大象传媒

I was in Church the day war broke out. A week off my eighteenth birthday and I had just been confirmed. The Vicar a very sombre man said 鈥渢his is a very sad and serious day; England and Germany are now at war鈥�. I then ran home to tell my Father who promptly told me off for spreading malicious rumours! He then turned on the wireless and heard the news for himself.

At the time I was working in the Jacobs biscuit factory with my sisters, as soon as war broke out life was turned upside down we had to do extra shifts and even work on Sundays. Then I was called up to be an electricians mate in Birmingham, this job would have been impossible for me as I had been a sickly child always in and out of hospital ( I had had diphtheria twice and a severely scolded leg).

My Father was adamant that I was not to go to Birmingham, the result was that I had to go for a medical to assess what type of work I would be suitable for, the results of the medical was that I was underdeveloped and unsuitable for heavy work. A short while later I was called up again this time to work in R.O.F ( Royal Ordinance factory) in Kirby. I was sent for an interview with a lot of other women, four of us were segregated from this group and I was made a C.I.A. (Chief inspector of armaments).

I was put in charge of a group one, one of the most important areas of the factory because it dealt with the insertion of detonators. My job was to check that the nose cones were filled exactly right if they weren鈥檛 they could explode at the slightest knock. The nose cones had to have a pea ball detonator inserted into them and then filled with powder.

My Mother worked in the same factory much to the disgust of my Father who was very angry when she volunteered for work instead of looking after the family. She worked on a different section that filled shells; she also worked different shifts. I was issued with fireproof trousers and jacket and a turban to cover my head and white shoes so I could walk on the 鈥渃lean way鈥� (these shoes were designed so they did not cause sparks)

There were three shifts 7am-3pm, 3pm-10pm and 10pm-7am, as my Mother worked in the same factory as me we had different shifts, as such I had a lot to do when I got home, for example I had to make tea and do the housework. After a few months there, I was issued with a brand new all in one fire resistant overall.

On arrival at the factory everyday, we first went through security, then we were put on the internal bus (the factory sight was massive and spread out into sections) to take us to our sections. Then we went into the changing rooms and changed into out overalls, are own clothes were then placed in numbered bags and hoisted up to the ceiling (this was to avoid contamination of our clothes and to save floor space), heaven help you if you forgot your number!

The canteen was well away from the main work area and this was the only place you were allowed to smoke. The people were pleasant and of all ages, there were even a few black people in my section and there was never any discrimination. I was then made a factory air raid warden and issued with a huge service gasmask, but can鈥檛 remember any air raids, or the factory ever being bombed when I was there (1939-42).

After a couple of years the leg I injured as a child became sore again, after I was kicked at a dance and powder residue got into the wound. The Medical Officer at the R.O.F. suggested it was best to leave. I was out of work, so for the first time in my life I went to the labour exchange, I was interviewed and the clerk asked 鈥渨hat can you do?鈥� And I replied 鈥淚 can do what you鈥檙e doing!鈥� He gave me a stack of forms to fill in and I stated that I preferred clerical work.

I was sent to the distribution of ration books office, for temporary work I was asked to stay on and was given a permanent job in the National Registration Office. This was the Walker art gallery, try and imagine the art gallery without any pictures and the skylight covered with blackout material. My job was to issue ID cards and alter and issue files to correspond with the Births, Marriages and Deaths. This was very interesting work and sometimes we were sent to the Aliens office for inquires on foreign or suspicious people. This was a particularly enjoyable task as we could obtain cheap lipstick and nylons here! (The Aliens Office was right by Lime Street station.) I worked at the National Registration Office until 1949 when my son Peter was born, I hated leaving this job as it was one I loved and I had made a lot of friends here.

Incidentally at the end of the war those working at the National Registration Office were offered the chance to work on the land for extra wages. Me and my friend Rose saw this as a nice holiday in the country, in reality we ended up picking potatoes all week, awful for me as I hated worms!

Here are a few small wartime stories that happened to me, most of which I hope you will see the funny side of

Air Raids could be long and boring, so one night we took are small portable record player into the shelter with us. My Father who was a firewatcher came into the shelter and shouted 鈥渢urn that music off, people are dying out there and your listening to Glenn Miller鈥�. We complained that listening to Glenn Miller was better than listening to the bombs, needless to say the record player never appeared in the shelter again and we made do with sing songs.

On another occasion my brother managed to obtain a joint of meat, so my Mother decided to do a roast (the first in a long time!) she placed the joint in the oven, and then the air raid siren sounded and we rushed to the shelter. We had been there a while when my mother said 鈥淎gnes run and get the meat out of the oven鈥�, I had to run up the garden with bombs falling and shrapnel showering around me! I lifted the meat out and hotfooted it back to the shelter, after the air raid we ate the meat and it was delicious, every last scrap was eaten.

Another incident involving an air raid was when I had to go to an aunty to tell her my sister was getting married. I had never really met this aunt and didn鈥檛 know what she was like. After work I went to the auntie鈥檚 she was a large lady and when the air raid siren sounded, as I was about to leave she forced me to stay the night. She didn鈥檛 have a guest bedroom so I had to share a bed with her, she wore a huge girdle to bed and she took up most of the bed and broke wind in her sleep The next morning I made my way home, when I got there my Mother had not notices I was missing.

During one Air raid I was ill with tonsillitis in bed. When the siren went I didn鈥檛 want to go to the shelter but was forced to by my father. The next morning after the air raid we returned to our house to find the nose cone off a bomb had come through the roof of my bedroom and lodged in my bed. Needless to say I was very grateful to my Father for telling me to move into the shelter. My Mother removed the nose cone and placed it in a bucket and deposited it at the bottom of the road!

My Father was very ill but he was still able to get down stairs, but when he got there he had nowhere to lie. Just after the war there was an army surplus sale and my friend Rose spotted an army camp bed, so I bought it, the only problem was getting it home, as we had got there by tram. We lugged the bed to the tram stop and waited. The tram arrived and the driver said 鈥測ou bringing that on here?鈥� We replied by saying how else were we to get it home, so he said we would have to stand and hold it. When we got to the other end we had to ask the man at the tram depot to mind it until we finished work. We then took it on the last tram journey home. We got a lot of use out of that camp bed!

My Boyfriend would send me lots of things by post, here are just a few: A brace of rabbits from Wales, the thought of skinning rabbits was enough to make me sick so I told the postman to keep them (he was made up!) Then there was a pair of platform shoes from Holland, I made the mistake of wearing them on the tram, when I walked up the steps I smacked my head on the ceiling, needless to say I never wore them on the tram again! Another item he sent was a snakes head ring, I hate snakes so it was a bit of a shock when I opened the box and saw this ring with a ruby eye looking at me!

Incidentally my boyfriend lived in Hinderton Road in Higher Tranmere and was stationed in Shrewsbury Road Birkenhead, it was that close his Mother would bring him lunch, dinner and tea. When the army heard about this he was posted to Wales. (He was a 鈥渞edcap鈥� military policeman).

鈥楾his story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by 大象传媒 Radio Merseyside鈥檚 People鈥檚 War team on behalf of the author and had been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.鈥�

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