Our elderly neighbour spent a while with us this morning, drinking tea and recounting stories from when she was a young girl in World War II. Wow. Just wow.
We heard how she unintentionally picked up and then dropped a shell that was still warm. After an inspection by the local warden it was found to be still active and had to be detonated.
She is still moved by the sight of Lancaster Bombers after seeing them battered and low in the skies, trying to make it back to base after a night flight over Germany.
She pointed out some local fields where two aeroplanes tragically crashed after not making the flight home, mortally wounding all the crew.
And the stories about rationing: Queueing one day outside the local shop for an orange, which was such a rare treat that they ate the peel too; Her mother had an allotment for all their fruit and vegetables to supplement their weekly rations; Breeding and eating rabbits; Craving sweet food; Deciding how to spread the food allowance: use the sugar for jam or for cake?
Baking was done on Sundays in batches, ready for the week.
Her father was away for four years as a solider in Belgium and her mother took in washing from around the village to have a steady, albeit small income, as the government pay was not always reliable.
She hid under the table with her dog after hearing a guided Doodlebug and she remembers the blackouts and search lights in the sky, looking for enemy planes. How unbelievably terrifying.
It was an informative and moving morning for us all.
Later, we made carrot biscuits using a wartime ration recipe:
1 tablespoon margarine
2 tablespoons sugar + a little extra
A few drops vanilla flavouring
4 tablespoons grated raw carrot
6 tablespoons Self Raising flour (or plain flour + a half teaspoon of baking powder).
Method: Cream the fat and sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat in the flavouring and carrot.
Fold in the flour.
Form mixture into about 12 or 15 small balls.
Place each ball on a baking tray and flatten.
Sprinkle with sugar and bake in a brisk oven for 20 minutes.
After lunch the children enjoyed their outside play so much that I let them play out there for over two hours in the freezing cold after which they got ready for three Gym classes and Tap and Modern Dancing.
