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This story was submitted to the People’s War Site by a volunteer from CSV Actiondesk on behalf of Mr John Armstrong and has been added to the site with his permission. Mr Armstrong fully understands the site’s terms and conditions.

When war broke out on 3 September 1939 I was barely 21 months old. The family I joined was a large one, Mum and Dad, two sisters and four brothers.

Although official rationing didn’t come into force until January 1940, times were hard and our Sunday roast was “Rabbit and Spuds”.

We lived in a northern Iron and Steel town, which was a priority target for German bombers. They say memory fades with age, but to this day I distinctly remember being put under the stairs during a heavy raid and having a blanket put over my head to protect me from broken fanlight glass.

In 1944 our Uncle Freddie (he was in the Merchant Navy) brought us some items which we had never seen before. It was sheer bliss munching bananas and going to bed with a mug of cocoa.

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