大象传媒

1940-1942 Britain
As soon as I joined the WAAF I started work in Bishopbriggs, near Glasgow, at the 18 Balloon Centre where we would mend frayed ropes and massive balloons which were used to stop enemy planes from flying too low to bomb the cities. To fix the balloons, one of us would climb inside and find the hole. We would stick our finger through it and the person outside would fix it. It was fun but we would end up having bruised fingers.
I started as an ACW (Aircraft Woman) and would earn 7 shillings a week (35p) but was promoted to LACW (Leading Aircraft Woman) and would earn 14 shillings a week (70p)
The uniform was sky-blue (like the real Air Force) and it was comfy. We were given a jacket, skirt, hat, trousers, stockings, black shoes and underwear. The pants were a modern elasticated type and the men called them 鈥淧assion Killers鈥�
Each morning we had to make their bed, polish and clean windows for the duty officer to inspect. If they weren鈥檛 up to scratch we got a punishment called a 鈥淛anker鈥�. One evening I returned back late from the cinema with Sergeant Margaret and I got a Janker. I had to stay on camp for a week and polish the office floors and clean the kitchen.
There were often air raids so we had to go to the air raid shelter, which I hated as I am so claustrophobic so I would stand outside. Once I saw the bombs dropping and a whole place just go up in flames 鈥� one of my most poignant and frightening memories.
For entertainment we would go to the NAAFI (Navy, Army, Air Force Institute). They did tea, coffee, dances and concerts and this is where most romances started. The girls would play hockey and the men football. The entertainment is the only thing I had to pay for throughout the whole war.

From Bishopbriggs, I went to Skegness as a Code Encipher Officer where I was paid 拢3.15 per week. I decoded secret messages using enigma machines. I had to carry a gas mask with tin hats attached to it everywhere, which were so heavy and made you walk off balance but we doubled the gas mask carriers as hand bags and carried our lipstick etc in them.
It was here I learned to fire a gun: from small revolvers to big machine guns. I wasn鈥檛 scared 鈥� I rather enjoyed it. One day one backfired on me but I wasn鈥檛 hurt.
While I was here I saw a 1000 Bomber raid where planes were three storeys high. It was an amazing yet terrifying sight.

1942-1946: Abroad (still encoding)
When I was going abroad I travelled from Liverpool to Gourock (in Scotland) then went on a huge convoy to Algiers in North Africa which was a great experience. The convoy was carrying ammunition, tanks, lorries, cars, and food. We weren鈥檛 working on the boat so we passed the time playing cards and having dances. We couldn鈥檛 go on deck during the night, as it would attract enemy attention.
When we arrived there was a plague of locusts and one fell down my neck. The boys would attach strings to them and play with them.
In Algiers we billeted in someone鈥檚 house 鈥� there were about six of us to begin with.

From there I went to Palace de Caserta (17 miles north of Naples) when the Germans moved north where the Headquarters of the MAAFC (Mediterranean Allied Air Force Command). The head was General Alexander.

We then went back to North Africa to Tunis this time where I worked in the MACAF (Mediterranean Allied Costal Air Force Command). The shifts were 8am-4pm, 4pm-12am, 12am-4pm. You did one of each shift then had a day off. In the MACAF you were given an African Topie hat which I hated so 鈥渁ccidently鈥� left behind.
Here we went to a place called the CAZ bar, which some people were too scared to go to. When you went you had to say when you were leaving and when you returned to make sure you weren鈥檛 kidnapped.

I then returned to Naples and once the Germans had stopped bombing Malta I went there. That was at the beginning of 1945. I was there until VE day and saw President Franklin Roosevelt and even decoded some of his peace talks.
As soon as I found out war was over I just went to bed due to relief but parties went on all night. I was demobbed from Malta in 1946.

I travelled back to Britain by train via Switzerland and France. I had to wait 5 hours in Calais, which didn鈥檛 impress me then customs charged me 拢4 for my duty free alcohol.

After the war I went to stay with my aunt and did nothing for 8 months then I became a receptionist. I got bored and decided to become a WVS overseas. I spent 12-18 months in Hanover where I opened a club. Then I went to Rome-Beirut-Calcutta-Penang (capital of Malaya). We rode on Anson planes. We would travel either standing or on wooden benches. Once I was standing behind the pilots with my hands on the chair. It was a rough landing and both my arms dislocated and I had to pop them back in the sockets myself. I met my future husband in Penang in early 1954 who was a Geordie and in the Army. We married in December 1954 and we lived in Hong Kong for two years before coming back to Britain to resume normal life

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