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This story was submitted to the People’s War site by Deena Campbell from CSV Action Desk on behalf of Mrs Patrick Mcgowan and has been added to the site with her permission. Mrs Mcgowan fully understands the site’s terms and conditions.

I had been working at Morris Commercial Cars in Adderley Road when I was seventeen years old but changes in staff became the cause of my leaving there. I saw there was a vacancy in the drawing office at BSA. (Birmingham Small Arms Ltd) at Armoury Road Small Heath. So I applied. I had been having tuition from a neighbour, Mr Neal, going to his house to become efficient in using technical drawing instruments. I did a few samples and he took them along to his boss which brought about an interview. I was told at the interview that it would be near enough six months before I could do an actual tracing on linen with Indian ink. But during this period I would be working on charts and graphs.

I must have impressed the Chief Draughtsman because I received a letter the next week to say that I had got the job and I could start on May 23rd 1940. At last I had got the opportunity I had wanted.

I was excited about the job and I would be in the thick of the industrial area. Later on, I did tracings of ‘Op Books’ which were almost like animation, a small drawing of a piece of metal and then the various processes to it on separate drawings, so that if the small drawings were flicked through, it came alive so to speak! They were rather boring to do but later on I worked on the Besa Gun and the 4 Dash. Old soldiers would know what these gun parts represented.

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