade and he sent his men off to milk the cows and my father said he wanted to go cos he鈥檇 go animals to see to and the pub to see to. 鈥淥h, no, you can鈥檛 do that鈥� so he said 鈥淲ell I鈥檓 going to鈥� so he said to the man standing next to him, 鈥渁rrest him鈥� and it was his brother so he wasn鈥檛 going to.. wasn鈥檛 going to be likely to arrest him.

Evacuees
鈥he two evacuees I mean, the room that they were in couldn鈥檛 have been bigger than just from that window. There was room just for a single bed in it and a chest of drawers and the two of them had to sleep in the single bed. I mean, people today would be horrified, why they wouldn鈥檛 have let it you see鈥�

Digging for Victory
Living in the country was an advantage over people in towns because you did have access to rabbits, pheasants and that type of things, eggs from your chickens and suchlike.

Make do and Mend
We used to knit sea boot stockings for Russian Sailors with this horrible oiled wool. They used to allow it for you knitted these long socks. And we used to stick little鈥� I shouldn鈥檛 think they鈥檇 ever read them鈥� we used to stick little notes down in the toe鈥� you know, when they went. You know 鈥榟ope these fit and keep your feet warm鈥� probably, or something like that. Or 鈥榮ent from a lonely little girl in England鈥� or something you know.! I mean everybody鈥檇 鈥榤ake to and mend鈥�. It was not like it鈥檚 a throw away society like it is now isn鈥檛 it. I mean your sheets were always turned sides to middle, and if, and handkerchiefs were a thing you didn鈥檛 get because they were always on coupons and you didn鈥檛 get the coupons just for things like handkerchiefs and I still, even now, are obsessed with handkerchiefs I must have got boxes and boxes, hundreds of handkerchiefs. 鈥�.

Rationing
鈥specially with school uniform you see at Banbury, it took all your coupons to keep yourself in uniform so when I sort of left school and started work all I鈥檇 got was one skirt and one blouse which I bought in Marks and Spencer鈥檚. My school friend and I went potato picking and earned some money and we came into Oxford and bought, and that鈥檚 when Marks and Spencer鈥檚 was down Cornmarket, and I, you can tell this blouse鈥� I mean I was as skinny as they come and this blouse was, I think, size 38 bust which was miles too big but I didn鈥檛 even know clothes had sizes鈥� do you know what I mean?

But, er鈥� you got by. Soap was another thing, you see, you couldn鈥檛 get soap and um I can remember when we were at school and somebody would come and say that one of the chemists in Banbury had got shaving soap in, men鈥檚 shaving soap cos that wasn鈥檛 rationed or on points or anything so you used to all go and get these and then use that as soap.

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