“WON’T LET HITLER WIN”

Evening Star, Issue 23862, 17 April 1941, Page 6

“WON’T LET HITLER WIN”

REMARKABLE spirit of the ENGLISH GOST OF LIVING AND RATIONING THE FUNNY SIDE " OF AIR RAIDS Cost of Jiving and heavy rationing in war-time England do not make the housewife’s lot a particularly happy one, but, as. a letter received by a Dunedin resident lately from friends in Oxford says, “ we try to keep the home fires burning.” The letter, which is dated February 10, also the undaunted spirit of the people of‘Britain, and some of this spirit is evident in the strain of humour that pervades the letter. Extracts read: — “ Thank you for the Christmas annual, but you really are cruel! There, staring me in the face from the first page, was gorgeous yellow butter and tins of beautiful fruits. We are allowed 2oz of butter each a week, and as tinned fruit is a luxury we are not to have any more of that. We are not starving, and I don’t think we ever shall, but certainly we are feeling the pinch, and housekeeping is a nightmare. We get 2oz each of tea, 4oz of bacon, Boz of sugar, and meat to the value of lid. The meat ration is supposed to be Is 3d, but since Christmas I have been able to get only a scrap costing 2s 9d for the three of us, and this has to last the whole week. I’ve had no cheese for a month, but when the grocer gets some he will let me have half a pound. Biscuits, chocolates, sweets, syrup, and condensed milk are practically unobtainable. We all try to get syrup or sweetened milk to help out the sugar. 1 got a 11b jar of New Zealand honey this week for Is 9d, and a 11b tin of New Zealand marmalade for Is 5Jd. I was jolly lucky, and have put it on the ‘ invasion ’ shelf. Eggs have been our biggest worry; we go weeks and weeks without getting even one. “ Fish we can get, and it is a price. Our cheapest fish, cod, is 2s 6d a lb. I paid 4s Id for a small haddock, and there was barely enough for the three of us. Bananas have been stopped, but we can get an orange now and again. I gob one last week. I could not buy a lemon anywhere, and, oh! for the smell of an onion. However, in spite of all these minor worries we keep fairly well and we try to keep the home fires burning. IMPRESSION OF A QUIET TIME. “ Since Christmas we have enjoyed a quieter time, with many nights in a real bed, but quite a number of people still go regularly to their shelters every night. Here in Oxford we have much to be thankful for; so far we have not had a raid over the city, but we get the ■wretches over when they go to the Midland towns. They dump a few bombs round us and have made several fires. It is a terrible sensation when you hear them right over your head—you hold your breath and thank God when that lot has gone, . When they are over, D. sleeps in the cupboard under the stairs, and E. and I a mattress under the kitchen table. Nothing, of course, could save us if we got a direct hit, but we are sheltered from any glass; shrapnel, and blast can be pretty bad. At first wo all three used to crouch in the cupboard, but it was a tight fit. Now we are tougher and getting used to it. When we hear a crash fairly near and doors, etc., shake, E. and 1 often do a dive in the cupboard over the top of D. It has its funny side. “ The wailing of the sirens turns your tummy sick, especially if you have had an ‘ all clear ’ and ventured upstairs, hoping they won’t come back again. You just get to sleep and away she goes. Of course, we sleep in most of our clothes, but we. grab our shoes, masks, and coats, go down and crawl under the table again, and wonder if it is worth ever trying to go to bed. However, as I said before, we are certainly having a quieter time most nights. DEFYING HITLER. “ We are all on our toes expecting an invasion. We pray God it will not come, for it will be terrible for us all; but we are determined not to give in, and with God’s help we shall win through. The people are wonderful everywhere, without exception. All my people live in Essex, along the Thames Estuary, and E.’s in North London. They go through the most dreadful experiences, and when I and say ‘ You are having a worse time than we are, come along and share the mattress under the table,’ they reply, < No. Hitler is not going to turn us out of our homes.’ We won’t let him beat us, and this is the spirit everywhere. “Poor old England! But there will always be an England (this is heavily underlined). The preparations are beyond description; hedges barb-wired, road blocks, tank traps, aeroplane traps—any old cars or obstacles in level fields to prevent troops lauding.”- .