Learning to put up with war

Before my two brothers were evacuated my father had come back from Dunkirk, I think it was after that he spent some time in Iraq before going to North Africa where he was captured by the Germans but handed over to the Italians. First he was reported missing which was a terrible shock to my mother and family, that was the 21st of June 1942, later the 15th of august he was reported captured.
At this time my mother aunt, grandmother, cousin and myself were in a little mining village in Co Durham, things started to get a little better to what I had been used to previously. Things were rationed but in truth the merger rations were better than what we had been used to, and because there was five ration books; thing went a little further than say someone living on their own,
People learned to adjust for shortages because we had not had it so good in the past, I think people today would certainly find it harder if it ever came to that again. This mining village being in the country and on the river with lots of woods was the ideal playground for a boy; although it was wartime it was a happier time than when I lived in the town with all the poverty that we had to suffer. We used to go back occasionally to check on grandmother’s house which she kept up in the town, we often got caught up in air raids from time to time.
I remember standing in queues quite a lot for various things that were in short supply; it was amazing how people managed to make things go so far.
Eggs were in short supply some weeks there would be one to a book that’s a ration book, some weeks none and some just on children’s books, things were scarce and people had to make do and mend, clothes were rationed. The food ministry was always giving out recipes; it was something like how to make something from almost nothing, everyone when visiting the local town would be looking for cafes and restaurants to help supplement their diet. Here in the North of England before the war there was pies peas and potatoes eating places set up to help out of work people get a cheap meal., these place caught on I still remember them with a great deal of fondness.
What I remember during the war was the advertisements and propaganda we used to get on the radio cinema and newspapers, no television in those days. Potato Pete used to be one of my favourites he was a potato head with trousers telling everyone to eat more potato’s, didn’t need much telling we’d eat anything then.
Another character was the squander bug covered in swastikas telling people not to waste anything. Later when the Americans came into the war we were introduced to “Spam and dried Egg”. The dried egg came in tins but we always got it in waxed paper cartons, I used to love this you do all kinds of things with it; mixed with milk you could fry it scramble it and bake with it.