大象传媒

I remember the Sunday when War was declared I thought it sounded exciting, but my mother was angry and said it meant my uncles and cousins would probably be killed on War service and we wouldn鈥檛 see them again.

In order to release men to fight abroad, many girls and women were directed to take over the men鈥檚 work. There was a choice at first to get factory work, which was considered to be the best pay choice, and women working diligently and quickly, could earn a tidy sum at the end of the week.

Many women took the man鈥檚 place and worked on the land, in market gardens or in forestry work. But a very great many preferred to join one of the services, that was the RAF in which the girls were named WAAF鈥檚 the Navy in which the girls were named WRNS, and the Army, the backbone of England, and the girls were named ATS for short; Auxiliary Territorial Service. This was the one I applied for and was accepted and joined the camp at Guildford in Surrey. I preferred to become a driver, so after many weeks and months of training I became a Driver Mechanic.

The first six weeks of training, we learnt the correct way to live our new service life. This involved the correct way to wear our new uniforms the correct way, to clean our new uniform and polish our shoes, and to clean our living accommodation.

Then each day we did so many hours drilling, learning all the military terms, and commands on the drill square. We were taught the history of the army, and of the Great Battles that had been fought and won and how we were honoured to belong to such a great organisation 鈥淭he British Army鈥�.

At the end of each training session, we were assessed, and a few were failed and given a travelling warrant back to their homes. Some were pleased, many broken hearted. I went through all the training including the motor training, in North Wales, and a very isolated camp with a very, intensive course with many failing and returning back to base for re-training, or back home.

I learnt to drive most War Time Vehicles, also to work and learn all about the engines how they worked, and also I learned how to repair any motor cycles; and could take an engine apart and rebuild it and put in necessary new parts and get them going again.

I went on a fitter鈥檚 course in Streatham, London; and had my first experience of wartime London. When the sirens sounded frequently, and we spent many hours in shelters. One particular night we were on a course near Wandsworth, the sirens had gone early and next door was a girl鈥檚 convent school, and we were detailed to go and help to get the girls down the stone steps down deep in the cellar shelter, and we were each allocated two girls about ten years old. We had to take them to sleep on mattresses under the stone steps, each with a blanket; the girls were day convent pupils but were unable to proceed home as the sirens had gone early that day, and there had been no break from the bombing. The little girls were very frightened, and so were we, but we all snuggled up on the mattresses with the warm blankets over us all, and to quieten them I made up stories to tell the girls until they dropped asleep.

Bombs had boomed and roared and dropped around us, so we were thankful to have been safe.

Once on returning to our temporary lodgings at Streatham it was quite a foggy night when I got off the bus to walk across the common which was a short cut really, but the fog was a real London pea-souper and I became lost for ages, I just could not see where I was, until a man walking his dog, and with a torch guided me to safety to my lodgings, south of the commons. I was so grateful to him. It is still spoken of as the worst fog ever. When all London came to a standstill. No Germans came over that night!

Another night it looked as though all London was burning with a dull pink and yellow glow and very acrid smell of smoke. Eventually I was posted far from London near to Middlesbrough, and was there at the time when Stockton and Middlesbrough was bombed, and the Dorman Long Works were almost demolished. The skies over the towns were brilliant with the Searchlights above and the ack ack firing all around, and the occasional plane falling in flames.

Later on I was installed safely in a small isolated camp near Stokesley towards the Cleveland hills. I was attached to the REME, the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. With six other female drivers we did all of the local driving. At times I was detailed to be the post driver, collecting all the mail for the camp. Or to be rations driver and weekly went with the Rations Corporal, driving a 20 miles trip to North-Allerton in the 3 ton lorry. A very enjoyable trip was to take or bring back engines or spares needed urgently, to York or Derby or other depots. On a nice summer鈥檚 day, with very little traffic on the roads, and no speed restrictions, these trips were very enjoyable.

When not driving we worked in the workshops. Sometimes we were working in the armoury cleaning and repairing rifles for re-issue. Or at other times we were taking the tracks from tanks, a man鈥檚 undertaking really as they were mostly covered with rust and thick mud dried on. Or we would strip down a truck engine, repair them, and test drive them out to the Cleveland Hills. Sometimes we had to work all night to get a vehicle over-hauled ready for delivery the next day. Three of us would be working on the vehicle, always with an experienced much older fitter.

That was my war.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.