大象传媒

I was 14, when the war started and I worked in Pilkinton鈥檚 glass factory. I left school on the Friday, started on the Monday, it was great really but a bit frightening coming straight from school. I was typing labels for the cases to take the glass out . The Christmas, all the drivers collected for me 鈥榗os I give them all the labels. They gave me 10 shillings and I bought a dress, and it was the first new dress I ever had, 鈥榗os I had 2 sisters older than me and they passed their clothes down. I remember the dress; purple silk and gold braid and big puffed sleeves; I thought it was wonderful. We used to have dances in town at different halls, social evenings then I joined the ARP, they showed us how to use the different pumps. There was the jet pump, and the spray pump for the incendiary bombs, I joined St. Johns Ambulance Brigade as well. I was very active, I was dying to be 18, so I could join something. I tried to join the Air Force, I had to go up to Liverpool for the test, and they passed me, but my mum and dad wouldn鈥檛 sign for me, they said I wasn鈥檛 going in there. I said 鈥淲ell, I鈥檒l go in the Land Army,鈥� which they didn鈥檛 seem to mind. At first there was forty of us in Sandy Croft near Chester, and one of the first jobs they gave us was picking potatoes, we were up to our knees in mud, I didn鈥檛 want to see another potato as long as I lived. I went home at the weekend, but I wanted to go back, I missed my friends and they all felt the same. We鈥檇 only bee together for a week, but it felt like we鈥檇 been together for life. We were in bunk beds; so many in a room and it was Halloween night. There was a dressing table in the middle of the room, and someone said 鈥淚f you look in the mirror at midnight, you鈥檒l see the one you鈥檙e going to marry.鈥� So at 12 in the pitch black, we all stood in front of the mirror and this voice said 鈥淲hat are you doing?鈥� We all jumped, it was the warden and she wasn鈥檛 very happy. We were terrified, we had a few exciting moments.
We were in the middle of a Air Force camp: Hawarden, and we used to get invited to the dances and social events, it was good. When we moved from there, we went up to St Aseff, and got invited to all kinds of army do鈥檚, but they were very strict with us; we had to be back by 10 at night, because we were up at 6am. In the morning, the lorries used to come for us and we were allocated different farms to go to. I remember being sent to this farm and there was an Italian prisoner there. They asked me to go on general duties, so if a farmer was ill or something, I鈥檇 have to do everything, but I couldn鈥檛 milk and the prisoner said 鈥淵ou鈥檒l get plenty of milk if you sing to them, listen to me鈥︹�� and he sang. And the milk was flowing, so I鈥檇 be singing 鈥楾here鈥檒l always be and England鈥� and the milk would flow. But one day, we were in the farm and I was milking and the cow knocked the stool over and the milk went over, I was on the floor with my legs in the air, they were only concerned with the waste. I liked this Italian prisoner, he used to disappear all afternoon and sleep in the barn with the straw. We had to go on the threshing machines, there was four girls and a steam engine, and we used to shove sheaves of corn into it, it would come out seeds and chaff, and the chaff was terrible, it got everywhere. We were called 鈥楾he Champion Chaff Carriers.鈥� We were as quick, we had a way. We used to get lovely food, we got sandwiches to take away with us, and we鈥檇 give them to the prisoners of war. At lunchtime we鈥檇 have our dinner with the prisoners, the Germans give us tablets of soap that they鈥檇 got from home; they were good workers.
They had us making a road in Wales, they used to find us jobs to do. One day, we were snowed off; 1946/7, there was storms. There were no phones back then, so I couldn鈥檛 phone home and mum and dad were worried sick. We were walking down and we passed a registry office and a soldier and his girlfriend were outside, they asked us to be witnesses to their wedding; we were covered in mud and manure. They gave us 10 shillings; a lot in those days. We got some confetti, we went and got all the other girls and when they turned up at the hostel, we threw it. It was lovely. I鈥檇 like to get in touch with that couple.
I turned twenty-one while I was there, mum made me a cake, and one of my friends had a pub. We got there and it was full of soldiers, paratroopers, one of them was turning twenty-one too, and his mum had made a cake. It was lovely, we all ended up drunk, it was innocent fun really.
We met these lads who were in the marines, and they said they鈥檇 pick us up the next night. So the next night the warden comes over to me 鈥淓lizabeth, your transport has arrived.鈥� And when I went to the front it was an amphibian tank. I rode on it like Lady Godiva. I鈥檓 surprised he didn鈥檛 get court marshalled. We had some good laughs with them.
Before the land army, there was seven of us going out at 9 o鈥檆lock, and mum would say 鈥淚f anything happens all go to the same air-raid shelter.鈥� We decided on Oxley鈥檚, we arranged for all the family to go there. I had 2 sisters, they both married men they met in the air raid shelter; Bevin Boys, they got married during the war.
My eldest brother went missing in Dunkirk, it was a terrible time, Vera Lynn used to come on the wireless singing 鈥楽omewhere in France With You鈥�. My mum used to cry, I didn鈥檛 like Vera Lynn, she was so miserable and made my mum cry. Anyway, one day the Salvation Army told us he was alright. Mr Preston; a neighbour was in the same regiment: the Royal Engineers, he got in trouble in the sea, my brother: the Quartermaster Sergeant helped him out.
I went to Liverpool, all the big stores were wrecked, we were walking through the rubble and a Mrs Isherwood come to my mum and said 鈥淟ook at this, a brand new pan.鈥� My mum said 鈥淧ut it back, we鈥檒l be shot for looting.鈥�
There was six lads in our street who died during the war. The boy next door: Cecil was in the Navy, a very young man, he got killed and his mother used to get letters from him weeks after he died. Every time she got a letter she cried, my mum used to go and comfort her; he was the only son, he had two sisters, he was a lovely lad. And then there was Eric, he was a very young man, he went in the paratroopers, and he got killed , his mother went very bitter, he was only about 19 and had only been home once on leave. Tommy was in the Air Force and he got killed too.
It wasn鈥檛 all bad though, in fact I went to confession once to tell the priest that I felt guilty for having a good war.

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