SACKETT-L Archives

From: "Chris Sackett" <>
Subject: Lillie.38
Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 14:30:15 +0100

Lillie.38

Tuesday Nov 26th 1941

Another month has passed & I've not written to you. The time seems to pass
quickly & it is always full of work. You see, I do Will's washing & mending
as well as Gladys's & our own. Then, altho' we have not so much to cook
with, it takes more time & thought how to make the best of what we have,
but it is wonderful what changes one can make with so little, but it would
be nice to have some of the things we hear you have when we listen to the
"Kitchen Front" recipes.

I'm afraid there will be no Christmas Pudding this year as we have no Suet,
Fruit, eggs, or flour. Arthur does occasionally get me a little, but there
is none on sale for we Islanders. The Germans get all they want in every
way.

Since last writing, we have had an order that all Gas is to be turned off
at 9 p.m. to 7.30 a.m. & from 2.30 p.m. to 5 p.m. It is most awkward.
Arthur likes to hear the news at 10 p.m. (which of course is 9 p.m. with
you) so we sit in semi-darkness with just a little bottle candle light,
that is a little paraffin in a bottle with a spoonful of Vinegar at the
bottom & a thin wick drawn through the screw top. It gives a light very
similar to a Candle & of course lasts much longer &, as Candles are not to
be had by people who have Gas, we are glad to have our bottle light.

I have been having a bad time with dysentery. For 10 days & nights I've
been kept busy running & do not feel any too well, but it is getting easier
& I hope soon to be A1.

We are now right in the dark mornings. I get up at 8 a.m. & it is pitch
dark. We have to have a light right up to 9.30. Fortunately, the weather is
fairly mild. I don't light a fire until five in the afternoon. We have our
meals up to then in the kitchen near the "Gas Cooker". Now that we can use
more Gas I don't use the stove we had put in, as it burns up such a lot of
wood & we have to go very careful with it.

Last Tuesday we had such a surprise. The Germans had a "Mock Invasion". It
was most exciting. We had a "Machine Gun" group just along the road in the
garden opposite. There were soldiers galore, shooting with their Guns &
Pistols. It lasted two hours from 8 a.m. to 10. Arthur managed to get to
the Mill about 10 but Will, who goes to work much earlier, had to make a
long detour to get to his work & Tom Keyho had to wait until it was all
over. Quite a lot of people were fined for being on the road after the
"Siren" had gone. We did not hear it either time as the wind was against
our hearing it.

We have thousands of troops here now & such a lot of prisoners of war of
all Nationalities. They are making awful havoc of the properties on the
Island, knocking down partitions between fields & putting in their huge
Guns all over the place. They think the Americans are coming to invade
here.

We are never sure when we may be turned out of our homes. Such a lot of
people have had to leave all except their personal belongings. We have been
fortunate up to now.

I think one of your Planes must be somewhere about as the Guns have just
been going off & it is now 8.30 p.m.. Arthur is out & I'm alone.

What a day it will be when all these terrible times will be at an end. May
it soon arrive.

We have had news from Len this week & one from Fred, which we were
delighted to receive, but they do take a time to come, don't they? We
always answer them the day we receive them. I also had news last week from
Laura & Dulcie. Laura is working somewhere near London. David has won a
scholarship to a "Technical College". I'm so very glad. I expect you have
heard all about it from Laura.

Arthur is about, well again, & is putting on weight. We are all much
thinner than we were, but it is not to be wondered at as we get little
fattening foods.
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• Lillie.38 by "Chris Sackett" <>