大象传媒

This story has been submitted to the People鈥檚 War website by a volunteer from Lincoln CSV Action Desk on behalf of Kay Bemrose and it has been added with her permission. Miss Bemrose fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.

We lived on a farm where my father was foreman. I started working on the land, although I wasn鈥檛 in the Land Army. One day, after pulling up muddy carrots and cabbages I鈥檇 had enough and thought I鈥檓 not doing this any more. So I joined the NAAFI. I couldn鈥檛 join any other service because of had bad eyesight. I was sent to Cranwell and stayed there three and a half years. I started off as a general assistant and I cleared up dishes etc. I was later made up to charge hand. We鈥檇 go out with a trailer to deliver drinks and food to the hangars.
I remember seeing a bomber on fire on the ground with all the aircrew still in it; it was horrible. One time I saw a pilot who I later found out was on his last flight before passing out. His wing tip caught something as he turned his aeroplane and he crashed and was killed.

My room was over the entrance to the cookhouse and one of the girls was going out with a delivery driver. He鈥檇 throw a pound of butter or a loaf of bread up to us when he made a delivery. We told her she couldn鈥檛 get rid of him!

There was a cinema on the base and it showed all the latest films. We had dances too and were well looked after. Sometimes I鈥檇 go out with my friends to Lincoln on the bus to go to the cinema and theatre. One time we caught the bus back from Lincoln and we got to Sleaford but the bus driver wouldn鈥檛 take us back to Cranwell because we were not in uniform even though we had our passes. We had to walk all the way back which was about 7 miles or so. It was 10 or 11 o鈥檆lock at night when we started to walk and it took us several hours. I had shoes with wooden soles 鈥� they were fashionable at the time 鈥� and by the time I got back my feet were bleeding. When the Commanding Officer found out what had happened it made a lot of noise about it with the bus company and said it was never to happen again.

We used to get chocolate and cigarette coupons. I swapped my cigarette coupons for chocolate ones and took it home for my younger brothers and sister. My other sister was pregnant and had a craving for Fry鈥檚 chocolate and she couldn鈥檛 get it anywhere so I was able to help her out with it.

While I was at Cranwell there was a raid at Waddington. The girls and manageress from the NAAFI there went into the air raid shelter but they were all killed. We got some incendiary bombs dropped over on the west camp but we didn鈥檛 do too badly really.

I spent about six months at Corby Glen. When I was there one of the girls got pregnant and left. When she went she took the cook with her. There was a big dance coming up and I was in charge of getting all the arrangements ready. It was very hard with no cook. We eventually managed to get enough things together and we picked the bluebells that were growing locally to decorate the hall. The Supervisor came to see if we were coping alright and brought some flowers to decorate the hall with but was very impressed with what we had managed to do already. After this I went home for a few days rest. The camp was being closed and I was then sent to Fulbeck.

I didn鈥檛 like Fulbeck much. The American pilots used to be based there but when I got there they had gone. They used to take the girls up in the aeroplanes but the British pilot s weren鈥檛 allowed to. You could see the row of pilots鈥� cars parked where they had left them before they went out on a mission and where they remained when they didn鈥檛 come back. I found that very hard to see. One night I got cross with a pilot because he had eaten my supper and I had nothing to eat when I had finished my work. I really told him what I thought about it. He went out on a mission and didn鈥檛 come back again and I felt dreadful.

One day we were walking along in a group on camp and the sirens went off. We didn鈥檛 make anything of it because we were used to them, but the Wing Commander saw us and shouted 鈥淵ou should be in the air raid shelter鈥�, but we weren鈥檛 really bothered. One morning someone said to me 鈥淵ou weren鈥檛 in the air raid shelter last night鈥� but I didn鈥檛 remember hearing any sirens. My friend told me that she had told me to get up because there was a bombing raid and I鈥檇 said 鈥淟et them drop鈥�. I didn鈥檛 remember anything about it at all.

By the time the war ended I was a manageress. It was hard work and long hours but they were good times.

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