Figure 1.--Just before my brother and I returned to Britain, my father realised that the house in Wood Green was not really large enough to run both his Dental Practice and a Family Home. A move was imperative. He bought a large semi-detatched house about 6 miles away in preparation for our return. Frienrn Barnet Lane had a much larger garden. There was plenty of room for mother's chickens and a fruit and vegetable garden. The house had six bedrooms. My father was a keen golfer and one reason for the purchase of that house was it was opposite the local golf course.

Just before my brother and I returned to Britain, my father realised that the house in Wood Green was not really large enough to run both his Dental Practice and a Family Home. A move was imperative. He bought a large semi-detatched house about 6 miles away in preparation for our return. Frienrn Barnet Lane had a much larger garden. There was plenty of room for mother's chickens and a fruit and vegetable garden. The house had six bedrooms. My father was a keen golfer and one reason for the purchase of that house was it was opposite the local Golf Course and nearer the first tee (marked X) than the Club House. I became a golf addict. Not many people realise that rationing in the UK was MORE severe after the war than during the war. Most of the food imports went to mainland Europe, as they were starving. The British had a meagre, but healthy war time diet. This was maintained, but we had to tighten our belts a bit more. We were repremanded for not using our knives and forks incorrectly at table.

New Home

Just before my brother and I returned to Britain, my father realised that the house in Wood Green was not really large enough to run both his Dental Practice and a Family Home. Because of the shortage of civilian dentists he had been extremely busy during the War. He had managed to get an assistant and one of the living rooms had become the main surgery [Brit speak for doctor's or in this case dentidt's office]. The old surgery was used by the assistant. With the old dining room becoming the wiating room, there were no family rooms downstairs apart from the kitchen. A move was imperative. He bought a large semi-detatched house about 6 miles away in preparation for our return. Frienrn Barnet Lane had a much larger garden. There was plenty of room for mother's chickens and a fruit and vegetable garden. The house had six bedrooms. My maternal grandmother was now living with my parents so I still had to share a room with my brother as I had in USA. One of the attic bedrooms was taken over my my mother's brother when he was demobbed.

Golf

My father was a keen golfer and one reason for the purchase of that house was it was opposite the local Golf Course and nearer the first tee (marked X) than the Club House. I became a golf addict. I was down to single figures in two years and remained at this level for over 50 years! With double summer time a group of Juniors could play three rounds a day, literally morning, noon and night. The club were very suppotive of Juniors. We had free group lessons on Saturday mornings in the school holidays. The pro was a former Ryder Cup player, Tom Haliburton. he was an excellent teacher. His assistant was Neil Coles also a top 10 pro later on.

Rationing

Upon returning we were immediately confronted with the Goverment rationing system. There had been rationing in America once the United States entered the War, but nothing like Britain had to do. And not many people realise that rationing in the U.K. was MORE severe after the war than during the war. It was a bit of a shock for my brother and me, returning from the USA to such privation. Actually I didn't feel too bad about it. The reality was that Europe had very little, and we had just a little. Most of the food imports went to mainland Europe, because they were starving. The British had a meagre, but healthy war time diet. This was maintained, but we had to tighten our belts a bit more. One change though for the general population was the return of the banana. There was a cartoon in a London newspaper with the caption 'The oldest joke in the world returns.' It showed a man slipping on a banana skin. We were self-sufficient with our fruit, veg and eggs. Meat was scarce and this probably more than anything was what me missed most on our return. Graham and I brought back our farming skills to help my parents. In Vermont we had had 100 chickens, a flock of geese, 30 pigs as well as several acres of corn, and other crops. We were lucky that we had an allotment and a reasonable size garden, so we had fresh fruit and vegetables. We had chickens, so we had eggs. My mother was a most careful cook, and all left overs were made into something else, or fed to the chickens. I can still remember the awful smell of mother cooking bran with the left overs for chicken food. Butter and sugar remained rationed for about 5 years after the war had ended and other items even longer. I was in my second year of Medical School when it finally happened. [HBC note: Actually rationing continued longer in Britain that bomb devestated occupied Germany. The reason for this is beyond the scope of Allan's acoount, but one HBC is addressing.]

Cutlery

We were repremanded for not using our knives and forks incorrectly at table. We had been accustomed to cut our food and the transfer the fork to the right hand and proceed from there. The British way is fork in the left hand and knife in the right. My mother used to say to her mother. "They can't help it mother, they were dragged up in a foreign land." It became a catch phrase in the family well after I was married with children. Mother used to say the same to my wife."