I was born in 1942, a time when bombs were falling, and men, women and children were dying all across the world. Britain and her Commonwealth Countries had stood against the might of Adolf Hitler and his strutting Nazi ‘Ubermenschen’ who stormed across Europe. The Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbour eleven months before, bringing the United States into the war.
When I came into the world, the first Allied Invasion of occupied territory, Operation Torch, took place in North Africa where Rommel was close to defeat at the hands of The Eigth Army under General Montgomery. At the time no-one knew how important the allied invasion on the 6th of June 1944 would be, and that it would spell the ‘beginning of the end’ for Hitler and his cronies.
During the war years life in Britain was hard. Mothers got used to seeing their beloved sons head for the front-line as they became old enough for conscription. Their husbands had long since joined the fight. Many a young wife said a tearful goodbye to new husbands, never knowing if they would ever see them again.
The dreaded telegram would be receieved by many, informing them their husband or son had been killed in action, bringing with it grief and despair.
Everything was rationed; food, petrol, even clothes due to the shortages caused by the ceasless dirty war in the Atlantic between the British Merchant Fleet, The Royal Navy and the German U-Boats. The British people took it all with their usual stoicism, determined not to let ‘Herr Hitler’ have his way.
It was to be another 3 years before peace came to the world after the final defeat of Germany and Japan. At the time I knew nothing of this for I was but a baby.
In the aftermath of World War Two, Britain like many other nations started to rebuild. The houses and factories destroyed by german bombs were rebuilt, and families got used to the empty chair at the dining table. As always, life went on. Women became a more common sight in the factories and mills as they replaced the ‘missing’ men in the work force. During the war years they had become accustomed to doing what was then men’s work, because the men were all away fighting.
The post-war years also saw the beginning of the breakup of the British Empire starting with India gaining full independance in 1947. Not that I cared at the age of five.
In June 1950, when I was only seven years old, North Korea invaded the South after the failure of unification talks. Once more England sent troops to fight in a war, but this time under the auspices of the United Nations.
This one, unlike the last, was not felt in England as it was far away on the other side of the world. The main priority at home was rebuilding the economy.
People did not travel far to go on holiday in them days, it was long before the arrival of package holidays to Spain. Just like all the other folks of the period, our family summer holidays were spent on day trips, or if we were lucky a week, to the coast.
I have memories of a great holiday at Butlins Holiday Camp in Filey on Englands east coast. It was I believe the first of a new kind of holiday centre where people lived in chalets on the site and took part in organized activities during the day.
During my school days life was hard, and the national curriculum was tough and extremely varied. Among the standard subjects, I had classes on religion, history and geography which have since all been dropped by the Ministry of Education as being ‘unnecessary’. Religion taught me right from wrong and morality, history taught me about the fine history and traditions of my country, and geography gave me knowledge of the world.
It is sad that today religion and history are no longer taught because it might upset the immigrants, and geography is no longer considered relevant. It is not surprising that young children today have no morals, no patriotism, or any idea of the rich history of our past, and couldn’t even tell you the capitol of Turkey!
Life was so much different then compared with today. If you went shopping for breakfast cereal shall we say, you went to the local shop and had the choice of perhaps weetabix, cornflakes and porridge oats.
Today in every supermarket you see people standing in front of a row of shelves 150ft long with four levels, containing perhaps 60 or 70 different cereals, many with different brands, trying to make up their mind which to buy. Why do we need ten different types of cornflakes?
When the supermarkets hit town, the first casualties were the pleasant local shops where you were always guaranteed friendly personal service. Many stayed open until 10 o’clock in the evening as a service to their customers. You were always guaranteed a warm welcome and many would, if you were a good customer, allow you things ‘on tick’, i.e. until your wages came in at the end of the week. It was common for the children to receive a free sweet or lollipop when they went in.
In those days people always appeared smart in public. No baggy jeans with holes in them, no england football shirts and trainers. All men wore a suit and tie when they went out. Some of the more ridiculous sights I see occasionally today is men going out in a suit and tie with trainers on their feet. Somehow it just doesn’t look right.
Family life is also something that has ceased to exist in modern times. When I was a child the whole family would sit around the table for the evening meal. I have one brother and three sisters so naturally we needed a large table.
I remember my grandmother on my step-fathers side telling me they never locked their doors, even when they went away on holiday. Burglary, so prevelant today, was practically unheard of in the days after the war. People lived with bigger financial problems than they do today, but to steal from someone else was taboo. I believe this was due to people having more respect for each other, and knowing right from wrong.
In part this could be attributed to everyone being much more religious than they are today. The churches were full on Sundays, and many preachers could be likened to fire breathing dragons as they pumped out ‘The Message’.
I remember going to church with the family on Sunday during my early youth. As I got older we went less often, and eventually only for marriages and christenings. Such was the decline of the church. But I do not believe it is necessary to go the church every Sunday to be a good christian. Now of course, many churches have been closed and congregations are small, made up for the most part by old folks who are daily getting nearer to their God.
When I was a kid, to own a car was to be someone. You could buy a brand new car for £250, but few could afford this extravagance. Once we could afford a car, weekends were always spent together going on a trip to somewhere or other. Another item that entered homes slowly was the television. To have the first television in the street meant playing host to everyone.
There were no computers and Playstations in those far off days. We children made our own fun playing games with the other kids in the street. The boys often played played cowboys and indians while the girls enjoyed themselves with a skipping rope.
Before the arrival of the television it was normal for most folks to listen to the BBC on the radio. Dance-band music, classical concerts and the like were popular. The BBC also had many good serials like “The Archers’ which was faithfully followed by all, and discussed later in the pub over a pint.
In those far off days, crime rates were miniscule compared to today’s rampant figures. Justice was also seen to be done, and criminals got sentences that fitted the crime. Anyone who had been in prison did not offend again for fear of ending up back ‘inside’. Today prisons are more like 5 star hotels.
I witnessed the Cuban Crisis, the assasination of President Kennedy, the killing of his brother, and the first venture by man into space. I remember well the excitement surrounding the launch of Soyuz 1 by the Russians, and the American consternation that they had got so far ahead in ‘The Space Race’. It didn’t take long for the USA to catch up and surpass the Russian ‘first’ by sending men to the moon.
One of the great calamities of the last century must surely be the splitting of Europe after the Second World War by the Communist ‘Iron Curtain’. It cut off all of Eastern Europe from the West, and the people behind it were subjected to communist rule from Moscow. Secret police, spies, jails and gulags were the communist answer to western capitolism. Thankfully all that is behind us.
We live now in a utopia compared to life back then. Everyone has a TV and all the youth have computers, i-pods, mobiles and the like. There are often three or four cars to a family, and we all travel the world during our summer holidays. The question remains however; are people happier today than they were in my time? I think not. Life for us back then was simple and uncomplicated, and ‘stress’ was an unknown word.
There is a plentiful of everything to the extent we have become a ‘Throw Away’ society. The words ‘Quality’ and ‘Sale’ no longer have their original meaning. The majority of goods produced today are shoddy by yesterdays standards because back then things were made to last. That is sadly no longer true. Shops have permanent ‘sales’, where if the word ‘discount’ were to be believed they would go out of business. But I guess thats progress, for me however it doesn’t compare with the old times. I guess I must be getting old!
May your tomorrows be better than your yesterdays.
Roy
