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Interview with Her Grandma, Daphne, who lives in Poole, Dorset, by Hannah

Q Where did you live in 1939 and what were the names of the children in the family?
A I lived at 86 Elaine Avenue, Strood in Kent, with my twin Delia and big sister Joan.

Q How old were you when war broke out?
A I was 7 years old when the war started.

Q Any memories of the announcement of war?
A I remember listening to the radio with my sisters and mum and dad.

Q How were you affected by the war?
A We were all very frightened.

Q Any sad memories?
A Very sad at leaving our mum and dad.

Q Were you evacuated and to where?
A I was evacuated September 1939. My sisters and I were all taken to the local railway station with all the other children, with cases and our box gas masks over our shoulders all name tagged.

Q What are your memories of the evacuation?
A The couple Delia and I went to were quite elderly, with no children of their own. We both remember not seeing our elder sister very often. She stayed several houses away. We were evacuated to Hailing, which was only 10 miles from our mum and dad.

Q Any happy memories?
A No happy memories of this at all, mainly because they kept us indoors and kept giving us cod liver oil on a spoon, so, dreadful memories.

Q Did you go to school?
A We went to school 2 hours a day every other day. We were only there for 2 years.

Q What jobs did your parents do?
A Our mum worked in munitions and our dad worked on making aeroplane parts.

Q Do you remember the air raids?
A Several memories come back to us about the air raids. We got back home after 2 years. Dad had put an Andersen shelter in the back garden, with bunks, etc and made it as comfortable as possible. As soon as the air raid siren went we all got up and went down to the shelter. We did watch the German planes going over. In 1944 the doodle bugs went too, some didn't make it to London. As we were fairly near to Chatham Dockyard. Germans bombed that quite a lot.

Q What do you remember about the end of the war?
A At the end of the war. My sister and I were 13 years old. There was a huge street party, which was wonderful. We remember that very well. We do not have any photos of this time.

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