Lilian Milne - Our Cosy Shelter

Lilian Milne recalls her own and her mother Milly's experiences at the Lawe Top in South Shields during World War 2 in a story she calls "Our Cosy Shelter".

Lilian recalled the blackout:
"As a youngster living on the Lawe Top during the war, I recall they were dark days, no light in the shops, streets, and at times in the home itself it was called the blackout."

Lilian's memories of the air raid shelter:
"The air raid shelter became a part of our young lives, and it was also a meeting place for adults where local gossip took place amongst friendly neighbours and not-so-friendly neighbours. During the air raids, our shelter was a popular shelter, our grandfather had managed to fit a shelf at the back of the shelter for us kids to sleep on, a small stove to keep us warm, plus forms for us to sit on until one night when too many neighbours and friends gathered in our friendly shelter, one of the forms collapsed. It seemed to be too much for Milly, never seen her so furious as she told one of the neighbours to go back to her own shelter, apparently the neighbour's gossip had been overheard by her mother earlier that day. The collapsed form was the final straw so out she went never to return to the comfort of our friendly, cosy shelter."

Lilian on playing during the war:
"Then there were always the bombed buildings to climb about, followed by a concert in the backyard for all in sundry. Sometimes we only went to school for half days, especially if there'd been an air raid the previous evening. The infant school for the area was Ocean Road Infants as Baring Street Infants was used as a barracks for the soldiers. I also remember that fruit was very hard to come by and imagine how delighted we were when the Canadians sent over red apples and chocolate drinking powder, each child was given a small ration of both."

As the men were called up women replaced some of them in the shipyards she recalls:
"I mean the women they were like fellas. My Dad always tells the tale that the women were employed in the docks because the men were at war and they used to paint the side of the ships there was one who used to sit there and she was always chatting, chatting, and chatting. They used to shout Lily! dip your brush! So she was known after the war as 'Lily Dip Your Brush'."

Rationing was a constant struggle and the bombing caused soot to fall down the chimneys:
"I remember one day my aunt had queued for nearly an hour for a pound of sausage. She brought it home to make the family a great meal or so she thought. The frying pan went on the fire with the sausage all neatly arranged and then to her dismay, halfway through the cooking there was a fall of soot all over the sausage. Aunt would not be beaten she quickly took the sausage out of the pan, washed it, cleaned the frying pan, started all over again, and let's face it with a bit of gravy on who would be any of the wiser."