Transcript of Interview with Mrs Cruden

Mrs Cruden: Well I was actually born three weeks after the war began. The war started on the 3rd of September and I was born on the 24th of September.

Michael S: Do you remember how you felt when you were going to be evacuated?

Mrs Cruden: Well, I was about a year old when we were actually evacuated but it was voluntary. What happened was a bomb landed beside the barracks. I lived beside the Bridge of Don barracks and there was a bomb landed there, and it struck some of the living quarters and they asked for volunteers. When the bomb landed, some of the debris landed in our garden. My Mum was a bit upset because she took us... There used to be shelters for when you were bombed and you could go into these shelters - they were under the ground. We went, the whole family went down there, and there was no-one else there, the neighbours weren't there so we decided we didn't want to stay. So we tried to climb back upstairs again and up into the garden again. When we went down the garden was clear, but when we came back up again, the garden was filled with debris - barbed wire, rocks, everything. And my Mother tripped over the barbed wire and dropped me and I was only about a year old and she dropped me and she was searching for me and couldn't find me, 'cause it was black, there was no lights. You weren't allowed to burn lights for attracting attention of the planes and she dropped me and she was looking for me. Eventually she got back into the house to find that I was already there. I was still just, I was just crawling but I'd got up there before she did. But that's when they came and asked for volunteers, for us to give them our houses for their officers and my Mother said, "Yes, please." And we were shifted to a farm out in the countryside, just not far from Aberdeen, but it was far enough away from the bombs.

Charlotte: How did you get to the countryside?

Mrs Cruden: By bus. Just by bus. I think it was - it must have been an army bus or something - some kind of bus that took us.

Michael S: How did you like your new surroundings?

Mrs Cruden: Well, it was the countryside - it was great, it was super.

Michael S: How long did you stay away from home?

Mrs Cruden: About eh, it must have been about four or five months. Just until they got the quarters fixed up, the bomb destroyed and flattened these houses and it was just until they were sorted up.

Charlotte: How were you treated as an evacuee?

Mrs Cruden: Just as part of the family. The thing I remember about it is seeing the cows. I'd never seen a cow in my life before. Of course I was only a baby, but I'd never seen a cow. I'd been about a year old, I think, when we went there and the little calves who were born - you could put your hand into their mouths and they would suck your hand; suck your hand, and it would go right up to your elbow and it was a bit of a fight to get your hand back. That's what I mainly remember, is that kind of thing.

Michael S: Did you go to school when you were evacuated?

Mrs Cruden: No, I was too young. I think it was actually in the summertime. There wasn't much school during the war. I think there was just half days; there wasn't much school, even for bigger children. They just had half days.

Charlotte: Were you scared or homesick?

Mrs Cruden: No. I didn't have any opinions. I was too young to have an opinion.

Michael S: Did you have to share a room with anyone?

Mrs Cruden: I think there was my Mum, my brother, my sister, me, and one of my other sisters, and we all lived in the one room - I mean slept in the one room. As far as living quarters, we just shared the rest of the house.

Michael S: Did you have to do any work while evacuated?

Mrs Cruden: No. I don't think anybody did. Maybe my Mother or my aunties, maybe they had to help, but we didn't.

Charlotte: Do you have any special memories of your time as an evacuee?

Mrs Cruden: Special memories? Just a thought - it was just like a summer holiday to me because that's actually what it was supposed to be at the time - it was just like a summer holiday.

Michael S: How did you feel when you got home?

Mrs Cruden: I suppose my holiday was finished. I preferred living in the country. We were at the Bridge of Don. It's not like it is now. Just now, if you go out to the Bridge of Don, there's a lot of buildings and a lot of houses, quite far out. But when I lived there, there was just our street and then it was the countryside after that, so it was just right on the edge of the town. So I was just with my family. I didn't really feel any different. You just accept things when you're little.

Charlotte: Did you keep in touch with anyone that you were evacuated to?

Mrs Cruden: I think maybe my Mum wrote letters to the people for a wee while, I presume.

Michael S: Do you have any other wartime memories that you would like to share with us?

Mrs Cruden: Well there was just the farmer and his wife, and I think, as far as I remember, there was two children but I think they were actually teenagers, I think they were quite big. You got milk straight from the cow, it wasn't pasteurised or anything. It was just straight out of the cow in a big jug with a hanky-like thing with beads on it, to keep it. It just went through a sieve first to get rid of all the dirty muck but that was it - lovely milk. You don't get milk like that now - beautiful milk, full of cream, really good milk. You didn't get sweets. You had the ration books and you could either get sweets or sugar - you couldn't get both. You could get sugar in your tea but you couldn't get a sweetie after. One egg, I think it was. It was mostly powdered egg, powdered milk and powdered potatoes and you had to mix it up with water or milk to make mashed tatties (potatoes). It was just dried tatties, dried milk. It wasn't very good. You couldn't get no bananas. You know the song - "Yes, we have no bananas"? There was no bananas. We got apples. They had to get everything from Canada. It's not my memory. My husband told me about being down town and having to run because the planes were firing onto the roads and having to run from chaser bullets. Do you know what chaser bullets are? So that's it.

Michael S: Thank you again for coming here for us to interview you.

Mrs Cruden: Thank you very much. Thank you very much.