‘A bit of perspective: Growing up during World War II was worse than coronavirus’

There was a song I remember from my childhood, “Yes we have no bananas, we have no bananas today …” and then it was true in wartime. But while we do have the bananas at the moment, we certainly don’t have toilet rolls and a normal life.

War versus the virus? Both have the ability to kill us, one more subtle than the other. Both of these disasters disturb normal life, normal supplies and activities. Both strike fear into our hearts.

Lately, we are in the grip of a life we had no idea would be so disturbing when it first started. None of us thought we would almost be under house arrest. I honestly think we imagined a bad dose of flu, but that was soon dispelled. Living with this is deeply disruptive. We are not well enough prepared, the government is scrabbling to make sure the wheels turn, but sometimes I wonder if anything will be the same again.

I have enough knowledge to make comparisons between the war and coronavirus. I was born a couple of months before World War II started.

I was serenaded by sirens, watched planes crash near our house, heard gunfire at the enemy, saw buildings broken and twisted, and knew what the ‘Blackout’ meant. You could not move the curtains and show a light or you had the warden on you. The windows were painted black, it was to make sure the enemy could not see the houses to drop bombs.

Toys were pretty awful in those years as all the tin and metal and other materials were needed for the war effort, our iron fences and railings were cut off, the pots and pans melted down. My toys were mostly homemade. I made my own dolls from black socks and sewed on eyes and a little red mouth. We had wooden things my dad made; cars, furniture for dolls and little trolleys. Mostly I remember the horrible cardboard toys and endless puzzles we played with. Luckily I could read early, it saved me, as I read everything, including the newspaper.

Food was scarce. Things like butter, sugar, sweets, meat and fats were heavily rationed. Wartime recipes like cabbage pie still strike a chill. But I had a great cook as a mother, she made so much that was delicious, so we survived. Oh, how I loved the treacle steamed sponge … it might have been made with dried eggs and milk though.

We had extra rations of things like concentrated orange juice and doses of cod liver oil each day to make up for the fruit and fats we were missing. I loved Virol, a supplement, which was a malty sweet extract, I could eat it in huge spoonfuls.

What is life for kids today in this Covid-19 afflicted world? Mostly they have food. They have sweets and chocolate, they have computers and video games, and telephones. But they do not have freedom, they have to stay at home or go with a family member to the only open areas they can. For most of them, the very worst thing is not connecting with friends, not being allowed on some beaches, no cinema, no theatre, no footy to go to. Oh and sheer hell, no McDonald’s to go and sit in with mates.

We did have some freedom when there were no bombings. We roamed over the fields and played with our mates. The boys looked for shrapnel. We roamed until it got dark, so perfect freedom.

For women, wartime was harrowing. Most of the men went to war unless they had some health issue. Women were expected to keep things going and it was not easy. My dad went to work away, he was building huts for the army, so Mum decided to take us to the country. We lodged with a farm family on a strawberry farm in Cheddar away from the bombs dropping. Bristol was badly bombed.

Feeding the family and having to queue for everything like bread, meat, sugar, fats etc, was tedious for a woman. My mum was often there for hours, quietly waiting.

She’d come home with a few ounces of bacon or liver and a small square of cheese. Some days she was in the queue and the goods ran out, so it was all for nothing. As I mentioned my mother was a brilliant cook, and she did her best with things like tinned meat. Spam fritters were popular! And her cakes made with who knows what, were incredible.

How different the scrabbling and fighting for toilet rolls is. How disgusting the behaviour. At least in the past behaviour was better. Not like the animals we see now, and the total greed shown, they would have been lynched for that in war time.

The world will one day seem a good place again, we will be able to go out, to shop and to have freedom again, and perhaps we will all become hoarders of toilet rolls. Who knows!

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