Lady Bruce discusses the spirit among the people during the war

There was a very good spirit you know amongst the people far better than there is today everybody eat and worked together and knew, and knew about each other and looked after each other. I know what it is like in Cowdenbeath, its quite a big place and you wouldn't be able to do that. With this village here everybody knew each other.

The camp was right out in the wilds a place called South Minster and there was no em running water or anything. It all came in, in - tankers, yes. And the people that went out had forgotten that we were coming to take over so there was no water when we went in, and I was going round all the tents to see everybody was all right and I came to this tent and the girls were there and I said are you all right Oh were so thirsty we're drinking cough mixture they said and er it was all you know um not exactly holes in the ground but everything had to be dealt with, so you had to be really careful.

And my brother had been in it all through, he was 2 years older, em I didn't so this whole history of what they all did was wonderful time, you took it for granted that this is what everybody did and soon my turn would come soon, but it just didn't, in 1945.

So where were you at school during the war?
Sorry?

Where were you at school during the war?
I was in Yorkshire actually, at school, at a boarding school cos my parents lived down in the south and with - my father was working and he had been in the first war and in the second war he was in his fifties and he was in the balloon barrage of London, you know they flew the barrage balloons to - to prevent bombers getting or fighters really getting lower. So he was doing that and everybody was doing something except me.