大象传媒

My name is Mrs Doreen Hill, I was born in Durham, but our family including my Grandma all went down to Kent, and then we moved to Ramsgate. I saw the evacuation from Dunkirk.

I was there then 鈥� they came and asked everyone to give their sheets and blankets 鈥攁s much as they could, so when I got to bed that night there was no covers but we realised we had to give them to the soldiers so nobody moaned.

I remember I went down to the bottom of the street to see all the lorries taking the soldiers: I was just a lonely figure waving to them because all the other people had gone down to the harbour to help them 鈥榗ause they were cold and wet and injured.

Then of course we had soldiers billeted with us, we had a scotch boy called John Taylor who lived with us 鈥� his mother used to send us all sorts of goodies from Scotland. Then we had another one, from London called Harold King; they were lovely lads.

Then the soldiers came round and said 鈥榶ou鈥檝e got to be evacuated because you鈥檙e going to be invaded鈥� so the whole family packed off and went up to stay up with my aunt in a hotel in Stanley in Durham. I didn鈥檛 like staying with my Aunt, although we had Soldiers and Officers staying there as well because it was a big hotel 鈥� they were all lovely.

My father was then sent to Coventry, so Mother got a cottage and furnished it, and we lived there but whilst Father was in Coventry, he was injured in a raid. So we all moved from Durham to Coventry.

And Mother didn鈥檛 want me to go into the land army like I wanted, so I went and got a job at the G.E.C. (General Electric Company). I鈥檝e got a letter from them thanking them for my war efforts.

I鈥檇 just started at the G.E.C when it was bombed, so consequently they kept me on, which was rather nice of them. Those of us who stayed helped to clear the work place and we managed to get the different parts, Navy, Airforce, the different things they wanted. We managed to get all our things through 鈥� that鈥檚 why I鈥檝e got this letter 1945 鈥� 1946. It reads:

鈥淒ear Miss Clark, I鈥檓 pleased to note on our records that you have just completed five years unbroken service with the General Electric Company. I would like to take this opportunity therefore of offering you my personal congratulations and thanking you on behalf of the Company for the help you have so loyally rendered us during this period. Yours faithfully, General Electric, Mr Robinson, General Manager.鈥�

Then underneath, in his printing 鈥渂est wishes and congratulations on your war efforts, Malcolm Robinson鈥�.

This story was collected by Becky Barugh and submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Sarah Evans, both of the 大象传媒 Radio Shropshire CSV Action Desk on behalf of Doreen Hill and has been added to the site with her permission. Mrs Hill fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

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