World War II Childhood My Story


World War II Childhood

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This story belongs to Erica

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and her mummy, Michelle.

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

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lived in the olden days, over 70 years ago.

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Now it's time for Mummy Michelle to take Erica

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on a journey of discovery.

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Together they're going to find out

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what life was like all those years ago.

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You look busy, Erica, what are you doing?

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

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

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-Where was she going?

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

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-It happened 70 years ago.

-70 years?

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

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

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-That was a long time ago.

-It was.

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Cathy had to pack all her things to go away

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

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-What happened?

-All the countries were fighting each other

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and they called it World War II.

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See my grandad Bobby?

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He had to go and fight in the war.

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

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

-No.

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

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During World War II, most people wanted to help

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

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

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They were helping deliver the planes to the fighter pilots.

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-Can you tell me more about Cathy?

-I can do better than that!

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

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

-Yeah!

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Come on, Mum! Come on, Mum.

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You look lovely.

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

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

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Mummy Michelle and Erica are wearing clothes just like Cathy

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and her mummy would have worn.

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

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Mummy Michelle has brought Erica

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to the Museum Of Scottish Industrial Life at Summerlee.

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

-Is it?

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-Will we go and have a look?

-Yes.

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-What do you think of this room, Erica?

-It looks very old.

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

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-A television.

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

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

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and they listened to stories, music and the news.

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-Will we put it on?

-Yeah.

-OK.

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JAZZ MUSIC

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The radio was very important.

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As well as being used to listen to music

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it was also used by the government,

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who are the people in charge of the country.

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

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One of the important messages given on the radio was that

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all the street lights were to be switched off at night

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

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-Can you get the tape?

-Yeah.

-OK, and I'll get the scissors.

-Yep.

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And I'll cover up.

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The reason people had to cover up their windows

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was because enemy planes flew over Britain at night

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looking for the lights of big cities.

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

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

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Just like Erica is doing now.

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

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-Really dark.

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

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-Can you put that on for me?

-Yeah.

-Right. Wonderful.

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What a great helper.

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Good job, Mummy Michelle and Erica!

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No light is going to escape from that window.

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SIREN IN DISTANCE

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What's that noise?

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It's something called a siren.

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

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whose job it was to wind up the siren.

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

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

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to hide until it was safe to come out.

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

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This is an old photo of a real one.

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It's dug into the ground

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

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Another thing the government wanted to do to protect people

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was to send children who lived in big cities to go

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

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This was called evacuation.

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The children who went to the country were called evacuees.

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

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

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

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

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

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Do you think you would like to be evacuated?

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-No way, I would miss you too much!

-Oh, and I would miss you, too.

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

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we're not really going to send you away.

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

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

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All the evacuees had to wear a label like this one

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so everyone knew where the children came from.

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

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

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See?

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I look like Paddington Bear!

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

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

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taking their belongings with them.

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Right, children. Line up in your classes.

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

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Whole classes were evacuated together, along with their teachers.

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Open your bag, please.

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They were leaving their families

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

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But they all hoped it would be soon.

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-Children, wave bye-bye to everyone.

-Look at the children waving goodbye!

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

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Children left the cities on all kinds of transport -

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buses, trains.

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

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The grown-ups taking the children away

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wanted them to feel happy on their journey.

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

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

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

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

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

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When the children arrived in the country

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they were met by someone called a billeting officer

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

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Mummy Michelle, Erica and her friends have come to

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

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

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Some large, some small.

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

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Erica, this is a house like the one Cathy

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

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-Wow!

-What do you think of it?

-It's really big.

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

-Yes.

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

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-What do you think?

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

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And it's not very colourful, is it?

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-There's only a wee bed.

-Only a wee bed and no teddies.

-No.

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The country children would go to school in the morning.

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

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Moo! Baa!

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When the evacuee children were not at school,

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many of them had to do chores.

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

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It wasn't all hard work.

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The children did have time to play games.

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Erica and her friends are playing games

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like Cathy would have done when she was evacuated.

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

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-Er...

-Well...

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

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Nn-ee-a-oo-ww!

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

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Does it look like playtime at your school or nursery?

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OK, children, shall we listen to the radio?

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-ALL:

-Yes!

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At night, the children would listen to the radio

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to find out what was happening with the war.

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Then, one day, they heard this...

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

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'The war is now over!'

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-ALL:

-Y-a-a-y!

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Up and down the country,

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

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Cathy and other evacuee children

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went home to be with their families again.

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-Hip hip, hooray!

-ALL:

-Hooray!

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Hip hip, hooray!

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Everyone cheered, waved flags and danced.

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BIG BAND MUSIC

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

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

-Yeah.

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

-Yeah.

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

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

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-'We heard a siren.'

-Quick, the siren's gone off!

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'And we went into the air-raid shelter.

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'The billeting officer took us to the farmhouse.

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'The bedroom was tiny and nothing like mine.'

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There's only a wee bed!

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'Everyone helped in the farm.

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'We played games like Cathy would have done.

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

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-ALL:

-Y-a-a-y!

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'We celebrated victory with a big party

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'and danced just like the olden days.'

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-What was you favourite thing?

-Going on the tram.

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-And what did you do on the tram?

-Sing.

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

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What was you favourite thing, Mummy?

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

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and spending time with you.

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Will we get changed into our normal clothes?

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

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I look funny?! You look funny.

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What a fabulous heap of fun.

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That was Erica and Mummy Michelle's tiny tale

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

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Now Mummy Michelle has shared this story with Erica,

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

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Do you know someone with a story to share?

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