大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Deena Campbell a volunteer with WM CSV Actiondesk on behalf of Catherine Clarke and has been added to the site with her permission. Catherine Clarke fully understands the sites terms and conditions.

On V: E Day, we waited for Churchill to speak to the nation. To be sure it was true. After that Cardiff went wild. Fires in the streets...dancing...crying - we were all so very happy. It went on for days and nights from the main hospital. All the lads who were able to get in to wheel chairs- we bought them out to take part.

One thing that has stayed with me all these years is how brave these lads were. So young, but so helpful and cheerful, helping around the wards! There wasn鈥檛 only the bombs to deal with the weather was so very cold, so often. There was no gas so heating etc was gone and water pipes all got damaged with the bombing and Cardiff had a very hard time with the docks and ships etc.

In the valleys, the miners marched to work to get to their shifts. They had no lamps on their helmets, so you heard them whistling as they went off to keep the nation going. No words really can put the togetherness from top to bottom that prevailed in those days and nights. Bless them all!

I think that our pay was around 拢3.00/拢4.00 per month- How life has changed! We did get our meals and shared our rooms. My father would travel to Cardiff once a month by train on a Sunday to see if I was ok. He would bring me some cooking and books. I think he also was keeping a watchful eye on me as I had a Convent education. 鈥淲hat a life鈥� after the good nuns and fathers. Bless them all and you.

My family lived here in Birmingham in Ladywood. They had to have a stranger in their house as the bedroom was free. Lots of folk did this, because folk came from all over to work in the factories. Companies like 鈥淭he Guild Air Wing and Parts鈥� which was at the top of Sherbourne Street and 鈥淏axter鈥檚 Screws and Bolts鈥� on Sheepcote Street made parts for the engineering. Most women worked the big presses. One at The Guild was called Big Martha. They also had to wait in queues for food and coal. They sometimes spent all night in the air shelter, often times finding that home had been bombed in the raids. No Gas or water and very cold winters indeed.

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