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This story was submitted to the People's War site by the Dunstable At War Team on behalf of the author and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

My first recollection of the war happened when I was sitting under the trees in Grove House Gardens. I heard a bomb explode and saw a plane circling around; I think the bomb hit the Vauxhall plant in Luton.

I used to attend the church in Union Street where many evacuees were sent before being billeted around the town. I lived with my parents and we had evacuees and several other people staying with us that worked at the Met Office, in fact, we’re still in touch with some of them now.

We always wondered when dad would be called up. When he eventually received his papers he didn’t pass his medical fitness test, which mother was very pleased about but he served in the Home Guard instead. Luckily enough his unit was based in the golf club house on the top of Dunstable Downs; I think they quite enjoyed themselves up there!

My father also received a letter telling him that he had to go and do some kind of war work and was allocated a job at the Empire Rubber Company. He was made a foreman in the industrial trimming shop but he also used to bring home stacks of rubber work. We’d help him trim windscreen wipers and all sorts of other things. However, in 1936 he’d started selling insurance, so my poor mother had to do this insurance round every week. Sometimes I went with her and we cycled from Dunstable to Totternhoe, Eaton Bray, Eddlesborough, Stanbridge and Hockcliffe. On Friday evenings dad used to go with her and call on Houghton Regis and on Saturdays they went to Luton. I used to have to look after my sister, do the housework and get the dinner ready for their return. Mum was a seamstress and took in lots sewing, dressmaking and hat-work. For the hat making, she operated what was called a 17 guinea machine. Straw plaits were delivered to our house and she would sew them together to make hats. They were then picked up and taken to Luton to be ‘blocked’ — they were very fashionable in their day.

We were short of food in some ways but my dad had two allotments so we were never short of vegetables. Mum would cook potato and onion pie and we always had chickens in our garden and kept a cockerel for Christmas. Rabbits could be bought from the local farm and Mr H came from Luton on the bus. He used to come round to the back door of our house with a big suitcase full of things. I can’t remember what was in his suitcase but I don’t think he sold black market goods.

I left school in 1943 and went to work for Percival’s in Luton airport. They made Mosquito planes; it was quite exciting seeing these aeroplanes. I even managed to sit in the cockpit of the first Mosquito that was built on the production line! While I was there a V2 rocket came over and landed in Luton. It was very frightening because we could see the vapour trail just above our office block.

We had superb dances in Dunstable town hall. That was a lovely building and they had wonderful bands playing there. It used to cost 1 shilling and sixpence to go in, but my uncle was sometimes on the door and very often I got in for nothing!

I’d had training in London to become a comptometer operator and in 1945 I found out about a job that was going at A C Sphinx in Dunstable. As I was doing war work for Percival’s they weren’t allowed to release me, so I had to go to an industrial court in Luton. A C Sphinx represented me and I won the day and began work in their comptometer office.

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