The school bell rang, it was lunch time, most people headed straight for the canteen.  I always headed straight down the long-playing field, with eager little legs thrusting through the freshly mown grass each individual blade kicking up at my heels.  I was on a mission, head down only one place to go.  Half way down the newly cut field was someone special waiting for me, she never let me down, every day she would be there, a very special lady, my Great Grandmother, Nan Baker. 

 

Always a smile, and with a sweet that she would pass through the wired fence, but behind that smile and gentleness I knew there had been hardship, and that she had lived through the most troubled times.  She was an inspiration and I learnt greatly from the stories she would tell, a reason to ensure such memories will never be forgotten.  If only I could talk to her now, she could tell me more but it makes me even more determined to tell the stories of the inspirational characters of our time.

 

She came from a generation where treats were savoured, no money spare to buy more, but instead a strong can-do attitude, a hardy nature and a willingness to come together to do their part for a nation at war.  It brings it home in times of the world-wide pandemic, where I question why did we even need to buy as much as we did, we have taken too much for granted and maybe we should take more from those strong-willed characters of our past and bring their values to the forefront of the future.

 

There were many areas these strong woman would work in that would form the backbone of the country.  From the Mother at home struggling to feed the family, or seeing their children evacuated to the rolling fields of the countryside away from the bombed cities.  To the women that worked in the factories, to those delivering the planes, to the land army and even the WI helping to feed the nation, to those that worked on the front line fighting their secret war.  

 

I am unable to include every area that those woman were strong and courageous in, but this section is dedicated to all those Woman at War and the tireless and in some cases unrecognised work they carried out to ensure the men on the frontline had weapons to fight with and when the fighting was done that there was a country to return home to.

 

They were truly the backbone of a nation at war.