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Sheila Griffiths

I was six years old when war began. Born in Coventry I was there at the beginning of “the Blitz”. When the warning siren sounded, I was hastily bundled out of bed in a blanket and taken to a council-built air raid shelter. My father was an ARP warden. He had the task of getting us safely into the shelter. He also had to ensure people had put up adequate blackout curtains (or similar) at their windows. It was believed that letting light through could guide enemy planes! Hence the slogan “put that light out”.

It was decided by my parents to evacuate me to my aunt in Shropshire to stay with her. She lived in Highley near Bridgnorth. This was a mining village, but Aunt ‘Girl’ lived in the posher end - called Garden Village. We had views of fields and trees. Because my aunt had a grocery shop we never really went short of food. In her front room I remember the shop housed truckles of cheese, jars of sweets and biscuits etc, and odd items like Phul-Nana perfume!  My job, when a little older, was to count up the ration coupons my aunt received from our customers, to be sent off to the food ministry. When the siren sounded  we huddled in the space under the stairs!  But only one bomb ever fell- 14 miles away in Bridgnorth!

At weekends American soldiers from a camp nearby brought flowers, silk stockings and tins of fruit for local girls and their families. We children were pleased to have chewing gum!  “Any gum chum?” became a slogan...

Back in Coventry my brother, Gerald, signed on for the army- aged just 17. He trained with horses for some time in Scotland and was then sent out to serve in Palestine! Not too many horses there...

When I returned to Coventry, dedicated primary teachers prepared me for the 11 plus examination... Life became more serious. But the bombed sites became our weekend playground!

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