大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War site by Pam Vincent of Age Concern Shropshire Telford & Wrekin on behalf of Beryl Page and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

When I was 18, I went to Margaret Street in Birmingham. I was conscripted for two years. It was the girls in the Forces or factory work, in munitions, and the boys in the Forces or the mines. I went into the Army. In 1948 I had a King鈥檚 Shilling and I still have it. We were the peace time army. I had to serve two years. I was in the Royal Corps of Signals and took my training in Guildford. I worked on the switchboard at Warrington and at Uxbridge too. We backed onto gardens with apple trees and we used to scrump the apples sometimes.

In later years I went along to a Nautical Club in Birmingham. By coincidence, I happened to sit by a lady who was telling me about someone who used to pinch her apples and chase her chickens. She was amazed when I told her it was me. It was all innocent fun.

During the peace time Army they offered me a stripe, but I refused. I wanted to get out. I was sent to Guildford as part of a training unit. I was in the third platoon, second company, at the training centre in Guildford. They sent all the girls to Guildford and all the boys to Farnborough. I wanted to be a driver but I didn鈥檛 pass the test. So I trained to be a telephone operator. I was courting at the time and my boyfriend was at Farnborough. He couldn鈥檛 have been far away because he used to come down by train, once a week. He always used to tell me I looked funny in my uniform - it hadn鈥檛 been pressed!

I remember there was a river and I was walking there with my boyfriend on bonfire night. Oh, it did remind me of home and I cried. I really cried. I really missed home for the first few weeks. They gave you a nickname there and my name was Pip Paige. We began our days on parade at 6 o鈥檆lock in the morning, then breakfast at 7. Afterwards there was the telephone operator training and dinner was around about 12 o鈥檆lock. We learned the workings of being in the army. On parade, boys and girls were all mixed together. This one sergeant really bawled. They did bawl but they didn鈥檛 swear at us. I think I would have walked off if they had done. We were told 鈥淵ou girls are in the men鈥檚 army now and you needn鈥檛 think all the crying in all the world will help you out. You have to do the same as the men. If you don鈥檛 like it, tough!鈥� We used to have bands sometimes when on parade, when we were at ease, and it was lovely. I always respond to music. My legs used to be bending and we used to all be humming. The first church parade when we were at Guildford鈥� oh gosh, I had another cry there. I remember the song was 鈥淥nward Christian Soldiers Marching as to War, With the Cross of Jesus going as before鈥�. I couldn鈥檛 sing anymore. I was in tears.

When I passed my test to become a telephone operator I was transferred to Catterick Camp. It was a holding camp until they found us a permanent camp to go to. It was like being out of the army. War was over and they were being discharged. Catterick Camp was condemned then. We had to put our underclothes in bed with us or they would be wet in the morning. It was such a huge camp. There were buses running from the camp to Catterick town centre. I never did catch a bus because I could never find one. There were lorries that used to take you to Catterick town centre - one in the morning and one to pick up. We used to hitch. I was always in trouble for not wearing my hat. I hated my hat. I used to sit on it and everything to flatten it. There were irons but I never thought to iron my cap. I used to put my skirt, folded nicely, under the mattress. The irons were always either not working or someone else was using them.

Duties were usually in the kitchen, peeling spuds or washing up or some sort of cleaning, never the toilets thank goodness. I remember me and my friend going to the cinema at Catterick and it was absolutely full of soldiers. As we walked in, two soldiers asked us where we wanted to sit. We picked a seat and these soldiers had to move. I will say, nobody interfered with us. Of course when the film ended, there used to be a mad dash to get out but we were always allowed to get out first and then the men followed.

One time when I was at Catterick, my mum sent me a parcel and I had to find the mail department. The camp was so vast and there was nobody about to ask. Some soldiers poked their heads out of a window so I asked them, but I couldn鈥檛 follow the instructions. They said 鈥淥ver there!鈥� but I followed the path round and turned a couple of turns left and a couple of turns right and then couldn't find my way back. I did get my parcel in the end!

There was one thing my mother couldn't do and that was bake cakes or pastries. She sent me one of her home-made cakes and we used it as a doorstop, because it just wouldn鈥檛 cut. I used to make everybody laugh with her letters because she used to miss words out and I find I do the same sometimes.

We were encouraged to smoke in the war days and I used to smoke. I don鈥檛 remember how much in wages we used to have in the army, but I would like to find out. I used to have five cigarettes, probably a day or a week 鈥� I don鈥檛 know - but I could never really afford them. We used to have time off to go to the pictures or whatever. We could never afford bus fares. We would either walk it or hitch it. I made a friend called Celia Brackpool and she was the only one I knew who hadn鈥檛 got a nickname. Celia was from Crawley and she married a Brummie. I would love to hear from her again.

I was transferred from Catterick Camp to Blandford in Dorset. It was a beautiful camp, right in the country. It was on top of a hill and it overlooked the beautiful countryside. Celia and I were on duty, night duty, in the switchboard room. One should have been asleep whilst the other one stayed awake. We had two camp beds in the switchroom and one should be on the switchboard in case any calls came through. There was a toilet in this switchroom. This one morning I woke up early and the place was flooded. It wasn鈥檛 a big telephone room, but oh gosh! Celia used to read and I saw this book floating on the water. It was really deep, so I woke up Celia and we both got into a panic. The water reached to just below the switchboard and it would have come up to our thighs if we had opened the door. Of course the officers came running in. Somebody had thrown a brick or something through the window and those officers blamed it on us. Apparently the toilet was out of order. We got a telling off and I was ever so hurt and I did make a complaint because they blamed us for throwing the brick through the window and we didn鈥檛. Perhaps they thought it was just to get attention.

Soon after we were transferred to Uxbridge. That was near to London. It was a tube ride. Celia knew London because Crawley wasn鈥檛 too far away and there were other girls there who knew London too. We used to always go out in gangs 鈥� not really gangs but more than just two of us - to the NAAFI clubs in London and I was always in trouble for not wearing my hat. These NAAFI clubs were lovely. There used to be dancing and free cups of tea and hairdressing. The Military Police were always hanging around to see if we all behaved ourselves. I didn鈥檛 drink then. There were bars but I didn鈥檛 drink.

At Uxbridge there was a RAF station, at Hillingdon. It was a big house that had been let out to the RAF. This big house was up a country lane and you entered it by these beautiful big gates and the garden was gorgeous. There was an underground RAF plotting station. Whether there was a light to it, I don鈥檛 know, but we used to have to enter in the dark, follow the tunnel round and we got our instructions from someone who was monitoring the planes and we followed it on the map. It was ok, but the only thing that I was worried about was the going in and coming out. Once you were outside this room, there were no lights and it was a bit frightening. I never went on my own but it was still worrying.

All the time in the army, I will say it was good, clean, honest fun. We did overnight courses 鈥� I couldn鈥檛 see the point, but we just did it - we used to all get a palliase. Men and women used to sleep on the floor on these palliases and there were never any funny goings-on. We had always got something to laugh about. We were told never to make dates with the boys in the camp and the boys were told not to chat up us girls.

I think it was after we left Catterick Camp, we went and had a week in Wiltshire, by Stonehenge. It was all new to me because really I had never left Birmingham before. We had manoeuvres. I know it was long grass and we had to jump over stones and crawl in the long grass as if the enemy was approaching. The only entrance to the camp was at the back. I don鈥檛 think there was any frontage because we always had to go over railway lines to get into the barracks. Stonehenge wasn鈥檛 too far from the camp. We did a lot of training there with guns. It was all good clean fun. I used to sit on my hat and was always on charge for not wearing it.

Once I forgot to pass a message over to an officer that someone wasn鈥檛 going to meet him the next day. So I was transferred to Warrington. Celia came to join me later on. She had asked for a transfer. This camp was like a fortress. I have got a small photograph of three of us and we had hitched a lift from Warrington to Celia鈥檚 home in Uxbridge. There is writing on the back, not by me, and it says 鈥淏ernie, Pip and Celia off to a DWE鈥�, which means a dirty weekend! I remember the lorry driver picking us up and it was a long journey. He had to stop for the night because he was only supposed to be driving for about eight hours. Anyway, he paid for a meal and a room for us overnight until he picked us up again the next morning. He was so good. Bernie didn鈥檛 stay with us because it was near her home stop. It was a hotel and I think it was just meant for the overnight stops for the long distance lorry drivers. He dropped us at Uxbridge the next morning and we stayed at Celia鈥檚 home for about three days. We came back by train.

When we arrived at Warrington we were in what was like a big hut. We were in cubicles and Celia and I had a cubicle together. We were always tittering and we were told to shut up many a time! There was a girl there who was a driver and her surname was Balls. I remember that we had an invite from the soldiers鈥� camp. We were picked up by lorry to go to this camp. As we passed through the gate we had to give our surnames and she was in front of us. When asked for her surname she had to say 鈥淏alls鈥� and she had to keep repeating that it really was her surname. Another girl was called Pat and she always had trouble too. There was a Balls in front and a Pat behind! They used to say 鈥淒on鈥檛 swear at me鈥� and we all had to say 鈥淵es, that鈥檚 right. It is her surname鈥�. It was gorgeous at the soldiers鈥� camp. They all helped us off the truck and they escorted us in and we were allowed a drink and then the dancing started. There were all the girls at one end, not only from our camp 鈥� there were others - and then there were the boys from this camp. Whether they were celebrating because they were going to be demobbed, I don鈥檛 know. They came and would pick girls who weren鈥檛 dancing and we would twizzle everywhere. It was a smashing time. It ended at 10. Everything ended at 10.

Over the top of Burtons, the tailors, there used to be dancing. Burtons used to let a top floor out over the shop. Even in Birmingham they used to do that. Of course, we used to head for it.

Just outside Warrington there was an American camp. Being on the switchboard, we used to take it in shifts 鈥� morning shift, afternoon shift and evening shift. The Americans used to phone us up. One used to phone me up and he used to sing to me with his guitar. Once when I met him we bumped into some of his mates who were drunk. So he had to leave me and take them back to the barracks! He used to be ever so kind. He used to bring me nylons.

When we used to return from leave we always had to report to platform 7, I think it was, at New Street Station. You never knew the times of the train or anything. There were troop trains, no civilians allowed, and they were crowded.

I was discharged on 29 September 1949.

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