大象传媒

RATION BOOKS TO GUN TURRETS

When war broke out in 1939 I was working in a Grocers shop in Swindon. Everyone was issued with a Ration Book, which then had to be registered at a shop of your choice. I was put in charge of this registration and it turned out to be quite a task. Families were much larger in those days and some families had as many as eight or ten books. If there were any problems, I would have to accompany the people to the Food Office where an official sorted it out.

The following year (1940) I went to work for Marks & Spenser (M&S). A new directive was issued that all M&S stores were to have a Roof Spotter, to identify enemy planes, so that the staff could remain working until any report of danger. As I was the only one to show any interest, I got the job!
After a week of intensive training at College, Observations posts and Aerodromes, I qualified. Having a photographic memory was a big advantage as I soon became very good at recognising the silhouettes of all types of aircraft. When the air raid sirens sounded, I would dash to the top of the building carrying my red and green flags and a whistle. The shop staff had been ordered to stay at their counters until I gave the signal that I had spotted enemy aircraft, then, they were allowed to go to the air raid shelter.
McIlroys store, which was further up Regents Street in Swindon, could not have a Roof Spotter as the roof was gabled. They solved the problem by having a member of their staff looking down to me over the rooftops, and I would signal them as well so that their staff could also take shelter from a potential enemy bombing raid.
Normally a porter from M&S would accompany me up onto the roof, but on one particular day he had gone home to lunch, so I was on my own. I had just reached the roof when I spotted a German plane flying low over Regent Street! It was a cloudy day but I could see the German markings quite plainly. With my flags and whistle I gave my signals so that staff could run to the air raid shelters. I stayed on the roof watching the plane going towards the Railway Station where it was fired at until it was out of sight. Later I was hauled over the coals by my boss for not getting down off the roof 鈥� I had not seen any danger to myself!

The first bombs to land anywhere near me, was in the middle of the night. My older sister, who I shared a bedroom with, was shaking me and shouting 鈥淲ill you wake up, we have to get Mum鈥�. I thought the noise was thunder but my sister was very scared and told me it was bombing. I went along the landing to try to get to my parents room but part of the ceiling had collapsed. I remember feeling the pain as my bare feet came in contact with the debris. We discovered that the bombs had landed just a couple of fields away from our house.
The next time bombs fell on Swindon was a fine Saturday morning. One of my brothers was home on leave from the Air Force and we were in the garden when we heard a plane approaching. I said that it sounded like a 鈥楯erry鈥� plane, my brother said it didn鈥檛. He bet me half a crown (12.5pence in today鈥檚 money 鈥� but it could buy so much more in 1940) that it was not a German plane. The bombs did fall on Drove Road that morning and I won my bet, but I was very sorry to hear later that a lady I knew had been killed.

The next phase in 鈥楳y War鈥� when I became eighteen I had to swop shop work for war work to contribute to the war effort. I would have liked to have joined the Women鈥檚 Air Force but my Father said no. In those days, even at eighteen, we did as our parents said! So, I went to work at Marine Mountings which was in Bradley鈥檚 Builders Yard in Okus road. The original factory in Yate, Nr Bristol, had been bombed. Later, Marine Mountings built a new factory at Wroughton which we all moved into. We were making gun turrets for Orlican guns which were later mounted on Motor Torpedo Boats.
We worked very long hours 鈥� seventy two hours most weeks, usually working two weeks on days and two weeks on nights. I remember going to work in the dark and coming home in the dark. Despite the hard work I am glad that I worked there as we made our own fun and I made many very good friends.
More importantly, I met my husband at Marine Mountings. He had volunteered for the Army but was discharged on health grounds in 1941. We married in 1944 and had 3 children and 41 years of happiness together.

By some miracle, my five brothers all survived their years in the Forces. There were many times when we did not hear anything from them for weeks on end and we all, especially my Mother, had to be brave and optimistic.
One legacy I was left from the war years is that I am now profoundly deaf, probably caused by the constant noise of machinery at Marine Mountings.
Story written by Doris May Fry.
Story edited and submitted by Paula Phillips.

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