大象传媒

When the sirens went, we lived in Middlesbrough and my Mam used to go to the nearest depot, she used to work there, on duty, to help the people who鈥檇 been bombed out, I used to help out occasionally, cause I was about 18 or 19 and I would be looking after the children and tried to find families to help look after the children, I remember babies crying, children screaming, it was very distressing! They used to connect the children with a family wherever possible. Sometimes they would come in and the blast would have blown all of the clothes off, they鈥檇 just have a blanket wrapped round. We used to have a pile of surplus clothing and we could always clothe the people, find them some clothes to wear, look after them in general and then try and put them in church halls until they were settled in, but it was a very distressing time. Especially when Glebe road, there were two houses flattened, and the church (St Paul鈥檚) was flattened. When bombs fell I never used to get out of bed coz I thought 鈥渋t won鈥檛 touch me,鈥� but when the bomb fell on St Paul鈥檚 I was in bed, all me mam鈥檚 windows came in, and I was out of that bed and first in the shelter after that, coz he was out to get me after that, in my mind! And my husband was in the reserved occupation he was an apprentice refrigerator engineer, which was scarce as gold dust in those days because all of the butchers all around the region needed him, he was always on duty, then he was in the home guard.
One night they got very enthusiastic and they nearly took the top off the Newport bridge, that was one night on duty, and then he used to live, there was a part of ICI called the British Oxygen company, well he walked, he left me in Middlesbrough, on the Tees bridge there were these great big oil drums, and when it was a clear moonlight night the soldiers used to set fire to these oil drums, and we鈥檇 come home covered in oil and grime and muck. Night after night he did that. We lived in a house in Middlesbrough, my old school was put down, we used to fire watch. You鈥檇 run with the sand and a tin hat, trouble is there were no photographs, I鈥檇 have looked like a right fashion icon. It was only on moonlit night these drums were lit. On hazy nights they couldn鈥檛 do it. But on clear nights the jerry could see exactly where we were going, he could look down and see ICI. But they had a wonderful air raid shelter there, it was concrete but covered in earth, it looked just like a piece of the garden, but it was horrible, full of creepy crawlies and all sorts of things. We used to have to get down there, but you didn鈥檛 realise what danger you were in, you just got on with your life because you didn鈥檛 have a choice. Only one time did we manage to get a week鈥檚 holiday and we went to Ovingham. And we used to go for weekends and spend it in these wooden huts, but during the war we lived in these huts! It was very primitive, believe you me!
St Paul鈥檚 church was gutted, it was a beautiful old church. And that was bombed.
When the war first came I was working in Stewarts Tailors, I got my call up and was all prepared to go into the Wrens, and my husband-to-be said, 鈥渨hat are you going away for when I鈥檓 here 鈥� I鈥檒l get you a job鈥�. He was working for an electrical engineer鈥檚, he said 鈥淚 can get you a job. So I went into the small apartment to work there, and let a man called Lance go into war 鈥� he was called up and I did his job. They used to take great big coils for armatures and seal them off, doing lots of taping and things, and then they used to be hauled up on a big trolley thing, they used to list them and take them to the ships and batter them to the ship鈥檚 engine: that鈥檚 what made the ships go round when the war was on, it was something quite different. I used to do some repairs, and that鈥檚 what I did so that I could let a man go to war. When a man went to war, I did his job, but I missed going to the Wrens. I often think if I went to the wrens my life would have taken a different path. But I don鈥檛 know, I鈥檒l never know! But I鈥檝e had a great life and I鈥檝e had three lovely kids.
It was an interesting job and it was funny because the fellas used to always laugh because the apprentices that we got in would stick the leads together so that I鈥檇 get an electric shock and that my hair would stick up to the ceiling 鈥� they were always playing tricks on me. And albert and I were presented with a Grandmother clock for our work in the company, I still have it til this day.

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