Below is my great aunt, Mary Currie’s identity card. She would have had to carry it around with her wherever she went along with her gas mask during the war. Everyone over a certain age had to take it with them anywhere and everywhere. If a police officer or a member of H.M. Armed Forces wearing their uniform on duty asked to see your identity card you would have had to show them it. You weren’t allowed to give someone else the card because it was yours and you were responsible for it. If it got lost,destroyed or damaged you were to report to the local National Registration Office immediatly. If you found a lost identity card you were to hand it to the police or Registration Office A.S.A.P.

When the evacuees came down from Glasgow some of the people went and stayed with my Gran Muir. They had to sleep on mattress’s on the floor because there wasn’t enough beds in her house.

One of my Great Papa’s worked at Clydebank helping to build or repair the ships used by the Allies during the war.

My Great Gran worked in an ammunition’s factory making weapons for the soldiers to help fight the war with.

Another one of my Great Papa’s worked at the Ailsa Troon Ship Yard. His job was to repair damaged submarines.

The German Bomb
A German plane followed a train travelling from England to Scotland. The pilot’s intentions were to bomb it because it could have been taking weapons to an ammunitions factory to be repaired or to take to soliders. It did have weapons aboard along with passengers and lots of food. Once the German plane and British train reached Kilmarnock the pilot of the plane decided to drop the bomb. The pilot dropped the bomb and then flew off. What he/she hadn’t realised was he had missed the train and had hit a house in Culzean Crescent had flattened half of the semi-detached house and killed all of the people inside including a blind lady. This happened in 1941.

The German Plane
There was a German plane shot down somewhere in or near Kilmarnock. It was then brought and put on the grassy area across from the Grand Hall so that the town’s people could come and see it. This happened in 1941.

Kilmarnock
The new Kilmarnock prison is built on a site which used to have an ammunitions factory on it. A new development of houses built on an old scrap yard in Knockentiber had a prisoner of war camp built on it.

There was a small prisoner of war camp in Shortlees as well as the one in Knockentiber.

Kilmarnock was bombed about 3 times during the war which forced people to stick to the black out rule.

Most of the town’s people’s garden railings were cut down because the metal was needed to make ammunition or for building war time items, the Government promised to replace these railings when the war time effort was over, to this day these railings have still not been replaced.

What used to be the Ossington Hotel on John Finnie St was used for billets for officers. Loanhead Primary School and the Grand Hall were also used as billets for officers. The Grand Hall was also used for the soldiers to practice using their weapons.

People, mainly children,were evacuated from Glasgow to Kilmarnock. St Joesph’s Academy,the Dean Castle and what was Nazareth house were used for places where evacuees from Glasgow could stay. One of the air raid sirens was kept on Bonnyton Road/Bellview Road.

In general people’s working hours were increased because extra production of things was needed. Everything was rationed e.g. food,clothes and petrol. Every so often you got coupons to buy new clothes and coupons to buy petrol if needed. People grew vegetables in their garden so they didn’t have to use their coupons to buy them.

At school children would have to put their gas masks on and then enter a room full of gas. This was to check if there was any leaks or holes in the mask.

Lots of posters were put up towards the end of the war with Winston Churchill on them. He was showing the sign ‘V’ for Victory.

Eilidh
St. Columba’s Primary
Kilmarnock