Elisabeth's Family

1. Elisabeth's father was called up on the first day of the war.
2. He was a Major.
3. He lived in the North East, so his house was bombed. They then left to live in Scotland to avoid this again.
4. Mother cared for evacuees from Glasgow, a total of 24 children aged 5-11.
5. There was no fuel so the only mode of transport was a bike shared between all of them.
6. They had to walk everywhere, including school and occasionally the station to visit grandparents and Newcastle.
7. Father served in Egypt for 6 years, in charge of a PoW camp holding Italian PoWs.
8. The commanding officer was the Duke of Northumberland.
9. Father received a medal for services in WW2 and Star of Africa for his services there.
10. He writes at one point 'I have been waiting desperately for a letter'.
11. He also received the Defence Medal.
12. He also received a medal for a minimum of 12 years' service, with wartime service counting as double.
13. He also received the War Medal 1939-45, for full time service personnel of the armed forces.