大象传媒

I was 21 when WWII was declared and working in an office. I and the other female clerks were regarded as a reserved occupation. However, we still helped in the war effort. For my part, I attended a First Aid Post every Monday night.I can still recall those blackout times feeling quite wary walking up that tree and bush lined drive to the school which was being used as the FA Post with only a small torch to light my way. We slept on camp beds and hurried home next morning to wash and have breakfast before rushing off to work. I also did a little work on a ward in our local hospital.
In those days we enjoyed ourselves going off on hikes and cycle rides and with 3 other friends I had some happy weekends camping on a farm. We used our bikes and occasionally stayed at a youth hostel so we didn't need much money to have fun. Dancing, of course, was not only a happy time but interesting as you never knew what servicemen might be there in their different uniforms.
The highlight for me, of course, was meeting a Norwegian sailor at a dance in Newcastle and getting engaged. It was some months later that a phone call came saying his boat had arrived in Liverpool and he had 4 days leave. We managed to get a special licence and were married at the Norwegian church in North Shields. We didn't realise that day that it would be almost 3 years before we would see each other again.
My husband was on a Norwegian Corvette on the Russian Convoy Patrol and even letters were few and far between. Even though the end of the war came it took a while before he was demobbed in his own country. Living in Norway, as it had been under German occupation, was hard and difficult and eventually we started married life in Hertfordshire before we finally arrived in the North East again.We had 27 happy years together before he died.
As told to Lobley Hill Library staff.

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