The person that I interviewed for my project was Shirley Wagner. She is my Great Grandmother. She was 21 years when the war began and her son, my Grandpa Gary, was just 3 months old. They lived in Seattle on Queen Anne Hill. She told me that the war really scared her and that she was afraid that America would get bombed. She couldn’t sleep for several nights when it first began. She didn’t go to work but many of her fiends did. Her husband, my Great Grandpa Cy, didn’t have to fight in the war. He was called, but the war ended before he would have had to go. Many others did go to fight like my Great Great Uncle Leroy who was in the U.S. Army Gliders. a cousin, Paul Ducharme who was captured when his plane went down and was a prisoner of war by the Germans. There were about a half dozen other relatives who went but they didn’t all make it home. She said that there were lots of shortages like coffee, butter, bananas, sugar, meat, gas and tires.

These things were rationed and people had to use stamps to get what they were allowed. She said that they were tough times here in Seattle but that England and France had it much worse. She told me that the day the war ended, friends, family and neighbors were so happy that they were laughing and crying and hugging each other. She got tears in her eyes just telling me about that day!

Keturah

Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Dublin, Ireland and lived there during World War II. Ireland was called the Irish Free State then. It became the Republic of Ireland in 1948 and is the same today.

Can you tell me about your family?
My father worked for the Dublin Gas Company. It was a coal company because we did not have natural gas then. He worked part time during the war because there wasn’t enough work for the men to work full time, so they all worked part time to save jobs. My mother stayed home with my three sisters, brother and me.

How old were you during the war?
Three to ten years old.

Were you scared all the time?
I was always scared when I heard planes. I remember walking with my mom and baby sister. I heard a plane and everyone started yelling and my mother grabbed me and threw me in to a store. The railroad station down the street was bombed and I was terrified. Looking back, going into a store wouldn’t do much good if a bomb hit us but that’s all my mother could think to do at the time. I also remember one time when the air raid sirens went off and everyone grabbed their gas masks and hid under the stairs at home. The rest of it just became a part of everyday life. You went on with life because you had to.

Who were you most afraid of?
We were afraid of the Germans. They did such horrific things and we knew all about them.

What did you do to break the fear and monotony?
You went to school and you played with your friends. You did what you were told to do but it was not a happy time. In my memories, it was always dark and there were many tears from my mother but she never told us why.

Did you know you were a part of history while it was happening?
No, we didn’t know enough about what was going on.

Did you ever think you might lose your life?
No, we were just scared all the time but we weren’t sure why because back then adults didn’t talk to children. It wasn’t like today where you kids watch the news and your parents share things with you. We were not told anything except be afraid. It might have been better if we knew more about what was going on.

Can you remember a favorite song from that time?
Oh yes, a Vera Lynn song. She was English and the song was The White Cliffs of Dover. “There will be bluebirds over the white cliffs of Dover.” It was a song about hope.

What are the history books leaving out?
Americans don’t really know anything about World War II or Korea. In fact, American kids don’t learn nearly enough about the wars or geography because it seems that for most Americans, knowing your par of the country is enough. It’s a shame because maybe if you knew more about these wars you would be less anxious to be in another one.

Have you ever faced anything like World War II since?
No, thank God. But your grandfather was a marine in Vietnam and that was a horrible war as well. It was different being an adult because I could watch the news and get as much information as I needed. I was more in control of things but I had three young children I had to take care of by myself so in other ways it was harder.

What major message would you leave for the generations to come?
Those that were our enemies are now our allies. Those we trusted or felt not threat from are now our enemies. For some reason, there always has to be an enemy but war is always bad. Sometimes it is harder for those left behind because when you’re in the thick of it you have one focus and most of your decisions are made for you. When you’re home you have to continue living and trying to make things normal while they are not normal at all.

Can you tell me some of your other memories of being a kid during World War II?
I remember that we had no wood or coal. We used ‘turf’ to heat the house. They are like sticks and come out of a bog. We would also fold newspapers up tight and use them to start the fires. We had no bananas or white bread. I remember being 10 the first time I saw a loaf of white bread. It looked so good to mea and I was dying to try it. There were rations: ½ ounce of tea and ¼ pound of butter per person, per week, People would use the tea over and over through the week. You couldn’t buy gasoline or cigarettes but that didn’t bother me because I was so young. The Irish exported everything to England because that was the only source of income for the country. So we only got enough gas for 30 minutes in the morning and evening and one hour in the middle of the day when most people ate their main meal. In those two hours, you had to warm up the house, cook, clean and bathe.
Dublin, the city where I grew up, was neutral but the Germans bombed us anyway and said they got confused in the flight. No one believed it of course. The draft was in effect everywhere, even in Ireland, so I had cousins go off to war. My brother was just a baby at the time. Many Irish boys joined the army so they could fight with the Americans. It meant they got shoes, candy a coat and food. There were many people with no heat or food and Ireland is very cold in the winter. When I hear people complain about gas shortages I want to tell them to study their history books. So many people did without, even in America. We were fighting for survival, not oil. It’s very shallow to me and I’m sure that most people who fought in and lived during World War II feel the same way. I hope though, that you never have to know what it was like to be a child during the war.

Keegan
November 5, 2002