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15 October 2014
WW2 - People's War

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Contributed by听
CSV Action Desk/大象传媒 Radio Lincolnshire
People in story:听
Robert, Jack, Mara, Patricia, Peggy, Mavis Walker, Barbara Parker
Location of story:听
Grimsby Linconshire
Background to story:听
Civilian
Article ID:听
A4367432
Contributed on:听
05 July 2005

Peggy The Land Girl

This story was submitted to the Peoples War Site by volunteer John C Haywood 大象传媒 Radio Lincolnshire Action Desk, on behalf of Mrs Fox, and has been added to the site with her permission. Mrs Fox fully understands the site terms and conditions.

Peggy was born; Margaret Ada Humble on the 18th June 1924, and christened at St Pauls church Grimsby. She was the youngest of five brothers, Robert and Jack, half sister Mara and Patricia, parents Charles and Edith completed the family.
Due to family connections with the Freemen of the Borough of Grimsby, they could attend the grammer school, but Peggy did not wish to go so she went to the South Parade School of Elemantary Education, as it was known in those early days.
After school Peggy started her employment at the age of fifteen with a position at a printing company, but then joined a ships chandlery called Burgons at the beginning of the second world war. Peggy was also a member of the Florence Draper Dance Academy, and she turned out to be quite a trooper with high kicks, tap dancing and singing. She had dreams of pursuing this but her father did not approve. The family moved house at this time to the countryside and their lives began to change very quickly. Mrs Humble was at home one day when the telepnone rang, it was Peggy, Burgons had taken a direct hit, an enemy aircraft had flown low over the North Sea and dropped bombs on the docks. The staff who were in the canteen managed to get under the tables for protection and had a miraculous escape. Peggy arrived home by car, she was covered from head to toe in dust and glass splinters, her mother made her stand on newspaper to clean it off, it had quite an impact on her. There was no victim or trauma support at that time.

Peggy was now without work, so she decided with two friends Mavis Walker and Barbara Parker to join the Womens Land Army. She was stationed at a number of places throughout Lincolnshire and since the county is very flat the War Office requitsioned a lot of land to build aerodromes for the RAF. Peggy worked as a land girl alongside these airfields and lived through many enemy air raids, it must have been very frightening and nerve racking during these times. There was a group of four to six land girls and all had various talents, they often put on entertaiment in the village hall after work.
Peggy had a close friend who was in the Red Berets, but sadly he did not return from a parachute drop over Holland.

Peace was declared and Peggy came home, and so did brother Robert but her other brother Jack stayed on in the merchant navy as a young chief engineer with the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company. Peggy returned to work at a local grocers close to home in Scartho, and everyone became involved with the 'Wanderlust Rambling Club' it was a great lifestyle after the war no restrictions on movement, food and clothes. The countryside was now open and the 'No Entry' signs taken down.
Peggy met Roger and married. Someone remarked that the club should change it's name as more marriages were announced over this time. Peggy said that Roger went down on bended knee after not accepting the first time due to their age difference.
Peggy and Roger were involved in the sailing club, so their first home became a boat building facility. The spare bedroom was used to build a boat in. Father came to the fore when the boat had to be winched out of the window, he being an expert at launching vessels in his profession as a shipwright.

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