World War II Childhood My Story

This story belongs to Erica

and her mummy, Michelle.

It's a tiny tale about how children, just like you,

lived in the olden days, over 70 years ago.

Now it's time for Mummy Michelle to take Erica

on a journey of discovery.

Together they're going to find out

what life was like all those years ago.

You look busy, Erica, what are you doing?

I'm packing, I'm having a sleepover at Laura's.

Can I tell you a story about a girl called Cathy who went away?

-Where was she going?

-She didn't know, and neither did her mummy know.

-It happened 70 years ago.

-70 years?

-Mm-hm, it was a long time ago.

Long before I was born but round about the time Nana was born.

-That was a long time ago.

-It was.

Cathy had to pack all her things to go away

because something was about to happen that would change everybody's lives.

-What happened?

-All the countries were fighting each other

and they called it World War II.

See my grandad Bobby?

He had to go and fight in the war.

He joined something called the RAF, which means the Royal Air Force.

-Do you know why it's called World War II?

-No.

Because a war had happened before, called World War I.

During World War II, most people wanted to help

protect their country, so people became soldiers, sailors or pilots.

In this old film, you can see some women about to fly some planes.

They were helping deliver the planes to the fighter pilots.

-Can you tell me more about Cathy?

-I can do better than that!

Do you want to get dressed up like Cathy and her mummy

-and go on a big adventure and find out all about World War II?

-Yeah!

Come on, Mum! Come on, Mum.

You look lovely.

So do you, I like your clothes. Let me see you.

Can I have a wee twirl? Ooh, absolutely gorgeous.

Mummy Michelle and Erica are wearing clothes just like Cathy

and her mummy would have worn.

They're ready for their big adventure. But where will they go?

Mummy Michelle has brought Erica

to the Museum Of Scottish Industrial Life at Summerlee.

-This is a house a bit like the one Cathy would have lived in.

-Is it?

-Will we go and have a look?

-Yes.

-What do you think of this room, Erica?

-It looks very old.

Do you think? What's missing in this room?

-A television.

-It is a television missing. Shall we have a wee seat?

They had a radio. They used to listen to the radio,

and they listened to stories, music and the news.

-Will we put it on?

-Yeah.

-OK.

JAZZ MUSIC

The radio was very important.

As well as being used to listen to music

it was also used by the government,

who are the people in charge of the country.

'The BBC Home Service. Here is a special bulletin...'

One of the important messages given on the radio was that

all the street lights were to be switched off at night

and everyone was asked to cover up their windows in their homes.

-Can you get the tape?

-Yeah.

-OK, and I'll get the scissors.

-Yep.

And I'll cover up.

The reason people had to cover up their windows

was because enemy planes flew over Britain at night

looking for the lights of big cities.

If they saw any lights, the planes would drop bombs.

Lots of children helped to cover up the windows in their homes.

Just like Erica is doing now.

This stopped any light from being seen from the sky at night-time.

-Really dark.

-We mustn't let a peep of light, so this is the last one.

-Can you put that on for me?

-Yeah.

-Right. Wonderful.

What a great helper.

Good job, Mummy Michelle and Erica!

No light is going to escape from that window.

SIREN IN DISTANCE

What's that noise?

It's something called a siren.

This is a man pretending to be an air-raid warden

whose job it was to wind up the siren.

When people heard the siren, they knew planes were on their way

and they had to go to a safe place called an air-raid shelter

to hide until it was safe to come out.

Mummy Michelle and Erica are sitting inside a pretend air-raid shelter.

This is an old photo of a real one.

It's dug into the ground

and covered with soil to make it a safer place to hide.

Another thing the government wanted to do to protect people

was to send children who lived in big cities to go

and live in the country so they would be safe from the bombings.

This was called evacuation.

The children who went to the country were called evacuees.

Cathy's mummy had to decide if Cathy should be evacuated or not.

And she decided that Cathy would be much safer in the country.

Here's a photo of Cathy and other evacuee children.

It was a big adventure, moving lots of children into the country.

And they were only allowed to take a few things from home with them.

Do you think you would like to be evacuated?

-No way, I would miss you too much!

-Oh, and I would miss you, too.

But don't worry, we're only pretending to be evacuated,

we're not really going to send you away.

Erica is packing a few of her belongings into a pillow case

to go on her adventure. Just like Cathy would have done.

All the evacuees had to wear a label like this one

so everyone knew where the children came from.

They had to wear them round their neck just like this.

And it had your name and the name and address of your school on it.

See?

I look like Paddington Bear!

Well, if you were a bear you would need a big hug. Can I have a hug?

On the day of evacuation everyone went to school like normal,

taking their belongings with them.

Right, children. Line up in your classes.

Everyone's going to get a sandwich, a sweet and an apple.

Whole classes were evacuated together, along with their teachers.

Open your bag, please.

They were leaving their families

and no-one knew when they would see each other again.

But they all hoped it would be soon.

-Children, wave bye-bye to everyone.

-Look at the children waving goodbye!

But they're just pretending they're being evacuated.

Children left the cities on all kinds of transport -

buses, trains.

Today, Erica and her friends are pretending to leave on an old tram.

The grown-ups taking the children away

wanted them to feel happy on their journey.

They sang songs that were popular at the time to cheer them up.

# Run, rabbit, run, rabbit, run, run, run

# Run, rabbit, run, rabbit, run, run, run

# Bang, bang, bang goes the farmer's gun

# So run, rabbit, run, rabbit, run, run, run! #

When the children arrived in the country

they were met by someone called a billeting officer

whose job it was to find places for the children to live.

Mummy Michelle, Erica and her friends have come to

the National Museum Of Rural Life to look around an old farmhouse.

The evacuee children stayed with people in all kinds of houses.

Some large, some small.

They were very different from their homes back in the city.

Erica, this is a house like the one Cathy

would have came to stay in when she was an evacuee.

-Wow!

-What do you think of it?

-It's really big.

-It is really big and it's got lots of stairs, hasn't it?

-Yes.

And this is a bedroom like the one Cathy would have slept in.

-What do you think?

-It's very small and there's no toys.

And it's not very colourful, is it?

-There's only a wee bed.

-Only a wee bed and no teddies.

-No.

The country children would go to school in the morning.

Cathy and the evacuee children went to school in the afternoon.

Moo! Baa!

When the evacuee children were not at school,

many of them had to do chores.

So, Erica and her friends are helping to sweep the farmyard.

It wasn't all hard work.

The children did have time to play games.

Erica and her friends are playing games

like Cathy would have done when she was evacuated.

This game is called draughts. It looks great fun to play.

-Er...

-Well...

Ah, the boys are playing dominoes! I wonder who's winning?

Nn-ee-a-oo-ww!

Toy aeroplanes were really popular when Cathy was a little girl.

Does it look like playtime at your school or nursery?

OK, children, shall we listen to the radio?

-ALL:

-Yes!

At night, the children would listen to the radio

to find out what was happening with the war.

Then, one day, they heard this...

'This is the BBC Home Service, and here is a very special announcement.

'The war is now over!'

-ALL:

-Y-a-a-y!

Up and down the country,

people had huge parties to celebrate the end of the war.

Cathy and other evacuee children

went home to be with their families again.

-Hip hip, hooray!

-ALL:

-Hooray!

Hip hip, hooray!

Everyone cheered, waved flags and danced.

BIG BAND MUSIC

Erica, did you enjoy finding out about Cathy and the evacuees

-and what it was like a long, long time ago?

-Yeah.

-And do you remember all the things that we did?

-Yeah.

'We went to a museum and looked at an old house like Cathy's.

'We listened to the radio and then we covered up the windows.

-'We heard a siren.'

-Quick, the siren's gone off!

'And we went into the air-raid shelter.

'The billeting officer took us to the farmhouse.

'The bedroom was tiny and nothing like mine.'

There's only a wee bed!

'Everyone helped in the farm.

'We played games like Cathy would have done.

'The man on the radio told us the war was over.'

-ALL:

-Y-a-a-y!

'We celebrated victory with a big party

'and danced just like the olden days.'

-What was you favourite thing?

-Going on the tram.

-And what did you do on the tram?

-Sing.

# Run, rabbit, run, rabbit, run, run, run... #

What was you favourite thing, Mummy?

My favourite thing was dressing up in the old-fashioned clothes

and spending time with you.

Will we get changed into our normal clothes?

I'll get changed and you stay like that, cos you look funny.

I look funny?! You look funny.

What a fabulous heap of fun.

That was Erica and Mummy Michelle's tiny tale

about being a child during World War II, over 70 years ago.

Now Mummy Michelle has shared this story with Erica,

it's time for Erica to start her very own story.

Do you know someone with a story to share?