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In 1939 Dot had a boyfriend Freddy Davis, a sailor. Freddy was a gunner on The Javelin and was one of the first to die in the war when the gunner crew of 3 were killed by a bomb. Dot remembers that Mountbatten sent a very nice personal letter to Freddy’s’ sister. In 1941 Dot was going out with a man called Thompson who was wounded and waiting to be evacuated at Dunkirk. As his boat was leaving Dunkirk it was bombed, Thompson died.

Whilst the war was on, all young woman upon reaching the age of 17 or 18 had to register for war work. In 1940 Dot had to register and was sent to work as a conductress on the local buses. Although Dot would have enjoyed to be sent away, her mum was pleased as she was able to carry on living at home. On the buses Dot was trained by Ronald; not an easy job for him as Dot suffered motion sickness and was sick on Ronald’s trousers three times in the first week! None the less, Ronald was won over and married Dot in St. James Church in 1943.

Because of the strict rationing of the time a lot of thought and planning was required to dress the bride. The dress was a white nightgown, thankfully lace was not rationed so the dress was covered with it. The brides’ veil was borrowed, her step-sister bought her a blue garter and white satin dancing slippers were worn. The groom had a friend who worked as a chef at the Spa Hotel and he was able to get hold of enough sugar to make a two tiered wedding cake with angels decorating the top. The reception was held at the busman’s’ sports club. Dot and Ronald lived at 33 Goods Station Road, above a jewellery shop, where Hayward’s stands today.

One of Dots’ clearest war memories is of the many Canadians who were stationed at Crowborough and Forest Row. Dot remembers them as rather pushy but very generous with offers of cigarettes. Dot had to carry an identity card and certain areas such as Hastings and Gravesend could not be travelled to. Another clear memory is of the German bomber planes being chased away from London and as they flew back to the coast, dumping their bombs, a fair number of which fell on Tunbridge Wells. In particular Dot remembers her bus being stopped because of unexploded bombs being spotted on the road, Buttons, a department store in Tunbridge Wells took a direct hit and a man was killed in his house in Lansdowne Road. At home, when the sirens sounded Dot and her family would hide under the Anderson table. Several times fires could be seen in London after particularly severe bombing raids; firemen from Tunbridge Wells would go to help as so many of London’s firemen were killed.

Dot remembers V.E. day. She and her friends and family bought a few drinks and then sat on Tunbridge Wells common. The church bells were ringing — the first time for many years as this was the have been the signal for the start of the expected invasion so this was a wonderful sound.

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