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Irene’s Story
I was 17 when war broke out. I lived in Shaw Mills near Harrogate in West Yorkshire. I was working in service – housekeeping doing the cleaning and cooking. The cleaning materials irritated my hands so I was relieved when I left in 1940 to take up a reserved occupation at the Compton Parkinson factory in Whitecross making oxygen cylinders and lighting. I lived with my two sisters in Yeaden, one mile from Leeds/Bradford airport. There was a lot of bombing. We fire watched twice a week.
David’s Story
I was living in Westminster when the war broke out. When I was 19 years old in March 1940, I joined the army- the Queen’s Royal Regiment. I was sent to their barracks in Guildford. Then I was transferred to the Queen’s Westminster regiment in the Folkestone area. We guarded the South coast. There were regular dogfights in the sky above us. In December 1940, I was sent to Yorkshire for 3 months, where I meet Irene.
The Blind Date
We were set up on a blind date by Florence Simmon (a friend of Irene’s from Shoremills who she had met at the Compton Parkinson Factory). On December 13, we went with Florence and her soldier boyfriend to have a fish and chips supper and then on to the picture house to see ‘A night to be remembered’. As a soldier, David was allowed in free – we had to pay 9 pence. It turned out to be a memorable evening – we got engaged as a result of meeting that night!
We got married on New Year’s Eve, 1941. I wore a blue woollen dress made- to- measure in Bradford, a jacket and fur collar. Afterwards, I made a pair of gloves from the collar.
We did not have much time together. David had to go back to Trowbridge for exercises where he had gone after 3 months in Yorkshire. David then went to Arundel to continue his role coast guarding. He became a driver in the Brighton/Hove area. In 1942, he was sent across to Egypt as part of the 8th army. The journey across was very slow as the boat broke down and had to stop at Freetown for supplies. It was finally repaired at Cape Town before picking up airmen at Port Elizabeth. From North Africa, David went on to Italy and Greece.
Meanwhile I went back to Shoremills to care for my mother who became ill. I also worked in a leather factory making gloves for ammunition factory workers. Life was much safer living in a village. We saw the planes go over, but only a few bombs were dropped.
Being apart
We did not see each other again until August 1945. I had rare news of David throughout that period. Letters took six weeks to get through, but lots of mail got lost. Soldiers were not allowed to write about where they were or what they were doing. The letters were censored. Lots of couples complain now of being part for a week – they have no idea what it was like for us. We did not know if or when we would see each other again. When we were reunited, we were like strangers as we had spent so little time together. We were both older and wiser. Times were difficult as jobs were hard to find, but we are still together sixty years later.

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