Secret life of wartime Yorkshire revealed

Riots at the local market, rows over oranges and a steady stream of complaints about the shortage of everything from onions to eggs and Brooke Bond tea. Wartime life for shop assistant Kathleen Hey offered no shortage of challenges – and if all that wasn’t enough, there was always the Luftwaffe to worry about.

During the Second World War, Kathleen helped her sister Margaret and brother-in-law Bert run a grocery shop in Dewsbury. Her diaries – now reproduced in forthcoming book The View From the Corner Shop – offer a fascinating insight into life on Yorkshire’s home front.

As our extracts show, the headaches posed by rationing were put into perspective by her fears about the progress of the war, and the terror of the late-night air raid sirens...

Friday, July 18, 1941

A hectic day. Of course everyone came for their rations at once. Margaret did her best but had to keep asking prices and then I had to see that she gave people their rations as they liked them – that is, some prefer all marge instead of fat, and some (particularly the odious Mrs J) had already had most of theirs during the week in driblets.

We keep a record of this on a piece of card and woe betide us if we lose it! What arguments whether they have had all their sugar or whether it was a quarter or half [pound] of marge yesterday, and so on. Oh, Lord Woolton [Minister of Food]! Could you be in our shoes for a single day!

Sunday, July 20, 1941

Aggie told a good story of a friend of hers who was so engrossed in deep conversation with a friend in the market she didn’t notice she was being enveloped in a queue and was suddenly bustled along in spite of her protests that she wanted to come out, until on the crest of the wave she saw it was a strawberry queue, whereupon she fell silent and obtained a basket with no bother at all. There have been riots and rows galore in Dewsbury Market. Stalls are turned over and the police have to be summoned.

Sunday, August 3, 1941

To brother Ben Rudolph’s to tea. Ma said she thought the war would soon be over. Ben Rudolph said it was only just beginning. Amy and Edna [unmarried sisters of her sister-in-law living in Hull] have salvaged most of their furniture but the day after the roof was blown off [in a bombing raid] there was torrential rain so things were in a pretty mess.

Their neighbour in Franklin Street is seriously injured and next to that all killed and across the road the mother killed, two boys blinded and father disappeared.

There have been 17 raids on Hull recently but the press and BBC have not heard of them [such news was censored].

Tuesday, October 14, 1941

Brooke Bond’s man says what the dickens are the Government thinking of? There need be no shortage of tea at all if they would only bring it into the country, instead of shiploads of other useless goods. ‘Take these,’ seizing a packet of Corn Flakes and brandishing it. ‘A ton of these things fills a ship. Now how much tea couldn’t you bring instead of those?’ ‘Ah,’ I said, ‘but now we are at the mercy of the American Business Man and if he wants us to have Corn Flakes instead, Corn Flakes we must have.’

Thursday, October 23, 1941

Oranges today. Spent my time turning a deaf ear to those women who had children ‘just over age – it doesn’t seem fair,’ and old Mrs H who said tartly ‘It didn’t matter about us old ‘uns. We shall only be fit for t’tannery soon.’ ‘And tough bit of leather you’ll make,’ I thought, but I only said, ‘Oh, you’ll see two or three more wars yet.’ And she was so surprised she forgot herself and smiled.

Tuesday, March 24, 1942

Peas from Smedley’s here at last with apologetic note. Brooke Bond’s Tea says he can only come fortnightly in future owing to lack of petrol. He says that when he went the other night to help entertain soldiers in camp at Swillington there were 200 cars parked outside the local pub. He said the landlord said he bet not one of the men was with his own wife. Brooke Bond’s said that the black-out had ‘made’ many of these country pubs. Folk could steal away and enjoy themselves ‘under cover’ as it were.

He said he knew several similar places – there was one at Tadcaster – a rendezvous for York and Leeds people. And folk whose livelihood depended on getting petrol to do their business were pushed to one side.

Saturday, March 28, 1942

Long argument with Bert and Margaret as to what luggage I must take on my fire watching expedition with M.G. tonight. M.G. said on SOS postcard, ‘Bring two sheets and pillow case, also supper and respirator’. Bert said ‘Whoever heard of fire watchers going to bed?’ Margaret said ‘And you don’t know who has been sleeping in it. I should lie on the top, dressed.’ Think I shall compromise by taking dressing gown only and hope for best regarding bed. All family greatly perturbed at my promising to go and protest at intervals, until I rise wrathfully and shout ‘Is there a war on, or isn’t there?’

Wednesday, August 12, 1942