YP Letters: Today's young people have never had it so good '“ memories of a West Riding wartime childhood

From: Margaret A Town, Botham Hall Road, Huddersfield.
Should today's pupils consider themselves fortunate - or not?Should today's pupils consider themselves fortunate - or not?
Should today's pupils consider themselves fortunate - or not?

I FOUND Dr Henderson’s letter concerning children, stress and war very interesting (The Yorkshire Post, February 17).

I was also a child at that time. I was due to start grammar school in September, 1939, but we had to wait until air raid shelters had been built.

This was in the West Riding, not an area badly affected.

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We had gas masks in cardboard boxes which we took from classroom to classroom, also our outdoor coats.

From time to time, we had air raid practices.

Some went into the special shelters, others were billeted into neighbourhood houses. At the end, we had to reassemble and a roll-call was undertaken.

Our parents had to cope with the problems of food rationing.

My mother and I used to go to town on Saturday afternoon, and would join queues for tins of salmon, tins of fruit, sweet biscuits etc.

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Sometimes the stock ran out and the queues dispersed unhappily.

Some of us had parents 
who also had their experiences 
of the 1914-18 war to cope 
with, but they still soldiered 
on.

Today’s young people 
have no idea what an easy 
life they lead.