Air Raid Precautions during World War 2

Anderson Shelters

These shelters were built on gardens of private houses. They were made of corrugated iron, dome shaped.

After the war many of the shelters were used as garden sheds. There are still some to be found in Sandyhills.

For tenement houses brick shelters were put in back greens.

As a child I can remember being taken down to the shelter in the middle of the night. I would be dressed in my Siren Suit, which was a one piece garment made famous by Winston Churchill during the war.

Winston Churchill was photographed many times wearing this suit.

After my Grandfather was killed in the Great War my Granny tried to get money from the Parish. This was an early form of DHSS. The applicant would go before a board made up of local members of the community. These were mostly made up of people such as doctor’s and church minister’s wives.

They were very judgmental of anyone who needed financial help. I remember my Granny telling me what a degrading thing this was, when all you wanted was a little money to feed your family.

You had to stand in front of very grand ladies (at least they would have appeared grand to her) dressed in very fine clothes and big hats - people who would never have the threat of losing the roof over their heads. They told her that she could take it washing even though, at this time, few people could afford to pay for this service. They looked down on poor widows, who had lost their husbands in the service of the King.

My Granny did not get any money from the Parish. No one could afford to pay for anyone else to do their washing. My Granny got a job working in the local munitions factory to support her family.

My mother told me that she, her brother and her sister would be put to bed early so that their clothes could be washed and dried for school the next day. My mother remembers her shoes had hardly any soles on them but they had to be polished. My Granny’s saying always was that soap and water were not dear (expensive) .Granny got a job in the munitions factory to try to support herself and her three children.

My uncle was apparently very clever at school and the headmaster came to my Granny and asked her if she would allow him to go to Allan Glen School My Granny said she could not afford the books. Allan Glens was a fee-paying school at that time my Uncle would have had his fees paid, as he would get a bursary. My Granny would not have been able to afford the uniform.

My uncle left school as soon as he was able to and became a miner as his father had been. My Granny went on to marry again, another miner and went on to have 4 more children. She cleaned and scrubbed Wellshot School until she was 70.

She remained in the same house with a black sink, no hot water and an outside toilet that was shared by 3 families. My Granny died at 85 years of age never having been in a hospital in her life.