U3A Writing: A Little Wallow In Wartime Nostalgia
“It's a memory of a time of innocence - even the blackout held no fears - and of deprivation, by today's standards, but we weren't aware of that. We were happy with what we had, more or less….’’ Win Grant recalls wartime years.
At the age I was then, it was a time of excitement and great discovery. Obviously, that wasn't the case for a lot of people, but we didn't appreciate the horrors of war. For us, there was so much to see and absorb.
It was about attending school on one day a week because, to begin with, there weren't enough shelters for the whole school. My day was Monday and, in theory, we collected a whole load of homework on that day and spent the rest of the week doing it. That was the theory!! In reality, we had a whale of a free time for most of the week, and then spent a frantic day, Sunday, trying to get all the work finished before we faced the music the next day.
Our dad was in the army and so we probably had more freedom than we would otherwise have had. All the men left behind seemed to be either in the ARP or digging holes for shelters. One of my abiding memories of that time is of the men, who were digging up our street, singing "South of the border, down Mexico way"- a most unlikely sound to be coming from a huge hole in a street in Bolton.
It's a memory of a time of innocence - even the blackout held no fears - and of deprivation, by today's standards, but we weren't aware of that. We were happy with what we had, more or less.
It was about collecting photographs of our favourite film stars (Judy Garland and Deanna Durbin were mine) and sticking them into a scrapbook made of recycled paper - not like today's recycled stuff. This was full of bits of wood and goodness knows what else!
And about having to queue for eggs in the Market Hall - we hated that because we always seemed to end up with scratches from all the shopping baskets around us.
But, above all, my lasting memory of that time is of the American influence on almost every aspect of our lives - big bands, chewing gum, the way we dressed, danced and even the way we talked.
It's about this huge radiogram in the corner of our living room and our eventual discovery of the American Forces Network. That opened up a whole new world of singers, bands and comedians that stays with me even now.
And the one thing guaranteed to remind me of that period is the sort of music that we heard and loved. I just have to hear a recording of Artie Shaw's "Begin the Beguine" or Glenn Miller's "In the Mood" for all those memories to come flooding back.
