大象传媒

I walked up the road and came to a pole stretched across it.

Standing by the pole was an ATS. She asked me my business. I said I had to report to the office. She told me to walk down the path until I came to a hut with Battery office written over the door.

I walked along noticing the rows of army huts. In the distance I saw guns pointing up to the sky and some men and girls seemed to be practicing.

I arrived at the office and knocked on the door. A tall thin man with very dark hair opened it. I said that I had been to report there. He said, 鈥淥h that鈥檚 good, we can do with somebody else. I鈥檒l find you a desk and put a typewriter on it.鈥� I said, 鈥淏ut I can鈥檛 type.鈥� He said, 鈥淥h you鈥檒l soon learn, there鈥檚 nothing to it.鈥�

This was my introduction to the mad eccentric Welsh sergeant.

There were two other ATS in the office, and they took me around and showed me the hut where I was to sleep, the hut where we eat, the stores hut, and the lovely view of the countryside from the top of the hill.

I soon got into the routine, the getting up bell, rushing round getting dressed and getting to breakfast. After that going into the office and seeing what tasks the sergeant had for us.

Sometimes the sergeant major, real army type with a curvy moustache would take us drilling. I hated this. We had to march up and down until he was satisfied. Sergeant Davies in the office didn鈥檛 agree with this. The sergeant major said, 鈥淭hey joined the army to do their bit, Jack.鈥� 鈥淵es,鈥� said Jack, 鈥渂ut they didn鈥檛 join to change their sex.鈥�

Life was never dull in the office when Sgt Davies was around. He had a knack of getting away with anything. There were always reports to be done and statistics. The figures should have balanced up, but often they didn鈥檛, but he managed to cook the books and got away with it for a very long time.

He tried to give us some entertainment to cheer things up. Having been an artist in a big firm in civvy street, he got us all to compile a magazine. He did some drawings. I wrote a story, and Sylvia and Mary, the other ATS, wrote funny jokes and riddles.

It was all typed out. He made the mistake of pinning it on the notice board on the outside wall of the office.

The next day some joker had pulled it off and torn it to pieces. It was so funny, the major called a meeting and reprimanded everyone for doing this dreadful thing after Sgt Davies had taken so much trouble.

Another time he got the idea of the office staff doing a play in our spare time. He chose the 鈥楪host Train鈥�. All the people were waiting on the station for the train. I took the part of the old lady with a parrot. He criticised the acting. He said 鈥榶ou鈥檙e just saying the lines. Badder鈥檚 the only one who鈥檚 really acting鈥�, but it was hopeless trying to rehearse 鈥� there were constant interruptions. Someone would come in and say 鈥渃ould they have a report鈥�, or the Sgt major would like to see Jack in his hut, so we never managed to produce the play.

There were many highlights to remember. One was a visit from Queen Mary who was staying at a country house near the camp at the time. It was a very hot summer afternoon and the major came into the office and told us to line up outside as Queen Mary would be coming presently to visit. We rushed out in our battle dress and trousers and stood for ages lined up in the hot sun. I thought I was going to faint but just in time Queen Mary appeared with a thin man walking behind her whom I presumed to be her detective.

She was just like a period piece from the past with her blue toque long dress, silk umbrella and her pink make up which was so artificial.

She just walked past and looked at all of us and then walked back with the major to take tea.

What a relief to get out of that sun.

There wasn鈥檛 much entertainment on that camp. We had to make our own amusement. The great attraction for a good many was to go down the hill to the village for a drink. That didn鈥檛 appeal to me much. I liked to go into Gloucester. There鈥檚 a lovely cathedral there, and my friend Doris invited us several times to go to tea at her house there.

Sgt Davies also took many trips into Gloucester. He made us laugh when he described waiting for a bus. He said, 鈥淚t鈥檚 so difficult to get a bus, several went past me and didn鈥檛 stop.鈥� We said, 鈥淒idn鈥檛 you put your hand out to stop it?鈥� He said, 鈥淣o, I was thinking about something else.鈥�

Life was rather monotonous at times, but we were reminded at times that there was a war on and we were in it. We were very excited when the major came into the office and told us that we were all going to a firing range in Norfolk, which was some journey from Gloucester.

In a fortnight we were all ready packed up to leave. We were sitting on our beds in the hut after breakfast with our packs ready on the shelves above our beds. It was a dull wet morning. We were waiting for the lorries to pick us up and take us to the station. Suddenly there was the noise of an aeroplane overhead, and all the guns went off. All the things fell off the shelves on to the floor, and we all dived under the beds.

After a while we emerged and were told that they had fired and hit a German plane, but it didn鈥檛 come down.

We eventually arrived at the station ready for our journey to Norfolk. We packed in the train and were all given packs of food for the journey.

What a journey it was. We had to travel through the night, and it was impossible for me to get any sleep. There was supposed to be room on one seat for two people to stretch out, but the girl on my seat had her feet stretched out almost in my nose.

In the middle of the night when we were near Birmingham the train stopped and we soon knew why. There was a terrific barrage going on, and the sky was lit up. I thought of the poor people of Birmingham, going through it, but it was a horrible trapped feeling inside the train, wondering if a bomb was going to drop on us.

After a long time the raid died down and the train went on. After an eternity we saw the glimmer of light and dark trees outside in the distance. We had arrived at Norfolk.

We then had several miles to go in trucks before we reached the camp. We were shown round and saw our sleeping quarters 鈥� the only place we wanted to go to, but we were pushed on to the office were Sgt Davies was awaiting us and he told us we must get the files, typewriters, and office impedimenta set out before we could have a rest.

I don鈥檛 remember much about the next few days, everything was a blur. I remember that the office was very cold and we had to light the old fashioned stove ourselves. We took it in turns, when it was my turn Sgt Davies said sarcastically, 鈥淕ood gracious, Badder has managed to light a fire.鈥�

I didn鈥檛 enjoy it much there. The sound of the gun practice going off all day was very wearing, but you had to get used to anything in the army.

I think we were there about four weeks. The journey back was long of course, but uneventful, and it was nice to see Gloucester station again.

Coming back to the site again was like coming back home finding our old office again and hut.

After a few weeks there was a rumour going around that we were going to move. This turned out to be true although it didn鈥檛 happen until the following February. We all knew that the invasion of France was coming, but of course no idea when.

Two things I remember that autumn was the death of a girl by electrocution. We had a room for washing and ironing, and this girl was ironing standing in a pool of water, and the iron was faulty and the electricity went up her arm and killed her. It was terrible. Of course it needed a tragedy like this to have all the electric irons examined for faults.

The major sat in his office signing forms, and the girl鈥檚 parents came to see him. It was a terrible time.

I also remember the flu epidemic. All the camp seemed to go down with it at once. It got to the stage where I was the only one left in the office trying to run it on my own, and feeling ill. Sgt Davies came in and said, 鈥淏adder you mustn鈥檛 stay here any longer, you must go home.鈥� I said, 鈥淚 can鈥檛, there鈥檚 nobody else.鈥� He said, 鈥淣ever mind that, you must go.鈥� So feeling ill at last I went and inflicted myself on my poor sister who鈥檇 got enough to do looking after my father and her two children.

It was to be my last Xmas on the site, although of course we weren鈥檛 told that. Xmas morning was a riot. The officers helped to cook the dinner, they came into the hut first thing bringing an urn of tea, and then the major and captain, who was very nice, were kissed under the mistletoe.

We had a very nice dinner, and afterwards the major said, 鈥淣ow you鈥檇 better all go and sleep it off.鈥�

There was a dance in the evening with lots of mistletoe.

I had lost my friend Doris, she was expecting a baby and left the army. She was very thrilled.

In January we knew that we were definitely leaving but we weren鈥檛 told where until about a week before the end of the month. Then we were summoned to a meeting and told that we were going to another firing range in W Wales at Aberporth, for a few weeks鈥� practice, and then on to a gun site outside Falmouth. The major said, 鈥渋t鈥檚 rather a primitive site, but you can鈥檛 expect special treatment for ATS at this stage of the war.鈥� It was a primitive site too. There were big black rats running through the toilets.

The weeks at the firing range in Aberporth were an absolute misery. There was deep snow everywhere, and it was bitterly cold.

The ATS officer went ahead to Cornwall to get things ready.

Margaret Mellor (maiden name Badcock) 1911-2003

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