Interview Nanny Leggett

Yesterday, Ryan and I went to Nannys house and interviewed her about her memories during WWII. It was very interesting. Nanny was not evacuated because she she lived in what was then considered the country. She was 13 when the war started. Nanny said that when the air raids went off, all the children would get out of bed and hide under the kitchen table together. If they were at school they had shelters built into the play ground. Children graduated school at 14. Her father served in WWI, but not WWII. He would work all day, and then he would come home and get dinner - then he would bike 12 miles to go on guard duty in the night. Then he would bike the 12 miles home, get about 2 hours of sleep and then go to work again.

Nanny told us about her wedding dress. Her uncle purchased the silk in asia where he was held as a prisoner of war. All of her sisters wore the same dress - although it had to be altered to fit nanny. During WWII Nanny only had two dresses. She had a sunday dress and an everyday dress. She would get a new sunday dress once a year. They were get it for a special sunday where all the girls would get new straw hats and new shoes. Nanny kept repeating that they didn't have much, but they were happy. The dresses got washed every Monday. Washing clothes was a three person job - one to turn the handle and two to put the clothes through. They always had sunday leftovers on laundry day. Nanny said that here in gorleston was an army base, thats why this area was so heavily bombed. Lots of families around nanny hosted evacuees, but nannys house wasn't big enough. They didn't have a fridge, they had a cupboard where milk and cheese were kept. In fact, the only thing they had that was electric was 1 light in each room. The radio was battery powered. There wasn't even a light out in the out house. The outhouse was outside. There was a seat and underneath it was a large bucket. Once a week her father would empty the bucket. Nanny tells that once he spilled it all down his legs (she thought this was very funny). Nanny had to be home every night by 9. Nanny said they never went hungry, because they had chickens and a vegetable garden.

We learned a lot from talking to Nanny Leggett. The world was a completely different place. The thing that nanny emphasised a lot though was that they were happy, and that people were a lot nicer.

That's the end of my incredibly vague description of Nannys description of life. I did record it however, so copies are available upon request.