大象传媒

A womens experience at the start of the War 1939 on. My Name Elsie Isabella Brook, I was confused at what was happening, I was 25 single a Farmers Daughter. My mother had died a few years ago. My Dad says it's up to you, would you like to run the farm house for the 3 boys and me, the Boys working on the Farm, or go out to work as a servant I thought about in, and agreed it was best for me, it was no mean task I had 4 men in the house, feather beds to make and pots to empty daily, no duvet's in those days. I had also to make butter from the milk, do dairy work sell petrol from the pump at the roadside, I thought it was fine until my Dad became ill and within a year he had died. What am I to do now? One Brother Fred had married and it was in the will that he would come and run the Farm and live in, and of course he would look after me. This left me without a job and no income, I had a boy friend and I was also learning to drive, but my Aunt came to the rescue she was from Harlesdon London I knew her quite well The authorities were pushing me quite hard as I had to do war work for a living, My aunt suggested I go to London Harlesden and live with her, and get a war work job.This was the best offer I had. I had decided Harlesden it shall be. My driving ,I had really mastered it and tests were cancelled for the duration of the war. My boy friend Don would soon be called up, this was a traumatic time in my life. I had many belongs to be kept, so they were stored in the bedroom at Clock House Farm. In Harlesdon I got a job in a factory but I first had to go to a government training center to learn fine measurments thousandth of an inch, to be a capstan opperator 3 months I spent training. At the factory we were mostly girls,I spent most of my time making bolts and parts for Gliders, war time Gliders,I must have spent 4 years untill the war ended at that factory in the mean time,Don my boy friend somtimes came to see me when he had time off he would knock at the door of the factory at Park Royal,the forman would say off you go Elsie see you later. Air raids were taking place and we went to a special room for safety untill it was over. I was able to cycle to and from work as it was not to far.I spent most of the war time in London,and during the bombing at night we had to go to the garden shelter,I saw a lot of the bombing results. We did quite enjoy it, in a way, as we felt we were doing somthing for the war and country,the comradeship was good,we made many friends we got quite dirty,I found myself and a friend were amongst female smokers, they tried hard to make us smoke we stuck to our guns and we did'nt smoke, somtimes the sirens would sound and we would stop our machines an go to our shelter,we had years making the glider parts, and when the war ended I went to a book binding job, untill Don came out of the Army in 1947 I then moved back to Essex where Don and I settled down to a proper married life

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