The years straight after the Second World War were hard, with everyday essentials still in short supply and cold winters adding to the bleakness. It was against this backdrop that my Nan got married: ‘1st March 1947 was in a way the dividing line in my life – I left the urban life for exactly… Continue reading Nan’s Diary: A cold wedding day in 1947
As we reflect and try to restore ourselves over this Twixmas period, today I’d like to take you back to the winter of 1946/7, which my Nan reports as being one of the most severe on record: “It began snowing on Boxing Day and from then on, the temperature did not go above freezing until… Continue reading Nan’s Diary: winter reflection
I remember my Nan talking to me about this next memory of the Second World War. As a child, it seemed so incredible and now as an adult it still remains unbelievable that this was a part of everyday life: “I am reminded vividly of an episode when I was on holiday at a farm… Continue reading Nan’s diary: The Doodlebugs
On a stranger Remembrance Sunday this year, I’m reading through Nan’s memories of corresponding with my grandad Les when he was posted to Burma during the Second World War. Often referred to as the Forgotten War, the Burma campaign dragged on long after Victory in Europe, in tough conditions far away from home. “I received… Continue reading Nan’s Diary: Burma – The Forgotten War
I thought the blog was long overdue another post from my nan’s memoirs, especially as we head into an uncertain winter. One of the parts about her reflections I find most fascinating is the voice she brings to women’s experiences of the Second World War, particularly when it relates to the path into adulthood and… Continue reading Nan’s Diary: Coming of Age
During lockdown, I’ve been enjoying ‘growing my own’ and have cultivated a decent vegetable garden! It made me reflect on food in the war years and how rationing must have affected people. Nan writes about this when recalling her recuperation from appendicitis back in London during the war: ‘It was while I was at home… Continue reading Nan’s Diary: Rationing
Although my nan and grandad knew each other, they had not yet got together at the time of VE Day in 1945. My nan was in London, whilst my grandad was travelling back from where he had been stationed in Burma, via South Africa. Nan doesn’t say a huge amount about VE Day in her… Continue reading Nan’s VE Day
My Beautiful Diary of the Amazingly Mundane 