大象传媒

I volunteered for the WAFF when I turned 21 in 1940 and was put into the kitchens as a cook and butcher I worked in many places during the war such as Gloucester, Hereford, and Norwich. I also met people of many nationalities other than British, the two which stand out the most are the Americans and Australians they were always fun and a good laugh to be around. One of my first memories of the realities of war was when we were on a train to one of our postings, as we passed through each station more carriages kept being added to the train. We were wondering what was happening when a soldier came down the train and asked us girls if we wouldn鈥檛 mind coming down to entertain the men, we agreed and it was then that we discovered that these were carriages full of wounded soldiers being taken to military hospitals to recover. So we stayed and had a laugh with them as best we could, but it really brought home to us the sacrifices these men had made and meant that we were even more determined to go about caring for them the best we could.
The train we were on was taking us girls to Bottesford in Nottinghamshire and it was here that we were to look after the men on the RAF camp there. During my time there we had some laughs and always tried to keep our spirits up. There were American Air-force men there, as well as the British, we all got on well though and had fun, some girls having a little more fun than others!
But it wasn鈥檛 all laughs, we had to work hard as well, I was a cook and a butcher, but that didn鈥檛 get me out of the sewing and mending jobs, everyone took their turn. I remember if you were on washing, you鈥檇 have to remember to take your tuppence with you as if the plug was gone you could use the tuppence to plug the sink. Then on domestic night we had to mend the socks and any worn through clothes, some of us were lucky enough to have little darning machines which made our lives much easier. As we got used to the work we also learned little tricks to make things last longer, for instance an old meat bag from the kitchen comes in very handy for fixing a worn through pair of pants!
Some times life was hard, I remember one time when one of the girls in our Nissen hut died of Diphtheria we were all quarantined to our hut, so we resorted to singing songs to keep our spirits up. In times like those it really helped to have close colleagues and friends around you to keep you going. Although sometimes all you want around you is your family, I was quite lucky as I lived fairly close, so when I was at my wits end from being stuck in that hut I managed to escape! I snuck out of the back of the hut and managed to get a lift with a Yankee on the road I got him to take me to Nottingham Station and then caught a train home to Leicester. I told my Dad I was on leave, but it was just so nice to be home in familiar surroundings.
However, probably the best thing to come from my time in the WAFF was my time in the kitchens. Not because of the exhaustive book of recipes we were given, although I hate to think of a time when I鈥檇 need to cook portions of 100+ ever again, I鈥檝e still got the book and my darning machine! It was because this was where I met my husband. All the lads called me half-pint because I looked so small peering out from behind the hot-plate while serving them dinner. Well, whether it was my cooking or the fact he had to look so hard to see me, my husband and I really did fall in love over the hot-plate!

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War website by Sarah Tack of the CSV Action Desk on behalf of Mrs. G Walpole and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.

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