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This story was submitted to the People’s War site by Bramley History Society and has been added to the website on behalf of Joan Goodwin with her permission and she fully understands the site’s terms and conditions.

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People were needed to do War work. I wished to continue living at home to be with my mother. I heard there were vacancies for drivers with Surrey County Council Highways Department. I was employed as a driver and was based at the Bramley Depot.
I drove Lorries full of tarmac or concrete to build Alfold by-pass and then Dunsfold Aerodrome with the Canadian soldiers. I used to tip out the tarmac from the lorry and then clear out what was left in the lorry with a big scraper. This used to burn holes in my shoes; which I was given extra clothing coupons for. There were no ladies toilets on sight and if I made a visit a soldier would have to stand on guard outside! The Canadian soldiers were not exactly polite to me and called me ‘A bloody limey woman. But before long they realised I was a worker and a match to them.
Another of my duties was very unpleasant. It was emptying soil buckets from the outside lavatories. I would start at 4am at the far end of Eastwood Road, Bramley. We used to call the collection lorries the ‘violet carts’. I also had to clear road drains for which I had a long scoop and I used to drive the lorry with the snow plough.
I was an ARP warden for the Highways Department. I had no uniform and wore my riding britches and blue overalls. I had no formal training and could be called out at any time to do anything.
One day on my way from Dunsfold to Merrow to collect more tarmac, I parked my lorry at Bramley Wharf Depot, and climbed over the back wall of our garden wall which backed on to the depot. Whilst I was in the house, the siren went. (The siren was actually at the bottom of our garden). My mother told me to get into the air raid shelter in the back garden. Instead I decided to go back to my lorry. I was climbing over the garden wall when a low flying plane appeared. I thought it was one of ours, and waved. It was a mistake and the pilot started machine gunning me. I quickly got into a ditch and fortunately the bullets went into some corrugated iron at my side Seconds later the plane machine gunned the train and bombed it.
Mr Thoday the foreman at the depot said forget about returning to work, go and see if you can help at the railway. There were few telephones in those days, but when I arrived there were a lot of people there and there was nothing I could do.

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