大象传媒

This story has been submitted to the People's War website by Liz Andrew of the Lancshomeguard on behalf of sisters Annie Taylor and Eva Ashman has been added to the site with their permission.

We had three brothers in the Army 鈥� Arthur, George and Alan. Annie wanted to join the ATS 鈥� but when she went to the Labour Exchange she was told that, as we were weavers, we were in a reserved occupation and she didn鈥檛 DARE volunteer. Eva worked as a Jacquard weaver at the Chatterton Weaving Mill - weaving cloth for the War - Mattress covers and utility fabrics for chairs etc . When war broke out Eva was 21, Annie was 19 and sister Edna was 23.

Annie had to do firewatching. 鈥淭here was a room upstairs at the mill and we had to take turns in sleeping there 鈥� there were foldaway beds 鈥� camp beds - but when you came downstairs to make a brew you couldn鈥檛 move for cockroaches. But it was fun 鈥� we had some laughs.鈥�.

Eva remembers the Air Raid warnings 鈥� 鈥淲hen the sirens went we used to come home from the mill. We had to walk in a line and there was to be no running to the Air Raid shelter 鈥� by the time we got here we could have been bombed!!鈥�

It was just after midnight one night and all three sisters plus dad had gone to bed 鈥� though mother was still up. 鈥� We heard a bang and ducked under the bedclothes but mum shouted upstairs 鈥淏ombs are dropping, they鈥檙e German, I can tell.鈥� Our sister Edna was blown downstairs by the blast and it broke all the windows at the front of the house and jammed the front door. The Germans had dropped two landmines 鈥� they had mistaken the river Irwell for the River Mersey and thought they were bombing Liverpool! One bomb had dropped in a field and another in the river near the bridge. Dad didn鈥檛 get up 鈥� he said 鈥淚f I鈥檓 going to die, I鈥檒l die in bed.鈥�

鈥淲hen it came daylight we went to see what had happened and all the mill windows had been blown in. It was the same at the chip shop and the hardware shop. No one had been killed. All the people had black faces with the soot that had blown down the chimneys. People were all turning up at the Church Hall because their houses had been damaged, they were saying, 鈥淭he devil came down 鈥� but the Lord followed.鈥� It was funny because Ginny Hamilton sent us back to her house to fetch her false teeth 鈥� she鈥檇 left them on the top in her bedroom. !!鈥�

鈥淎ll the mill windows had blown in and we had to go in on a Saturday morning and clear up all the rubble and glass. We had to sweep and tidy. All the warps had been cut from the flying glass.鈥�

Annie went on a working holiday with eight others from work to Reigate in Surrey. 鈥淲e lived in tents and worked on a farm 鈥� it was part of our war effort. When we got to London there was an Air Raid and we had to walk to the next station. Alice and I took our clogs with us and when we went to work it caused a sensation! No one had ever seen them before.We had to hoe round the kale. Once the bombers came over us and the Ack Ack guns started up. We had to lie flat. When we were down there, there was a Dance and I remember some soldiers from Lancashire turned up to have a look at us. We came back blistered and I was so tired I fell asleep in the bath!鈥�

Eva lived in Holcombe brook and her husband was away. 鈥淗e had been called up and started with the Lancashire Fusiliers and then joined the 27th Lancers. He was at Dunkerque and then was posted to North Africa, Sicily and Italy. He ended up meeting up with the Russians in Austria. He was away for six and a half years. It was awful waiting for news. Letters would arrive two or three weeks out of date and half of them had been crossed out. But there were plenty of others like me.鈥�

鈥淚 remember once I left a light on in the bathroom when I came over to my mum鈥檚. The Police had to break in and turn it off. And I got a message at work that I was to report to Tottington Police Station. They gave me a caution and told me not to do it again!鈥�

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