´óÏó´«Ã½

In 1939, war was declared. I was working for Captain Chamberlain who was a cousin of Neville Chamberlain. While I was working there, war was declared and we were all called down to the hall and when we got down there Captain Chamberlain was there and poured champagne for all the staff. He gave everyone a glass. Churchill said that war had been declared. It was a very moving moment. We drank the champagne and the Captain said 'drink this to the damnation of the Germans';. We all had a drink and then we went to bed.

I was aged around 18. I had already met a soldier who I met at the Red House, John Bone known as Jock. He was in the 5th Survey Regiment of hte Royal Artillery. This was a big house next to our row of around 8 council houses where I lived. The soldiers were stationed at the Red House. I went down to get my nieces in for bed for my auntie and I met a soldier and we made a date and I started to go out with him and we began a good friendship. We were seperated for 5 years during the war but were married soon afterwards. We were extremely happily married for 58 years.

A few weeks later we were walking from Hindon to Captain Chamberlain’s at Chicklade where I worked. Just as we got outside of Hindon, there was a battle above us. A plane came down and I was very frightened. I told my boyfriend, Jock, to take me back to my mother rather than go back to the Chamberlains as I was frightened of the enemy aircraft above. I went home and then went back to the Chamberlains’ in the morning. This was a frequent event. I remember a soldier that came out of a plane, he was a German and was walking about the village confused. He went to the policeman's house and they passed him to the authorities.

At night the sirens would go and we went to a shelter which was beside the houses but was not very safe. We would go in there and it was very strange because my brothers were in the navy and my brothers wouldn';t come out of bed as they were on leave. In the shelter Auntie Ada who lived in the end house would come with her false teeth in her hand and her bag with all her money in. My uncle always went outside with a cigarette and we had to go out to tell him to come in or they would see us. Several times bombs dropped a few miles away from us and it was very frightening, more so for my family because of the 6 of us, 3 brothers were in the navy and if any of them were on leave they wouldn't come down to the shelter.

I had to do war work. It was very difficult for me as I had my father and three brothers away in the navy and marines. My father and brothers refused to let me go in the forces because they said that I had to stay and look after my mother and 2 sisters. I wanted to go in the Naafi but they wouldn't let me. They said that I had to be there for my mother. So in the end I did war work at Chilmark in munitions. I did release bars for airoplanes and I belted ammunition. I became semi-skilled. We used to sit on the ammunition whilst the enemy were going above!

The only thing I did wrong - very wrong- was the fact that we had to be search for cigarettes. We were searched when we went down and when we went back up. When we went into lunch we found the girls that smoked kept awake. My sister said to me 'we have to learn to smoke! - that was how I started smoking and I wish I hadn't. I remember working nights and going to the cinema and my head going round because I was trying to smoke. I used to force myself to have a cigarette. We were addicted.

Jock was working in Africa and Italy. He came home for VE Day which was spent in Bristol in a pub called the New Inn. We went there and we met the regiment who were based there. We met my husband's friends. I must have been a bit frivolous because I made eyes at another man in Jock's regiment! Jock got cross with me and I threw back my engagement ring - on VE Day! By the end of the day we couldn't be without one another and we made it up and I got the ring back. We were married and grew old together and were very very happy for 57 years so you could say that VE Day was a little blip!! Anyway, there were lots of people at the New Inn and we had great fun. We all were really enjoying ourselves.

When I heard the announcement that the war had ended I was very pleased but Jock was not released then as he had to stay overseas. He came back for VE Day for a month but then had to go back for another year.

When Jock came home for the month, the people he had worked for before the war (he was in service as a butler) - invited us to stay with them in London at their big house for a week. They took us to see 'Gay Rosalinda' which was a musical. We went to see Me and My Gal and several other shows. They paid for us and we had a great time.

Jock then had to go back abroad. I carried on doing the munitions, belting ammunition which was still needed for the war in the far east.

When Jock was away I was allowed to send him a letter per week. It had to be signed by everybody and it was only a little slip, we couldn't write very much. He couldn't tell us much but Jock's brother got a letter from Jock wich said 'you'll know where I am, Its a name we know well' as they were not allowed to say where they were. He was in Bone in North Africa so from the clue Jock had given him, his brother worked this out as their surnamwas Bone. Eddie used to know by what Jock was telling him, where he was. He would call and tell me.

When Jock came home from leave we got engaged. He wrote to me and asked me to marry him, it was all done by post. I cried when I got the letter. I was in bed and my mother brought me up the letter asking me to marry him. He had written to my mother and father asking for my hand in marriage. They found me upstairs crying. When he came home on leave we got an engagement ring - you could only get 18 carat gold at that time.

© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.