The Day War Broke Out: Untold true stories of how British families faced the Second World War together

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A few weeks later Captain Penny arrived at Durban. He walked down the street and bumped into his wife.! But along the way, they — and I — encountered the kindness of strangers. For me, this kindness was personified by the middle-aged, deeply devout Oksana Shuper in the western town of Ternopil. She welcomed exhausted evacuees into her cramped apartment, also occupied by an infirm father, so that they could get some sleep. She would feed them oatmeal, strong coffee and fruit, before sending them on their way again with a hug and a prayer.

We were a family of four — no boys — so we hadn’t the heartbreak of father or brothers leaving for the services. The Americans knew how to look after their troops, it was said that for each ton of ammunition there were ten tons of the ‘necessities of life’. John Pudney wrote a poem commemorating those who lost their lives in fighter planes during the Battle of Britain — one of the many crucial episodes of the war. It has come to mind over the years and causes sad reflections for the men The war was far away from us but I missed my parents and our terraced home and I cried when they left me after a visit as their bus pulled away. (I have spent of lot of my life saying goodbye to those I love, and it hurts). I still have a card I sent them and it has a sad message and a George VIth stamp on it. (I am now interested in Postal History). Coal, the country’s main source of heat and energy, became a very scarce commodity for the average household as industry held the priority for its use. An allowance of one hundredweight per week per household lasted for quite a few years. Gas and electricity were turned off from central sources to help conserve the country’s supplies, for limited periods and were resumed only at regular times for cooking and heating.Evacuees and Prisoners of War started to arrive at various points in the country. Gilbraterians were settled on a demesne at Ballycastle and Millisle. P.O.W’s had military camps built in various areas mostly for Germans and Italians. Overly-Long Gag: the coda of Dudley Moore's piano solo "And The Same To You" (basically, the "Colonel Bogey March" is the style of Beethoven, with Ending Fatigue played for laughs) is a classic example. Peter Cook's "Sitting on the Bench" monologue sometimes got into this too: "Oh look, a lump of coal!". Title Confusion: Most references to the show assume it debuted on the Edinburgh Fringe. In fact, it was part of the main Arts Festival and the title (a minor bit of Executive Meddling) was intended to imply it went beyond what the Fringe was capable of. In 1943, we were stationed at the Royal Engineers’ depot at Long Marston, near Stratford-upon-Avon. It is a village that had no bus services, but did have a railway station. My parents sent me my bicycle so that I could get to the wonderful Cotswold villages of Broadway, Honeythorne etc. To get into Stratford, we could either use the army transport that had been provided, or we could catch the train.

The day war broke out…” was a phrase used by a comedian named Rob Wilson as he went on to catalogue a series of events which had a touch of humour. And often what happened to us during the war also had a lighter side. Well,' she said, 'you're too old for the army, you couldn't get into the navy and they wouldn't have you in the Air Force, so what good are you?'

Rule of Three: "Aftermyth of War" has Peter Cook's suburban gardener character pop up three times and deliver variations of the same speech each time. Well,' she said, 'Ow are you going to know which is 'im, if they do land? I said, 'I've got a tongue in me 'ead, 'aven't I?'