VE Day: Muswell Hill pupils recreate touching letters to fathers fighting in WW2

Born generations after the war’s end, primary school children have recreated authentic, touching messages to imagined relatives fighting overseas. Imogen Blake reports

For those born decades after the war’s end in 1945, it is difficult to fathom what life was like during those five years of black-outs, bombs and terror.

But children at a Muswell Hill primary school have written touching, authentic letters wrought with emotion to imagined relatives fighting overseas to depict how young families coped during the war years.

The messages, written by pupils at Coppetts Wood Primary School in Coppetts Road, give a glimpse into how those left behind at home must have felt.

One letter addressed to “dad”, by nine-year-old pupil Shahriar, reads: “I hope I will see you again. I want to tell you I missed you. I felt heartbroken and tearful.”

Another to “daddy” by eight-year-old Marcel, dated February 10, 1943, says: “I wish the war would finish and I hope you can come home! Mummy is really sad and crying.

“Do you remember when we played football in the park? It was the last time I saw you.

“We built an air raid shelter in the garden and it was really tricky.”

The work was completed last term as part of a project on the Second World War, for which the pupils also produced diary entries.

Language resource provision class teacher Lisa Ruggeri said: “It’s hard for any child, let alone those with special needs, to put themselves in other people’s shoes and to think about the past.

“I was shocked at the level of vocabulary they were using and how enthused they were by what they produced.”

Pick up today’s Ham&High in shops for our special commemorative eight-page VE Day supplement.