Day in the Life of a Wartime Housewife 1941

Mrs Olive Day wakes up at 7am at her home in Drayton Gardens, South Kensington.

On the bedside cabinet, her gas mask, torch and a book are ready, in case a quick

dash to the air raid shelter is required in the night.

Mrs Olive Day se lève à 7h. Sur sa table de nuit se trouve un masque à gaz, 

une lampe torche et un livre au cas il faudrait qu'elle se réfugie dans un 

abri antiaérien pendant la nuit.

*

Mrs Olive Day opens the curtains of her bedroom in the basement of her South 

Kensington home. Unfortunately, as the glass has recently been knocked out of 

the windows by a nearby air raid, Mrs Day cannot see outside, as oiled linen 

has been stretched across the window frame in place of the missing glass. 

Her cat ‘Little One’ watches her from the bed.

Mrs Olive Day ouvre ses rideaux, la fenêtre a été cassée par un raid aérien et 

remplacée par un tissu en lin. Son chat Little One la regarde depuis le lit.

*

Mrs Olive Day opens her window to let some air, and light, into her South Kensington 

home. The window panes have been replaced by oiled linen stretched over the frame, 

as the glass was knocked out by a nearby bomb a short while ago.

*

Mrs Olive Day collects the milk and newspapers from the top of the steps leading down to 

the basement of her South Kensington home. The buckets that can be seen on the street 

at the top of the steps contain sand and water and are provided in case of fire bombs.

Mrs Olive Day va chercher le lait et le journal posés en haut des escaliers qui 

mènent au sous sol. Les seaux contiennent du sable et de l’eau et 

étaient fournis en cas de bombe incendiaire.

*

Mrs Olive Day enjoys tea, toast and the morning papers at the breakfast table in the 

centre of her South Kensington sitting room. Behind her, evidence of air raids can be 

seen in that two panes of glass are missing from the window and have been replaced 

with boards and the other panes have criss-crosses of tape on them to prevent 

the glass from shattering, should the area suffer another air raid.

Mrs Olive Day boit son thé en lisant le journal dans son salon, certaines 

vitres de la fenêtre ont été cassées par une bombe, les autres sont 

recouvertes de scotch pour éviter les éclats.

*

Mrs Olive Day shakes her duster out of one of the back windows of her South Kensington 

home. Every visible window of her house, and of the houses alongside, bears witness to the 

air raids that have occured in the last few weeks. There is not one window that remains 

unaffected in someway and all are either fully or partly boarded, have had the broken 

glass replaced by oiled linen, or have existing glass criss-crossed with tape.

Mrs Olive Day secoue son plumeau à la fenêtre.

*

Mrs Olive Day spends half an hour or so on the housework before she leaves for work. 

Here we see her polishing the bannisters. Above her head, we can see a large 

patch of missing plaster on the ceiling, caused by a nearby air raid.

Mrs Olive Day fait le ménage pendant trente minutes avant de partir au travail.

*

Mrs Olive Day rolls away a rug that was on the staircase of her South Kensington home. 

All carpets have been removed and asbestos laid in their place, in an attempt to combat 

fire bombs. Behind her, part of the window has been boarded up, with the rest 

of the panes have criss-crosses of tape across the glass.

Des plaques d’amiante ont été posées sur les sols pour réduire le risque 

d’incendie dû aux bombes incendiaires.

*

Mrs Day points to a hole in the ceiling where a fire bomb recently came through

into her South Kensington home. Scorch marks can be seen 

on the ceiling next to the hole.

Mrs Olive Day montre un trou dans le plafond par lequel une bombe 

incendiaire est récemment passée.

*

The top floor of Mrs Day’s South Kensington home is no longer in use. Here we see 

an empty room with a bowl on the floor to catch any drips of rain water that 

may come in through the bomb-damaged ceiling.

Les bombardements ont créé des gouttières.

*

Mrs Day makes her bed in the basement of her South Kensington home before 

leaving for work. The top floor of her house is no longer in use.

Mrs Olive Day fait son lit qu a été déplacé au rez de chaussée, 

l’étage étant trop dangereux.

*

Mrs Day clears the grate in the sitting room of her South Kensington home. She is 

careful to sort the cinders from the ash, so that the cinders can be re-used in 

the grate and so that the ash can be added to the garden as a fertiliser.

Mrs Olive Day nettoie le foyer de la cheminée, elle met de coté les 

charbons pour les réutiliser.

*

Mrs Day makes up a bunk in the air raid shelter in the cellar of her South Kensington 

home. The bunks are kept ready in case any night raids force her to spend the night in 

the shelter. The bunk will hopefully mean that she spends the night in some comfort !

Mrs Olive Day fait le lit de camp placé dans son sous-sol dans lequel elle 

ira dormir en cas d’alarme de raid aérien.

*

Mrs Day separates cardboard and tin from her household rubbish, ready for 

salvage, outside the basement of her home in South Kensington, London.

Mrs Olive Day trie ses déchets.

*

After lunch, Mrs Day sets out to do her weekly shop on the King's Road in 

Chelsea. She walks past several women with prams and a member of the 

RAF as they queue to the left of a large furniture store. 

Mrs Olive Day fait ses courses hebdomadaires, elle passe devant 

un magasin d’ameublement.

*

Mrs Day stops to look in the window of a shop to see what is available to her this week. 

Mrs Olive Day regarde dans la vitrine d’une boutique les produits disponibles.

*

A shopkeeper stamps Mrs Day's ration book during her shopping trip on the Kings Road 

in Chelsea. In the foreground can be seen the tea, sugar, 'national butter', margarine, 

cooking fats and bacon she is allowed for one week.

L’épicier tamponne le carnet de rationnement de Mrs Olive Day, on voit sur la photo 

le thé, le sucre, la margarine, le gras et le bacon qui lui sont alloués pour la semaine.

*

Mrs Day, helped by the female conductor, jumps on the bus that will take her to work. 

Mrs Olive Day monte dans le bus qui l’amène au travail.

*

Mrs Day and colleagues work at one of many filing cabinets in the office. According to
the original Ministry of Information caption, Mrs Day works as a 'girl clerk in a war-time 

organisation' and that filing takes up most of her time. The caption goes on to say that 

she works Monday to Friday between 10am and 6pm, but that as this photograph 

was taken on a Saturday, she would be finished by 2pm. It also states that '

if there is a rush of work, she will work Sunday as well.

Mrs Olive Day au travail comme secrétaire dans une « organisation reliée à la guerre ». 

Elle travaille en semaine de 10h à 18h et le samedi juqu’à 14h.

*

Mrs Day puts her dinner into the oven after a busy day. The Ministry of Food 

encouraged people to cook their entire meal in the oven as a way to save fuel.

Mrs Olive Day prépare son dîner.

*

Mrs Day sets the table in preparation for the evening meal in the sitting room of her
South Kensington home. She is expecting her naval husband Lt Kenneth Day to arrive
home on leave, so the table is set for two and a vase of flowers has been added.

Mrs Olive Day met la table pour deux, son mari doit rentrer ce soir là en permission.

*

Mrs Day runs to greet her husband Lieutenant Kenneth Day at the door of 

her South Kensington home as he arrives home on leave.

Le lieutenant Kenneth Day arrive chez lui en permission, 

Mrs Day l’accueille à la porte.

*

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