My Wartime vs. Pandemic

By Sheila Crossley

Everyone now knows what life is like during a Pandemic but if you have ever wondered whether living through it is better or worse than living in a World War, this little book is for you.

In this contest of war versus pandemic, personal recollections illustrate what life was like in the years immediately preceding the Second World War and the changes that occurred after the outbreak of hostilities.

It was not a game of two halves.  There was a lengthy interval of seventy-five years between the end of one event and the start of the other.  In both cases there were some own goals, a lot of off-sides and numerous penalties, but the referee leaves it to the reader to decide which side won, if any.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Jun 21, 2024
• ISBN: 9781035809486

Sheila Crossley

The Second World War began three weeks before Sheila Crossley’s 10th birthday. It finally ended the month before she turned sixteen. She suffered from Covid after three of her four vaccinations, while her husband/carer was admitted to hospital in emergency for three days unconscious on ventilator followed by a week on oxygen. She slept underground throughout the Blitz seated upright on a narrow bench among seven others, with condensation running down the corrugated iron at her back. In the tiny floor space were a pair of earthenware flowerpots enclosing a lit candle giving light and warmth. And a bucket. Her father’s efforts succeeded in providing some continuity in her school life that was lacking in their unfortunate circumstances. But the disruption to her education caused by the War was aggravated by administrative errors in the schools. She had obtained a pair of shoes that had not first been grown out of by someone else and was saving up for a winter coat. Her father also worked full time and had never been unemployed. But he was still paying off debts that had been incurred by the illnesses and deaths of the author’s two younger brothers, a younger sister and her mother. Her stepmother worked at home trimming hats and/or doing raffia work on shopping bags. After the war ended when there were men wearing large badges informing folk that they were displaced persons, for example Italians who had been prisoners of war but had since been employed at the gas works, she learned to say ‘NO’ in several different languages. A friend told her that some Americans had difficulty understanding the word but could be helped by a hefty kick on the shins. However, by then the author could move into the second-cheapest cinema seats on her weekly visit and buy a choc-ice in the interval. Sheer luxury!

Book preview

About the Author

The Second World War began three weeks before Sheila Crossley’s 10th birthday. It finally ended the month before she turned sixteen.

She suffered from Covid after three of her four vaccinations, while her husband/carer was admitted to hospital in emergency for three days unconscious on ventilator followed by a week on oxygen.

She slept underground throughout the Blitz seated upright on a narrow bench among seven others, with condensation running down the corrugated iron at her back. In the tiny floor space were a pair of earthenware flowerpots enclosing a lit candle giving light and warmth. And a bucket.

Her father’s efforts succeeded in providing some continuity in her school life that was lacking in their unfortunate circumstances. But the disruption to her education caused by the War was aggravated by administrative errors in the schools.

She had obtained a pair of shoes that had not first been grown out of by someone else and was saving up for a winter coat.

Her father also worked full time and had never been unemployed. But he was still paying off debts that had been incurred by the illnesses and deaths of the author’s two younger brothers, a younger sister and her mother. Her stepmother worked at home trimming hats and/or doing raffia work on shopping bags.

After the war ended when there were men wearing large badges informing folk that they were displaced persons, for example Italians who had been prisoners of war but had since been employed at the gas works, she learned to say ‘NO’ in several different languages. A friend told her that some Americans had difficulty understanding the word but could be helped by a hefty kick on the shins.

However, by then the author could move into the second-cheapest cinema seats on her weekly visit and buy a choc-ice in the interval. Sheer luxury!

Dedication

I dedicate this book to the staff of Calow Hospital, Chesterfield in gratitude for their care during April and May 2023. Together with my share of the royalties to be used for comfort and pleasure of staff during their rest breaks.

Copyright Information ©

Sheila Crossley 2024

The right of Sheila Crossley to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

All of the events in this memoir are true to the best of the author’s memory. The views expressed in this memoir are solely those of the author.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781035809110 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781035809479 (Hardback)

ISBN 9781035809486 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published 2024

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd®1 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5AA

Acknowledgements

Enormous thanks to Liz Reynolds not only for technical help throughout the whole of the time from conception to completion of the book but also for her tremendous support, suggestions and research.

The following people are heartily thanked for their help in reading various versions of the book and offering comments and/or suggestions.

Michael Andrews, Milly Ballington, Phyllis Berger, Christine and Natasha Broadhurst, Jonathan Carroll, Harry Chambers, Alan and Diane Charles, Marc Chavaudra, Barbara Clarke, Ian Coult, Martin Coult, Alan Crossley, Viv Elder, Dennis Fishburn, Helen Flunder, Steve Greeny, Jackie Henderson, Julie Macauley, Agnes Meli, Tracey Metheringham, Chris Peace, Liz and Nick Reynolds, Kara Sams, Alan and Lynn Sargeant, Gilly Tindle, Dominic Varney, Lorna Webb.

Thanks also to Steve Greeny for the cover illustrations and to The Photo Wizards for the portraits.

Introduction

Many years ago, I was staying with a member of my Surrogate family who wanted to watch a film set in World War 2 and I became irritated that it had inaccuracies due to failure to consult primary sources at that time still plentifully available. For example, at that stage of the War folk would be carrying gas masks everywhere and blackout restrictions were in force, but you would never have guessed from the film.

On 6 September 2021, children went back to school after the summer holiday. I recalled going back to school on 4 September 1939 and started writing. It very soon became apparent that there were many similarities and differences between a Pandemic, which we all know everything about, and WW2 which only very few people are left to describe from personal experience.

For various reasons, I had to produce the little stories out of my head into Pitman Shorthand then transcribe into emails sent to my friend Liz, who stored them in separate documents alphabetically according to