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She was born 1936 and was 3 when the war started. Her parents were caretakers of the building on the corner of Fountain St. When the war started and Manchester was bombed. She remembered her father taking her onto the roof and seeing Manchester burning all around her. The basement of the building had been converted into a shelter and all the caretakers would come there. Her dad would set up card tables and get sandwiches and beer for the soldiers and firemen who were fighting the fires. Although she was so young, she still remembers those men coming in dirty and her dad giving them bottles of beer and sandwiches. Then a mine dropped outside their building. One toilet window was cracked but they had to leave. She and her nana were evacuated onto a farm and her parents stayed. Then her father joined the army and he was in Singapore when it fell. He was on the Burma railway and he never came home. That was very traumatic. She sat waiting for 5 years for her dad to come home and he didn鈥檛. Then she and her mother moved to Salford but they were bombing the docks. When the sirens went she was wrapped in a blanket or a siren suit and into a shelter. They put concrete over the entries and that was the shelter they used. There was no chance if a bomb fell. It鈥檚 amazing how she remembers. They lived in Lord Duncan St behind the barracks on Cross Lane and then after the war her mum remarried and they lived in Lord Nelson St. Her aunty lived in Lord Duncan St and her nana in Hodge Lane.

She remembers no sweets, horrible bread, one egg. Her mother always put food on the table. She never went hungry. She went cleaning offices in Manchester 4.30am and Norma was with her Aunty or Nana. Her dad did not come back. Her dad always said to her mum that he would come back even if he had to walk all the way and he didn鈥檛 and this still hurts after 60 years. They got one card from the Japanese Camp and it just said 鈥淚鈥檓 well鈥� The day before Singapore fell they got a cablegram from him on 14 Feb 1942 (she still has it at home) saying 鈥淒on鈥檛 worry. I am well鈥�. He died 5 Dec 1942 in one of the camps. Did not find out until 1946 when mother told. Her uncle was in the Signals in Burma and he searched for him everywhere. She has a half sister who is 17 years younger than her. Norma went to Australia via Thailand and found his grave. That was traumatic. An Australian couple helped her. She found it straight away. He was 38. Her mother鈥檚 dad died in the IWW and he was 38. Her dad was Arthur Warton and her grandfather was Samuel Holt. Samuel was in the Bantoms of the Lancashire Fusiliers and her dad was Royal Artillery.

Her memories of the war are sirens and hearing the guns on the docks and having no sweets and just people being nice to one another. The rent could be left on the sideboard and it would be with the rent man. Doors were left open. Everyone helped everyone.
She went to West Liverpool St School in Salford until 14 then to Woburn College to be a typist. Had to take her gas mask to school. They sheltered when the sirens went in the basement. All sat on forms and then back to the classroom. Didn鈥檛 feel frightened. For children it was an adventure, jumping up in the night and getting the siren suit on and mother grabbing her policies. Maybe they were frightened hearing the bangs because they were near the docks. It was all they knew. The siren suit was an all in one suit. Hers was bottle green. It was to keep you warm. It was quicker and warmer than clothes. Mother either bought them or made them from an old coat or blanket. The gas masks were horrible. They made a noise every time you spoke. Little children had Donald Duck or Mickey Mouse ones. They tasted and smelt horrible. They always had their gas mask in a little box with them. Hopes there is no more war like that. There was laughter but it was a horrible time. She didn鈥檛 know if her dad was coming home or not. She remembers when they put the flags out at VE Day she said to her mum that they couldn鈥檛 put flags out. At VJ Day in August, they still could not put flags out. They did not find out he was dead until 1946. Her mother got a letter from the war office 鈥淲e regret to inform you鈥�. They got a medal and a scroll from the king thanking us for his life. That is up on her wall. His life was worth 3 medals and a scroll. Her mother got 37 shillings a week. That was her war.

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