大象传媒

June 1940. My father had rejoined the Merchant Navy, my Mother & I were continuing to run the greengrocery business in the Town market. My father was employed on the London Boats, which sailed between the islands and the mainland with cargo. This particular day they arrived in Guernsey, he said they鈥檇 had orders this was their last trip, they would not be returning. Each member of the crew was allowed to take their family with the allowance of one suitcase each. I remember sailing one night and we arrived in Plymouth it was still dark. A few of the families had relatives and places to go. There were just ourselves & one other family left & we asked a taxi driver if he l knew of any lodgings for the time being, he said most places were full, but his wife might put us up for a couple of nights, this was Mr & Mrs Walter gent. We were there for quite a few weeks but eventually rented a house in Plymouth because the owners wanted to evacuate to Cornwall but were not allowed to leave their house empty, because of the danger of fire bombs. I got a job in a Jewellers & Fancy Goods shop & worked there till it was bombed, we helped the shop owner salvage as much as possible out of the rubble. My next job was in a pram factory, which had been set up in a disused cinema, it was still the days of upholstered prams, so this was my job. Then the Plymouth telephone exchange were advertising for people to train as telephone operators. I applied, was successful, & remained there until the war ended. In between all that I married & had a daughter. My husband Cyril Marshall younger brother of Mrs Gent. He served first in the Devon Reg. then transferred to the R.E.鈥檚 port construction co & finished up serving in Holland & Germany. The shop owner was Mr Isadore Cohen, Frankfurt St, Plymouth, the pram factory Fore St, Devonport. Telephone exchange Charles Cross, Plymouth. I鈥檝e still got my code book

S Marshall
27/4/005

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