My grandmother has very much been reminded of WW2 with recent events . She was born in 1940, father was a sergeant major and her uncles were all called up (four never came home) . They lived up in the highlands so very different experiences to people from London, for example .
We were talking this morning about she could in theory stand at her door, telephone her neighbour and they could wave across the street whilst phoning .
This reminded of her of how, during the war, her mother and aunt lived across the river from each other (not sure how big the river was!) and had no telephone they could use . Every afternoon one would stand at the end of the garden, shout ‘cooee’ and wait for a reply . They would both then walk to the river, and sit opposite each other, cigarettes and whisky in hand and talk for an hour or so. Did this right through the war apparently .
Just such a lovely story . Have heard others over the last few days including how rationing affected them - they were exceptionally lucky as they were very self sufficient anyway . Much of the family were (still are) in gamekeeping so ate a lot of venison . They did have to drill through the ice on occasion to try and get fish though ...
My other grandmother with Alzheimer’s has been convinced for the last ten years that we are indeed still in the 1940s - she was brought up in Edinburgh and does remember bombing, being hid under tables at night in case the house was flattened etc . I’m almost relieved that she won’t understand the TV or radio too much now as she’d be very distressed.
Just wondering if anyone else has relatives that are being reminded of the war... I’m getting endless ‘tips’ on the phone about storing food, buying the stuff no one else would eat (pilchards and sardine spread ...) making meals last longer, conserving toiletries etc ! It’s a wonder my gran hasn’t had us all singing yet , I think that’s probably coming next ...