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MADGE RUSS (nee Osmond)
WOMEN’S ROYAL AIR FORCE

Madge was brought up in Cullompton, Devon with one brother and two sisters. After school she worked at a paper mill, where she earned £2 10s. 0d. per week.

Whilst working at the mill, I joined St. John’s Ambulance voluntarily. For this I had to do 40 hours work in a hospital and this had to be repeated yearly. Two to three nights a week I did nights in ARP (Air Raid Protection) and would take my embroidery to occupy me. I can remember running to the ARP centre when needed and especially twice when bombs were falling on Exeter. I went with the ambulance to take people to hospital. I was always the quickest there, so was the one they called for ~ I remember ‘knocks’ on my Mam’s sideboard caused by my tin hat when I grabbed it to go out. I also remember trying to make someone sick after they had taken an overdose!

I volunteered for the Air Force and had wanted to go on barrage balloons but that was full, so they suggested I took a driving course in Blackpool. We had to keep her own vehicles in ‘toe’, 1500 weight trucks, then 3000 weight trucks. I took pilots up to the aerodrome in a big 3 ton Chevrolet. My first posting was in Glasgow, but I asked for a ‘compassionate posting’ because Mam was getting on and was sent to Taunton from where I could cycle home. I had a short spell at Fairwood Common in Swansea, then went back to Taunton.

Once I was travelling from Somerset to Birmingham with a load of tyres for planes and having followed an American convoy for hours, my friend encouraged me to overtake. One of the convoy pulled out as I was passing him and I hit a pot-hole, a pin come out of the track rod and the tyres ended up all over the road. I remember the Americans were all laughing. A crane came by from the same station and we waved him down and he towed us to the next MU (Motor Unit).

I drove ambulances in the Medical Corps and also drove a Squadron Leader about. One horrendous memory was when I was called out to a plane that had caught the side of a hill. We went to the wreckage after it had stopped burning and I was handed a boot with a leg attached and there were four other bodies. We took a Medical Orderly with us and the bodies were put in the back of the trucks, there was blood everywhere and they needed a thorough cleaning afterwards.

I was in the WRAF for three years. Sometimes I worked 24 hours on and 24 hours off, then it got to be 48 hours on and 48 hours off when I was qualified. All travelling was by train, unless there were just a few of us, then we went by lorry. The uniform (which was used in The Meet parade 2005) was blue battle dress top, trousers, shirt and tie with black shoes for daytime and for dress uniform it was a tunic, skirt, shirt and tie, overcoat and cap with shiny peak. I enjoyed the forces and made nice friends, one who was a Chez.

I met my husband, Tom, at a Young Farmers’ Dance before I joined up. He was stationed with the DLI 6th Battalion. We managed to meet when we were on leave. He was at Dunkirk and also went to the Middle East. We got a special licence to get married and I sent him a telegram to say it would be at 1.30 on Saturday, 6 May. He rang home the night before from ‘Shoudy Camp’ near Bournemouth where he was waiting to go to France and asked how the plans were going ~ he hadn’t received the telegram! He got a friend to get a motorbike and they arrived at 6 am on the day. We put them to bed and then pressed their uniforms and went down town to get a collar. An aunt bought my blue feather hat, which cost 5 guineas and I wore a pink lilac dress with a corsage of orchids. We were married at the Methodist Chapel and the reception was at home. Tom’s Mam brought the freshly baked cake on the train from Darlington and everyone could smell it during the journey. I was on leave but Tom went straight back on the Sunday. When on parade the CO (Commanding Officer) said ‘you can go and get married your pass has come through’ so he came back on the Tuesday. He then went to France on 6th June.

After being de-mobbed in Birmingham Madge went home, but when she became pregnant Tom’s Mum asked her to come up to Barnard Castle, where she has lived since, bringing up her family. She has worked at Stoneleigh as a care assistant and Tom set up the DLI Club in Barnard Castle.

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