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Barbara Beckwith war memories

At the outbreak of war 1939, I was 18 and I lived with my parents in Luton. I had already met my future husband, Rex Clarke, who joined up and we got engaged when he was sent abroad. He served in the 8th army and was a desert rat, REME. He was rescued from Dunkirk and served in North Africa and Italy, then after the hostilities in Jersey dismantling the watchtowers. I never saw him for 4 years but we kept in touch through letters. He died in 1984 and would never talk about his war experiences.
In April 1940 age 19, I joined the WAAFs, service no. 4316687, going first to Bedford then Melksham in Wiltshire, both for brief periods before doing my initial training of 2-4 weeks at Harrogate. I trained as a cook, much to my disgust as that was the last thing I wanted to do, but had no say in the matter, it was cooks they wanted! I was a bit bolshie as I didn’t like it. You could be moved any where and at any time, I was moved to Church Fenton in Yorkshire where there was better accommodation and the Salvation Army brought us in luxuries like stockings. It was there I met Joan who now lives in Frinton and we are still in contact. My job as a cook entailed food preparation and cooking, including vegetables, making pastry and serving up. The person in charge of the kitchens was always a man. My next move was to Berwick on the Scottish boarders, where the people were very nice and I would have been happy but my mother back in Luton was ill and I was very worried about her, especially being an only child. This resulted in me having a nervous breakdown followed by a compassionate posting to Leighton Buzzard. From December 1944 Rex was stationed at Dunstable Road, Luton so we took the opportunity and were married on January 24th 1945. When victory in Europe was declared we were actually on a few days leave and staying with a friend of Rex’s in Scotland, due to return the day after. We both phoned our respective barracks and were given an extra day! I was demobbed in September 1945 and lived back with my parents while Rex was in Jersey.

Olive Muckleston war memories

I was 20 when war broke out, living in Luton with my parents, 2 sisters and brother. He joined up and was stationed in Durban, South Africa. I wanted to join the WAAFs but my mother wouldn’t let me, probably because I was the youngest and my father had served in the trenches during the First World War. During the war I cut diamonds for use in aircraft controls and had to keep it secret because of their value. There were strict security measures when leaving the room even when going to the toilet. My husband, Gerald Wright, whom I met after the war, served in the Royal Navy from 1943 — 46. His ships included the Raleigh and the Drake. I know he went to Malta but otherwise he would not speak of his experiences. He died in 1998

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