大象传媒

Wartime memories of Waltham Abbey, Essex

Edited oral history interview with Mrs. Dorothy Chiswell (n茅e Young) conducted by Jenny Ford on behalf of Bedford Museum.

鈥業 was born on October 23rd 1918. I鈥檇 be 20, something like that when the war started. I wasn鈥檛 married then so that I had the papers come for doing war work. I had to do - well my father had a farm so I was at home. And that is when I did Fire Watching and that is the whistle. I had to be 鈥� men were on their own at night 鈥� but women because they came over, the German bombers came over their aim was of course, was to hit the gunpowder factory you see in Waltham Abbey. They did have minor hits but never direct.

I did the fire watching in the road I lived in - with another girl. Women or girls went in twos, and men worked on their own you see. But I only did that - it could only have been a short while because then I had to do other work you see. So I did that for a while at night with another woman, you know. It was during that period, the Baptist Minister鈥檚 son who lived near was home from the Air Force, his name was David Bishop, he was one of a twin. The fire bombs, just before we knew there were explosives in them, they fell on the farm and David and I rushed out and we put them out. He threw his Air Force overcoat over them. Unhappily when he went back he was killed. There were other bombs dropped on the farm. They dropped them in strings of bombs. Some fell in Epping Forest which we (the farm) adjoined in Waltham Abbey. And a number fell near us. We were in the shelter one night, mother, father, my sister and I 鈥� one, you hear them whistle, two and you think where is the third one going 鈥� and it goes over in the field, over us.

We had two shelters, one inside and one outside. Why father put it at the end of the garden which we had to run all the way down, I don鈥檛 think he ever realised the danger. And we had to run down a very long garden which my mother said, 鈥業t should have been much closer to the house鈥� you see, but it wasn鈥檛! And then eventually the water came in there and we had a Morrison shelter. It was an Anderson shelter in the garden, a Morrison shelter in the sitting room which was a large sitting room. But I always refused to go under it, which annoyed my mother very much. And she had a rather nice Queen Anne style coffee table which was slightly higher than a modern coffee table, I don鈥檛 know what you鈥檇 call it, but she would insist that I slept with my head under it! I always wondered what was the use of saving my head if the rest went, you see. But to satisfy my mother and of course when a bomb did fall near it all shook. We had German propaganda sheets dropped on the farm.

We did eventually have a rocket fall in the Abbey and blast is a peculiar thing. It can miss lots of houses. It depends what line you are in for the blast 鈥� it took a lot of the windows out of Waltham Abbey 鈥� beautiful windows which now remain plain glass because they are too expensive 鈥� but there are a lot of lovely ones left. And it came down. It didn鈥檛 damage anything in lots of roads because the blast went straight down. You can鈥檛 explain how it does it but our house 鈥� oh, probably a mile away, was facing up the road - although all the houses down the road were perfectly alright. Our house 鈥� mother and I had just cleaned the house out ready for my sister鈥檚 boyfriend to visit for the first time from the Army. My sister had gone to Waltham Cross so we didn鈥檛 know how she was 鈥� he was at Waltham Cross and had to walk back through all the rubble but it fell in the middle, do you understand? So they were both alright! There were people killed, they were in the Government House to do with the powder mills and they had only moved 鈥� I don鈥檛 think there were many because the people in the white house had moved out the week before so they had a lucky escape. But it did kill some people and some children.

Yes, it took 鈥� it was very peculiar I鈥檝e never seen anything like it 鈥� hairclips and things floated in the air. My mother and I weren鈥檛 in the front of the house fortunately. It went out and then it went in again, so it didn鈥檛 fall down but it had to be shored up you see quickly. It didn鈥檛 fall. Peculiar thing, the blast went in and out you know and in again. I don鈥檛 know what happens. We were behind the dining room by the dresser in the kitchen. We were standing by the cooker. But I鈥檝e never forgotten the things floating in the air for that moment. Where the door was, because the door was there and you wouldn鈥檛 believe it, they appear from somewhere, the cracks or something you see. There was a lot of damage done then and people very near were killed.

My father was a farmer so he just did Fire Watching at nights because his work was reserved. Evidently I bought the stirrup pump, afterwards they offered it to me. I expect father wanted it to put any fires out on the farm, otherwise I can鈥檛 see any reason why I bought it you see.

Well they would want you really to go into the powder mills but I didn鈥檛 want that. And I did want to go into the Women鈥檚 Services but you see my boyfriend at the time, which was later my husband, he said, 鈥榃ell if you do, you鈥檒l be away when I鈥檓 home and I shall be away and we shall never see each other because it鈥檚 very unlikely鈥�. He was at sea you see and that. So I decided, well I don鈥檛 want to go in the powder mills and I won鈥檛 do that and then the Bank Manager wanted me to go into the Midland Bank and I didn鈥檛 really want that. Then I could go in what they called the Control Centre which was very near the powder mills, right near where the rocket fell but I wasn鈥檛 on duty at that time. So I joined the Civil Defence (c. 1940) and I was in the Control Centre. That was in the phones to send out the Services, Ambulances, etc. and things like that and take messages where the Germans were coming over, where they were.The Control Centre was outside the powder mills, between the Abbey and the gun powder mills and was for the whole town. The Depot with the Ambulances was further away, about half a mile away. You did 12 hour shifts I did mainly day work but when my husband was in hospital I said, 鈥楥ould I do mainly night work?鈥� So that I could go and see him wherever he was, which took me all day long to get there and back because the buses were not very good. I did accept a few unfortunate lifts but being young I could cope with it. Because you are tempted to accept a lift. I hit men in the groin! How else would you get there? Sometimes the bus service was perhaps two hours apart and you鈥檇 just missed it so you had to stand about in the dark for two hours and I of course never told him about these experiences but anyway. We had got married on the 8th of March 1942.

I kept on working, I think women up to 40 had to do it, were expected, and if they hadn鈥檛 got any children, definitely. If they had got children I think they were excused if they were young children. But other than that all women up to 40 had to do some war work even if it was only making buttons or rolling bandages and things at hospitals and that which my mother did.

Our uniform at the Control centre was a skirt and jacket of thick, heavy, navy blue material. We wore a blouse underneath. We wore a navy blue beret with the badge on it. Of the people I worked with I鈥檓 afraid there was a surviving one who has since died, there was one that I don鈥檛 know of and another one. The others have all died.

Mostly I did nights, there were 12 hour shifts you see, 12 hours on and 12 hours off. There were usually four, two older ones and then two younger ones on each shift in the Control Centre. They were very good to me. You know the older ones used to say, 鈥榊ou lay down Dorothy鈥� on this palliasse mattress. Mind you that was straw and two tin hats on the floor and you lay this palliasse mattress down and they said, 鈥榊ou have a sleep under the phones, so you can go tomorrow. We鈥檒l look after the phones.鈥� They would shut me in one of the rooms. They were OK if you got on with the right people they would say that which was nice of them wasn鈥檛 it? Occasionally they would send me home early and of course they鈥檇 say 鈥業f there鈥檚 a raid you must come back at once.鈥� I鈥檇 got a bicycle you see. It only happened once. Oh, I was just getting undressed and of course I had to rush back on my bicycle and it wasn鈥檛 until I got there that I was minus something that I should have been wearing. They all roared with laughter because I had to be there the rest of the shift with minus something. Laughter! You can guess what! When you look back you can see the funny things that happened but you can laugh and see it. But you know it was nice.

On March 5th 2000 in Chelmsford Cathedral they decided that we had never been thanked for our War Service you see! I know it鈥檚 a bit late in the day and they decided! I had a letter came and we went. This was the Order of Service, so I went to the Service.

We had a different gas mask to what the general public got. I think it鈥檚 rather strange. My friend who was in the Red Cross had the job of checking the old people with their gas masks during the war. So she went to one old lady in Waltham Abbey and she said, 鈥楥an I see your gas mask?鈥� that was checking you see that she knew how to put it on. 鈥業 don鈥檛 know where it is?鈥� 鈥楤ut 鈥� she said, 鈥榶ou carry that box everywhere you go, where is it?鈥� She said, 鈥極h, my dear that鈥檚 not my gas mask that鈥檚 my Bible in there!鈥�

When they dropped that rocket in Highbridge Street, several men were blown to smithereens so there has never been any resting place for them. It must have been 1939/40. They asked would those of us who remembered would we go to the church. They felt that something should be done in memory, no grave, nothing and no recording of them and that is the paper that 鈥� so a few of us who remembered went to the Service. So we went there to commemorate, for there to be some finish and it had been all that time and no one had done anything about it.鈥�

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