Tomorrow, Bermuda will honour its war heroes with a solemn ceremony, a moment of silence, the haunting strains of a lone bugler.

Around 80 Bermudians lost their lives in the World War I and 35 in the World War II.

The ex-servicemen from World War II are now mostly in their 70s and there are no known surviving Bermudian veterans of the 1914-18 conflict.

However, there are a few Bermudians who still carry with them stories of war-time Bermuda.

Gwendolyn Smith, who turns 91-year-old today, has lived through both World Wars and vividly remembers what life was like during those dark days.

Casting her mind back to 1914, Mrs. Smith recalled life being very difficult during World War I.

"I lived on a farm, owned by some rich people, near Gibbons Island (near the Police Beach),'' she said. "We had a garden, so we were all right. There was rations back then, rice was very hard to get.

"During the war I worked in a tomato factory, I was only about nine or ten-years-old. I used to stand and put a little salt into the cans. There was a line of people and each one would do something different.

"After I finished there I would go and help the rich family's mother prepare vegetables for their dinner.'' Mrs. Smith said Bermuda would send vegetables and other items abroad to help with the war effort.

"We even had a Grain Growers Association during the first war,'' she recalled. "It was very hard for some people during those days.'' And to compound matters, Mrs. Smith said the flu plague struck Bermuda around the time of the war.

"We children would have to go down to Whitney Institute to get medicine and soup,'' she explained. "They would give you enough medicine for each family.

Thank the Lord, we never lost anyone in my family to the plague.

"But if someone had it, they would get a black chicken, cut it open and put the person's feet in the chicken and wrap it up in a towel. People believed that it would break the fever.'' Mrs. Smith said there was a "big difference'' between living through World War I and World War II thanks to advances in technology.

"The second war you got more things than during the first one,'' she explained. "Supply ships brought goods in so everyone fared pretty well.

"But there were rations,'' she added. "Sugar and flour were the hardest things to get. People who had cows or chickens of their own made out all right.

"For Christmas, a family would kill an animal and whatever meat they were not going to use for Christmas dinner they would salt it and put it in barrels.

"And once you got your rations, if they were perishable, you had to buy ice because we didn't have any refrigerators back then,'' she reminisced. "The man would go around selling ice from his trolley. He would cut a block for you and you had to put it in a container. Once you got it inside, you had to wrap it up tight and that block would last you well into the evening of the following day.'' Despite the `modern conveniences' Mrs. Smith admitted that there were plenty of dark days during World War II.

"It was a sad time, just like someone had died,'' she said. "We had to paint the windows dark blue so that no light could be seen by passing ships.

"The men only got two shillings and sixpence for working as soldiers and there was a curfew. Everyone had to be inside by a certain time.'' And she said a wave of elation swept the Island the moment news reached that the war was over.

"One day all of a sudden I heard all of these ships blowing their horns,'' she recalled. "I was so frightened, I didn't know what was going on. I grabbed my son and pedalled home quickly on my bike. As soon as I got home someone stopped me and asked me if I had heard the news -- the war was over.

"People were so happy,'' she chuckled. "What a celebration.'' In 1948, just after World War II, 19-year-old Hank Gilham, of Hatfield, England, was posted to Bermuda for a one-year-stint.

Fifty years later, Mr. Gilham returned to the Island to visit his old stomping grounds and to catch up with friends he made a half-century before.

Prior to his departure, Mr. Gilham spoke to The Royal Gazette about his time in post-war Bermuda. "Bermuda was one of the most sought-after postings in the British Army,'' he pointed out. "On June 8 I arrived at the Dockyard in Bermuda.

"The Dockyard at the time was a very important Naval base and was home to the American and West Indies Squadron. HMS Sheffield , nicknamed the `Shiny Sheff' was the flagship.'' Mr. Gilham said the West End of the Island was a beehive of activity even after World War II came to a close.

"Dockyard was alive with sailors and ships,'' he reminiscence. "It looked just as it does now.'' And he said that the younger generation would barely recognise the Island which was covered with lush vegetation.

"There were very few cars and a lot of push cycles back then,'' he recalled.

"There were fewer houses and about half the population.'' He added: "There was always something happening in Bermuda, ceremonial parades were quite frequent. I remember the visit of the `Home Fleet', The Duke of York battleship was the flagship along with 12 other ships. Hamilton was awash with sailors, 4,000 in number.'' But Mr. Gilham said his fondest memory was the return of the majestic liner Queen of Bermuda on February 14, 1949 after war service.

"Ten thousand people packed Front Street that Monday morning to welcome her back home,'' he said. "It was quite a sight.'' During his year-long tour-of-duty in Bermuda, Mr. Gilham was stationed at the barracks in Prospect.

"A soldier's pay at the time was seven shillings and sixpence a week, so we couldn't afford to go places like the Eagle's Nest or the Bermudiana Hotel, but we still had some great times.

"Saturday afternoons would always be a visit to Hamilton for a little shopping and onto the Bermuda Service Club for refreshments,'' he recalled.

"In the evening we would sometimes go to the Bermuda War Veterans Club and play bingo, if we had a win, it would be down to the `Eat Shoppe' for ham and eggs and a taxi back to Prospect -- the fare was three shillings.

"If we didn't win it would be back to Prospect -- by the left, quick march.'' Photo courtesy of the Bermuda Archives: Photographic Collection A STROLL DOWN MEMORY LANE -- Soldiers on parade on Front Street, Hamilton, in 1918.