Browse Items (338 total)

  • Tags: childhood in wartime

APickwellBW170317.mp3
Beryl Pickwell lived in Lincoln during the war. The youngest in a family with three brothers and two sisters, she remembers the day war was declared. Her father and two brothers worked in war factories, Clarke’s Crank and Ruston and Hornsby. She…

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Sybil was born in Bracebridge near Lincoln, she went to Bracebridge School then left at fourteen to work first at a Co-op store and then at and electric shop. Sybil talks about civilian life in wartime, her family working at Foster Quinns, fire…

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Hector's stories about growing up in wartime Edgcott. His family moved there in 1941 when he was 10. He covers his school life, working on his father's farm, mock fighting, playing on a bombing range, working as a cowman, tractor work, working in a…

PWynneH1825.jpg
Helga (00:00-34:00) was born in Kiel in 1926. Her father was a sailor, who then worked at Krupp shipbuilding yard; her mother was a tram driver during the war. None of her brothers were called up, either because of age or disability. She mentions…

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Colin Atkinson was 12 at the outbreak of war and grew up in Lincolnshire. His father was a Lieutenant Colonel in the army. He worked as a trainee reporter for the local paper and served as a messenger for civil defence; his post was on the Castle…

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Helga Wynne was born into a family of twelve in 1926 in Kiel, Germany. She describes her childhood and her father working as a shipbuilder in the dockyards. She left school at 14 and went to work on a farm. She fell through the hayloft opening,…

AKohlerH170303.mp3
Helmut Köhler (b. 1928) recalls his wartime experience as Luftwaffenhelfer. He provides a first-hand account of two attacks on Kassel, the first on the 22 October 1943 and the second in March 1944. He describes his time spent inside the air-raid…

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A letter from Harry Redgrave to his wife Jessie when he was undergoing RAF aircrew training in Scotland. He writes of his shortage of cash that affects his trips and present buying. The possible evacuation of schoolchildren in Southend is mentioned.…

ABeechH170302.mp3
Harold Beech could see the activity of several airfields and witnessed stricken aircraft flying back to stations near his home. He also witnessed a crash and describes how he hid in a Lancaster, with the help of the engineer who was billeted with his…

PBeechH1704.jpg
Twelve shapes of Hampdens are arranged in four rows and three columns, some have been coloured. Drawn by Harold Beech, aged 8.

Additional information about this item has been kindly provided by the donor.

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Giuliana Birelli remembers growing up in a family of farmers in Tuscany, at a juncture in which German soldiers raided houses searching for food and harassing women. She tells various episodes: partisans actions, time spent in a makeshift shelter her…

AMuratoriL161130.mp3
Lucia Muratori recalls her early life in Bologna in the family of a well-off foundry owner. Stresses that she had less traumatic war experiences compared to many other people at that time, the only disturbing episode being eye-witnessing the killing…

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Paola Giorgina Pasini provides details of her early life in a family of agricultural workers and compares favourably their condition with those living in urban areas. Recalls the ominous sight of target indicators and flares, and remembers Pippo…

MCurnockRM1815605-171114-023.pdf
The official journal of the Prisoners of War Department of the Red Cross and St John War Organisation. This edition covers the Editors comments, POWs released by the Russians, ex-Internees welcomed home, entertainment at the Camps, Escaped Prisoners…

MWhiteheadT1502391-180307-15.pdf
Includes: editorial matters; music round the camps; official reports from the camps; (two pages missing); letters; how they help funds (fund raising at home); fun and games; news from the far east; parcel points; knitting pattern for 'waistcoat for…

MWhiteheadT1502391-180307-05.pdf
Includes: editorial news; the food they like; the brighter side; the letters they write home; official reports from the camps; scenes from camp shows; notes on Oflag Va; how they help (fundraising at home); three men of the spearhead; examination…

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A ministry of health pamphlet created for the parents of evacuated children. The pamphlet details the costs of the evacuation scheme and the government plan to set up an allowance to be paid each week by the parents of evacuated children. The…

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Marina Zucco recalls wartime memories in Monfalcone: how her father rented a flat conveniently located above a shelter, in which they remained for hours eating food they had brought from home; the day the ‘all clear’ sounded immediately before a…

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Adriano Landini (b. 1930) recalls his childhood living in the poor Santa Croce neighbourhood in Reggio Emilia. Describes the profound sense of solidarity in wartime, stressing the community spirit among the so-called "popol giost" (the salt of the…

ABeechH160924.mp3
Harold Beech was born in Middle Rasen, Lincolnshire. He was six when war was declared and saw the construction of many airfields near his home. As a schoolboy he also watched aircraft being transported on the back of Queen Marys. A lodger with his…

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Letter from King George to all school-children, celebrating and sharing the victory of the allied nations. It is headed with the Royal Standard, in colour. On the reverse a list of 60 important war dates.

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Notes that children had shared hardship and should be proud of their effort. Signed 'George RI'. On the reverse 'Important War dates' with table of dates fro 1939-1945.

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A letter to George Shephard Johns' grandfather from George thanking him for his letter and post order. George says his mother was glad to see him.

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A letter from George Shephard Johns sent to his mother and father, Harold Johns and Florence Shephard. George thanks his parents for their letter he received and lets them know he will be starting school and needs some books. He also tells his…

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A postcard from George Shephard Johns sent to his mother and father, Harold Johns and Florence Shephard. In the postcard George thanks his parents for the card he received from them.
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