Memories of the War - Derek Ross

My grandad is 85 now and these are his memories of the war:

He lived in Philip Street, Bolton. He had an air raid shelter in the backyard; three sides had bricks and on top was concrete. When he heard the air raid sirens he had to go in the shelter or under the stairs and had to turn all the lights off. He remembers it being really cold. He could see the barrage balloons in the sky. These were in Manchester about 10-15 miles away. Bombs landed in Bolton and demolished houses.

He remembers ration books for food and clothes. For a treat, he went to the ice cream shop but there was no ice cream, just the cone. There was no chocolate and no eggs, just powdered eggs. Rations went on for years after the war.

He remembers there was a big street party for VE Day.