大象传媒

I was already working at Simms Motor Units before the war - I was called up to join the Air Force, but because I was a skilled engineer, I was sent back to do essential work at Simms, where we were making diesel pumps mostly for engines used in the war.

The women were working just as hard as the men, the same hours, in some cases they were more skilled than the men, then they had to go home, cook, do housework,look after their families, but they never got the recognition they deserved. Sometimes, because they were so good, I used to give the girls some of my clothing coupons, which I didn't need.

When the war was declared, I was young and I wanted to enlist with my friends, 2 of them were killed. Just to show how things changed after the war began, in 1937/38 everybody was trying to get jobs. We at work sometimes walked around with a bit of cloth in our hands, "cleaning" machinery that was already clean. Then things changed completely, instead of having the weekend off to play tennis, I was suddenly told I'd be working, at overtime pay. During the war I worked 361 days out of the 365, one year. Lots of women did the same. Suddenly, at the end of the war, everything went haywire and I didn't keep in touch with anyone at work. Its a shame.
I'm not from Ipswich, I'm from Islington, London, where Simms was, when I lived there, Islington was a dump, but its all done up now. Celebrities live there.

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