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I was very young when the war started and living in the parish of Aymestry in North Hereford. I don’t remember any real details about the war except the search lights and the bombers roaring over at night. Even out in the country we had to put blackouts up.
My dad was the boss of the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Guard in our area. I remember him going on duty with his gun and his funny tin hat.

When I was about 5 or 6 I used to have to ride my bike down to Mortimer’s Cross to get the bus to school. On my way home I saw all the Italian prisoners of war planting the beginnings of the big forest that s there now.

What I do remember is that we were never short of food. The rationing didn’t really affect us. My Mother used to go into Leominster each Friday. She used to make butter and we kept chickens. She used to take these with her on her Friday jaunts and come back with all we needed. Her sideboard was always full of sugar and dried fruit and tea. We also kept pigs so we never went short of bacon!

This story was submitted to the People’s war site by Jacci Phillips of the CSV Action Desk at ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Hereford and Worcester on behalf of Irene Herbert and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site’s terms and conditions.

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