Childhood Memories of the War - Wendy Bissett

It was awful, I was always afraid of going outside - even if there was someone with me. The German planes would come over the Midlands and I lived in Worsop, though they didn't drop bombs on us. Dad had a big garden and an allotment and he used to grow fruit and vegetables and flowers, so we always had enough to eat.

We couldn't get bananas and I'd almost forgotten what they looked like by the time they were available again. My aunt had a farm and we were able to buy from her. At night it was very frightening as you could hear the planes going over. I don't know why they did it, but they bombed the big field next to the church.

We couldn't have outdoor lights and you had to be very careful not to let the light escape when going out. My brother, Douglas, was in the Grenadier Guards but he never left England; he did parades in London. He didn't live long after the war. Dad worked in the colliery.

I had a gas mask that I had to take to school and I used to play in it. There was an air raid shelter directly opposite our house and I remember going into it sometimes when the siren went off. It was lovely because lots of children lived nearby and went in with me; it was always nice and warm.

My oldest brother was married when I was 6. There were 5 collieries around us. Several houses were damaged in the bombing. Several people died, but mainly when they were away from home. When the war ended it was lovely, the grown-ups went mad. I was at school when the end of the war was announced in the hall; there were separate school buildings for boys and girls, but we were all gathered in the hall together.

My brother wasn't killed in the war, he was ill and died. Dad was too young for WWI and he was older in WWII. Mum used to work, but I can't remember what she did. My husband's brothers were in the war; one was torpedoed by one of our own and the other was a driver in the Army and died in a traffic accident - both when the war was over after surviving right through it.

One was called Austin William Bissett the other was Eric, but I never met them. We had a massive Prisoner of War Camp in Welbeck - at the back of the colliery; I met some of them - they were all officers and they were very nice. Dad got to know some of them quite well.

I went to Germany when I was 18 or 19 because I wanted to see Germans; my parents were dead by then. People were very kind to one another during the war, they looked after each other. We had people living with us during the war, adults.