WAYNE,

Hi, yeah, I was born in 1954 (and I only have 2 children 6!!! That's a lot of mouths to feed ... and that's 8 more kids between yours and mine who are wiser about history through our stories... right on!)

As a kid, I don't recall hearing many stories at all about the war. Too painful for family to speak of and something most just wanted to forget. Everyone either lost someone or was close to someone they lost ... back home that was a big thing as it was in any fishing and or farming community that lost its menfolks to service or death when the homebase suffered. Community, especially small ones, lost the most I would think, as every hand was needed on the farm etc.

I DO remember TV ... it seemed there was always a war movie on tv ... or Hockey Night In Canada!!!! ARGH! I still can't stand the sound of an air-raid siren. Scares the crap out of me everytime I hear a sound like that. Was this just from hearing it on TV in airraid scenes? I don't know. It's deep though. I also get irritated when hockey is on TV To me, that means TV hogging, beer, and a bunch of noisy people sitting in front of the TV for hours and hours and hours ... yelling, hooting, waving fists, and serious swearing at the players !!! Gimmie a break eh?

The "main energy" that I remember of my parents generation, and grandparents generation for that matter, was seriousness, with a quiet perservering resignation for much, and an intolerance for foolishness I think, although zany senses of humour and ability to laugh at self and life existed too. But the seriousness was understandably so to them, not so understandably to their post-war kids, like me, who never heard the stoiries so therefore could never really understand why their parents were so "uptight" and all. We were born into the "after-effects" phase. It's interesting, but I wonder how many parent-child estrangements were born of this lack of understanding due to lack of knowledge of what had happened and how the war years had changed people and lifestyles ... ?

I guess war will always and forevermore steal "ideal parents" and replace them with "real parents" ... and kids have to learn what that really means. Learning the history helps ...

... this thread is amazing and am sure everyone reading it is busy remembering stuff they're forgotten, or thought they had, of "back then".

There must be a lot of happy or funny memories too ... I remmeber my Uncle Buddy (Frederick Smith) used to wear an Army Jacket all the time. His? I don't know.

Regards waryears .. I'll bet women and kids learned quickly how to do the jobs the menfolk had done until they went off to war. Bet they learned an appreciation for those men and their jobs too Hard work.

Coffee time ....

Karmen