Seventy Five Years Ago

I have Mum's diaries for 1945 and 1946 so I thought I would share with you what she had written for the 8th, 9th and 10th May 1945.

After all this time I don't think she would have minded.  She was in Leicester during the whole length of the war. My father was at first in the Home Guard until he was called for service in the Royal Army Medical Corps.

I think she spread her entry for Tuesday the 8th over two days.

She writes 'Great excitement V.E. Day coming the war is over.  Reg came back after 2½

years abroad. V.E. Day celebrations flags out what a day to remember'

Reg was my Mum's brother-in-law. My Aunt Rose and Uncle Reg also lived in Leicester.

On the 10th she writes

'Still celebrating back at the office.  Letter and hankies from Harry' 

My Dad was somewhere in North Africa as in a later entry she writes

Friday 20th July 1945

'Surmise Harry would be home about June next year'

Saturday 21st July 1945

'Letter from Harry in Alexandria (which she'd crossed out and replaced) Cairo'

My father, Harry is in the middle.

He finally came home on 18th July 1946.

Mementos

I've found great inspiration this morning from a post I read over on Rowan's blog - Circle of the Year. She has a wonderful collection of 'Home Front' wartime ephemera and it had me searching through my mother's things to see what I could find of the same era.

As you see it is quite a small collection and I'm sorry about the quality of the photo as I have sun streaming through all windows this morning; which is actually quite cheering.

There are a couple of recipe leaflets, a letter dated 2nd September 1947 from The Board of Trade accepting my mother's resignation from her job as 'temporary Grade III clerk (part time) - I'm not sure what she did but it was something to do with the rationing of rubber to the shoe industry - Leicester, where she lived during the war was famous for it's shoe factories. There are two identity cards Mum's and mine - yes I have an identity card as I was born in 1950 and they were issued until 1954. The diaries are from 1945 and 1946 and full of inconsequential things like going to work, films seen, friends visited, distempering walls and having loads of family coming to stay and also her travels from Leicester to Shirebrook to visit her family. She writes letters to my father and waits impatiently for him to come home. The silk handkerchief was sent to mum by my father and has the insignia of the regiment he was with 'The Royal Army Medical Corps'. I know he served in North Scotland, Tripoli and I think Italy as the lovely sepia post cards he brought back are of buildings in 'Firenze Antica'.

The recipe book 'Kitchen Parade - Day to Day Menus for All' was published in September 1941 in order to 'help the housewife solve problems peculiar to these perplexing times'. Here is a typical menu for a Wednesday - Old Fashioned Bean Soup, Fried Sausages, Mashed Potatoes and Prune Mould - and for a Friday - Bean Soup, Baked mackerel or herring, boiled potatoes and apple pudding.

Mmm - I think it is time for lunch!