WHAT DID YOU DO DURING THE WAR?

What did I do during the war? Well, my dear one, I was busy raising my family. I can tell you a little of our family history as well as how I felt during those times. It is over fifty years since the war ended so my mind is a little hazy on the details. Just look at this old black and white photograph. This is me holding your mother in my arms and your Aunty Margaret being naughty and pulling a face. You know how three year olds can be. We lived in Port Kembla and you can see the stacks and smoke from the steelworks in the background. Your Grandpa Tom worked as an electrician and during the war, my younger sister, Marjory, worked as a tradesman assistant. She found the work interesting and didn’t mind the grease or dirty broken finger nails.

Even though we were a long way from the war zone, I didn’t like living so close to the steelworks. It would be one of the first places to be bombed. We did have a few scares. I remember grabbing the children and sheltering under the kitchen table when the air raid sirens went off. It’s funny now but terrifying at the time. Even today, when I hear a siren, I feel quite emotional.

When World War Two was declared, I felt totally helpless and devastated. It wasn’t totally unexpected as there had been rumblings in Europe for some time, but it was the finality of the situation that one couldn’t control that was so upsetting. Can you imagine how I felt? I was a young mother of a three year old, I was two months pregnant, nauseous and I was very scared of the future. Just talking about those times brings back intense memories.

Occasionally, my mother would baby sit so that Grandpa and I could go to the Whiteway Theatre to see a movie. However, preceding the movie, the black and white Movietone News of the pre-war and war years was very depressing. We saw Hitler ranting, raving and gesticulating at huge political gatherings or armies of helmeted goose stepping soldiers marching to somewhere or war machines racing around the people lined streets of Germany or political leaders descending from aircrafts waving signed treaties which did not account for anything. During the war, we were horrified by what we saw in these newsreels of death, destruction and misery. Bombs being dropped over Great Britain, countries being invaded by Hitler’s armies, little children orphaned and crying, mothers desperate for food and shelter for their family, was heart breaking and terrifying.

During the war, Grandpa and I would sit by the radio listening to the evening news and we would avidly read the newspaper. Neither were ever pleasant. We would scan the lists of soldiers missing in action or killed, hoping that our family’s and friend’s love ones would not be there. Every family had some one close involved in the war. I had two nephews fighting in New Guinea, my sister May’s sons, Bill and Jock. Both came back home although Jock lost the fingers and part of his right hand. The war certainly had an impact on his life on his return to civilian life. I also scanned the papers for economical recipes and hints. I made coffee from ground burnt oats. It was drinkable.

Because of food rationing, Grandpa would come home from work to tend to the vegetable garden while I was responsible for the feeding and day to day care of our chickens. We were nearly self-sufficient with our home grown vegetables and eggs. To supplement our meat rations we would kill the occasional chook. Tom never liked killing the chooks and I didn’t like plucking or cleaning them. But we enjoyed eating them. I remember the sad time Margaret killed a baby chicken. She was scared of animals and when one ventured too close to her feet, she kicked it. She told me that the chicken was sick but I could see that it was more than sick as its legs were pointing skyward.

Eggs were a staple in most households and fortunately we loved them. I would fry or poach or scramble a couple of eggs to have with boiled vegetables and then cover the lot with gravy. Potato cakes were another substitute meat dish that we loved. Cakes were a rare treat only made for the children’s birthdays. For months, I would save or swap for some of the butter and sugar rations.

Ration books were issued to each family which I would present to the grocer or butcher shop when I went shopping each week to receive our allotted ration. I also had a ration book for clothes and shoes. Grandpa and I were careful with our clothes and I patched and repaired the children’s clothes as needed. As the children grew, they wore second hand clothes or clothes that I made from old dresses or shirts. I remember the time Margaret lost one of her school shoes when she jumped over a swollen creek on her way home from school. I was very cross with her as I had to borrow coupons from my mother and sister. Toys could not be bought and many a rag doll was made from old clothing. Children improvised their play and many an imagination was sparked during those dark times.

Well my darling, those are some of my memories of the war years. Even though we were lucky living in Australia, war was knocking on our doorstep. Darwin experienced a massive bombing with loss of lives. I did not experience the physical horrors of the war but I knew its mental tortures.