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This story was submitted to the People’s War website by Sarah Butcher of the CSV Action Desk at ´óÏó´«Ã½ Hereford and Worcester on behalf of Mrs Luana Wren and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site’s terms and conditions.

Luana Wren left school at 15 just before the war began, and as war broke out enrolled at Studley College in Warwickshire to study Horticulture. She was technically a year too young to attend but as her sister was already setting an exemplary record at the college the Head decided that Luana may be admitted a year early. After taking the junior RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) exam Luana came first in the entire country, receiving a medal for her efforts, but was not allowed to take the senior exam at that time due to her young age.
Studying horticulture was extremely hard work; it was not just a case of arranging flowers! The subjects covered were diverse and complex and at the same time the students had to tend to the extensive gardens at the college, digging, looking after the plants and fruit and tending the greenhouses also.
In her 2nd year at the college Luana also had to look after a winery, and when the weather was very hot and the students got very thirsty while working they would attach a knife to a stick and try to cut down a bunch of grapes to alleviate their thirst. The problem once they were cut down was that they couldn’t easily be reached to pick up off the floor.
Luana stayed at Studley for 3 years, she remembers that during an air raid they would all go into the cellars where they had bunks set up and would watch in amusement as the pipes rattled and shook above them. While at the college Luana was part of a group that had to make up entertainment for the other students as well as the locals at the Studley farm, including their sons who were extremely popular with all the girls! Sadly their one son was lost in the desert during the war, which led to a feeling of immense sadness among everyone who knew them.
One night Luana remembers seeing a myriad of bright colours in the sky during one particularly bad bombing raid, which turned out to be the fierce pounding that Coventry suffered. The next day on the radio the ‘Coventry Carol’ was played, which to this day makes her sad if she hears it, despite the fact that she loves the piece.
They sent wonderful produce up from the college to supply the war effort, exotic foodstuffs such as melons, cucumbers etc, as well as knitting mittens for the troops. Luana managed to horrify her mother while at home for the holidays when after finishing her cup of tea she threw the dregs in the fire! She quickly had to explain to her mother that that was what was done at college! While at home her mother was also terrified that German parachutists would land on the flat roof of the church tower so she sent the girls to camouflage it with sticks and foliage. One night however they were woken to a scrabbling noise and her mother was convince they were being invaded, however after closer inspection it turned out to be a peacock and some peahens going about their business on the roof!
Also Luana’s brother was in the Home Guard in her native Derbyshire, and he had an extremely important job protecting the local dams that were being used to train the Dambusters for their vital missions during the war.
After her sister left Studley College she returned home to Derbyshire to grow food to supply the local steelworks where their father worked. Luana joined her after completing her studies, but her dream was to achieve her National Diploma in Horticulture so she applied to Kew Gardens and began working in a gang where she quickly discovered they had to do all the ‘donkey work’. Ladies hadn’t been at Kew except during the wars and some of the men were quite vocal about their opinion of women and where they ‘belonged’. One RAF officer in particular stated that he considered a woman’s place to be ‘in the kitchen’. Consequently, one night the girls embroidered his apron with flowers and added lace to it to demonstrate what they thought of his opinions! The next morning he exclaimed ‘Good Lord!’ when he approached his peg and was later spotted hiding in the orchid house trying to unpick the stitching before anyone else noticed! He was less vocal about his opinions after that.
Luana stayed at Kew for nearly 2 years, finally achieving her National Diploma in Horticulture.
After the war, the Royal Family visited and Luana somehow found herself at the front of the crowd. Queen Mary was in a wheelchair and Luana felt sure that as she passed by, the Queen would give her a poke with her stick!

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