大象传媒

This story is written by Malcolm Mort, Cardiff Merchant Navy Association and is an account of the WW2 experiences of Miss Violet Gear, of Ely Cardiff and is published with her consent.

I was born in Splott in 1922 and started working at the Curran Hollow Wear factory at the age of 15. At first they did'nt have a particular job for me until somebody decided that I would make a good bucket eye tapper. On the old galvanized buckets there were two metal eyes to which the carrying handle was attached. So it became my job to tap them straight, and I dread to think how many I must have straightened in the time I was doing it.

I was 17 when the war started and I got moved to amunition production with Currans who were producing shell cases. This time the management told me that I was a good writer and a good thinker and offered me a checkers job. This involved walking about the factory production area and recording the times and reasons when and why the production machines were not in use. Such reasons covered mechanical and electrical breakdowns and the times spent in the shelters during bombing attacks. It was an important job which kept me very busy and the time passed quickly by.

During the war I lived with my parents and sister in Alfred Road, Ely. My father was a Firefighter who experienced many of the tragedies resulting from the bombing attacks.

Living in Ely, we were far enough away from the Dock and Industrial Areas not to be considered a worthwhile target. However there were anti aircraft guns at Ely Racecourse which were very noisy when used.

We worked three shifts at Currans, 6am to 2pm, 2pm to 10pm and thenight shift which was 10pm until 6am on the following morning.

The night shift caused us group of girls who travelled together the most inconvenience by compelling us to leave our homes at 8pm. We had to allow sufficient travelling time for any delays in travelling which might be caused by air raids. As much as people travelled to work by train, bus or on foot, Currans insisted that their employees arrived at the right time to commence their working shift, so as to keep production lines flowing.

On some occasions we got no further than Victoria Park before having to get off the bus or tram and go to the nearest air raid shelter when the air raid sirens sounded the approach of an air attack. After the 鈥渁ll clear鈥�, depending

on what happened or the damage caused, we either got back on the bus or tram, or continued our journey on foot. There were times when we had two air raid attack interruptions in the same journey and had to run to get to work on time. On other occasions, we had to find alternative routes which would enable us to walk to work. Although there was a small railway station at Currans, one day that was bombed. In another attack our workshop door was ripped off and resulted in damage to the production area. On some occasions the bombing attacks left us with little time to rest and sleep after work once we arrived back home, having had to walk part of the way after leaving the factory.

Inspite of the rationing, we had adequate food because my mother was a good cook who did not throw any food away from which another meal could be made. For example, on a Monday or Tuesday she would go to the market and buy a bacon hock. By using different vegetables we would get a couple of meals out of it. In addition, we had a large garden which my father made good use of, by growing potatoes, carrots, cabbages, cauliflower and anything else he could get the seeds for. At the side of the house he had a place where he grew strawberries, blackcurrants and raspberries. So we nearly always had something for sweet, or that my mother could use to make a tart. My father was the sort of person who believed in growing everything edible that he could in the garden.

Even though I was working, I used to help my mother care for my sister who was disabled by Rheumatoid Arthritis. In addition I was also a committee member of the Currans sports club on Penarth Road and took a keen interest in organizing events. On occasions we held social events to welcome our armed services people back home. Towards the end of the war we organized social trips to London. I got a lot of satisfaction out of what I did because it gave other people so much enjoyment and gave us something different to talk about, apart from our daily routine wartime factory life gossip.

Talking of happenings, I remember that on a number of occasions my mother opened up the doors of our local Baptist church to provide night accomodation for some of our injured troops. In particular I remember the bombed places in Grangetown and Corporation Road because we had to walk that way if for some reason we could not get into the centre of town.

We often talked about one of the factory nursing sisters named Curran, who used to look us up and down while we were working, to try and discover if anybody showed signs of being pregnant

I was present at the time of the Royal Visit to the factory by King George V1

After the war I still remained working for Currans, now on hollow ware. When I was in the printing room one day, knowing that I had an interest in painting, I was asked to paint something to celebrate the Queens Jubilee. The managemment accepted the flower design that I had painted on a saucepan and sent it to London. I was quite surprised to get a 拢10 award for my effort from the management.

In conclusion, I will always remember my mothers disapproval when I started working on the factory floor for Currans. However, I enjoyed my work and stayed with them for forty years.

With age my sight has deteriorated to such an extent that I now attend the Cardiff Institute For The Blind. However, it has not prevented me from still serving on our local church committee and I still lead an active life.

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