大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War site by CSV/大象传媒 Radio Nottingham on behalf of Peggy Langford with her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

In April 1942 I was called up for service in the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS). I was sent to Glen Parva Barracks in Leicester and shared a room with twenty other girls. We had two tiered bunks and a washing room at the end. This was a great shock to me as I had always had my own room at home! We then had medical examinations and typhoid and tetanus inoculations, and for me a small pox inoculation also as I had never had this done. We spent three weeks here, learning about Army life including lots of drill.
We were then posted away to various units. I went to Blackdown, near Aldershot, to be the Secretary to the Garrison Adjutant, as I was already trained as a secretary in civilian life. This was a very dull posting.
In November 1943, I was posted to Chislehurst in Kent as Secretary to the Officer in Charge of Food and Accommodation for 200 girls who worked in the Pay Corps at Sidcup. This was a lovely posting as we could get up to London easily and visit theatres. It became a very dangerous place when the V1 (Doodlebugs) came over on the way to London. They were like small planes with flames from the rear, and if the noise stopped they either came down immediately or floated for a while before coming down. If they were near, we put on our steel helmets and dived under the table. It would not have saved us from a direct hit, but if the window blew in, it would have saved us from the glass.
While in Chislehurst, I was returning one evening by train from Charing Cross Station when the siren went, so the train couldn't leave and all the lights went out. In order to find a seat, it was usual to shine a very dim torch along the floor of the carriage and if there was a space between two sets of feet, there was a seat. I found a seat and the man next to me could see that I had on khaki stockings. He then asked if I would like to go to a 大象传媒 broadcast of ITMA, a very funny show. He gave me his name and a 大象传媒 address to write for tickets. A friend and I went to the show.
Another time a friend and I were in the cinema at Petts Wood when the siren went. There was a tremendous explosion. We stayed in the cinema, but when we came out we discovered that the bomb had demolished a whole row of houses behind the building.

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