大象传媒

On Friday 2nd September 1939 I was being interviewed for the post of GPO telephonist in Manchester. I was accepted and heard somebody say Germany had walked into Poland and war was declared. We teenagers thought it very exciting but I remember my mother crying 鈥渘ot again鈥�, it was only twenty years from the Great War.

Blackout was started and we got used to some night being darker than others. We carried torches in our gas mask cases, we soon gave up carrying our gas masks.

We worked different hours covering 7am 鈥� 9:30pm duties. Coming off work there would be a line of boyfriends waiting for their girls. They didn鈥檛 speak and the girls had to identify their friend by their shoes, not easy in a blackout.

After twelve happy months at telephone house I was able to transfer to the telegraph office in the Spring Garden building in Manchester, it was one grade higher in the Civil Service! I was now 18 but my salary was 12/6 a week for the months of training. My workmates were all girls, the boys were called up into the Signal Regiments.

We worked very hard, Manchester at one time was the only telegraph office not bomb damaged. We had some staff from Liverpool come to work with us for a short time.

After some time I was trained for PO counter work, this job I loved. We worked in twelve offices in the city centre so the work varied. Albert Square office was near to Manchester Town Hall and the main police Station. On a Thursday we dealt with registered envelopes, the salaries going to the wives of men who were in the forces. It was quite a job checking all of them, about 600.

Manchester Head Office counter opened at 7am. I lived near Salford bus depot so I could catch a bus as 6:30am and would often be the only clerk for the first half hour. That duty meant that you could go shopping in the afternoon.

When I got married in 1947 I had to go back to the telegraph office as I only wanted to work three days a week. I did this for two years and then I left to start a family.

I did work for local sub-offices and then in August 1969 we took over a sub post office in Salford, we had ten good years there until the office was demolished when the M602 motorway was built. We had bought a house in Disley but when we retired we came to the Wirral to be near our family. We鈥檝e had a happy time here and won鈥檛 be moving again!

Times were hard for lots of people during the war. Clothing was an issue, coats were made from woollen blankets by a Jewish tailor, they were quite smart and very warm. Gloves were made from cards of mending wool, all colour fingers, very with it! Stockings were very precious. I was caught in the Manchester Blitz 1940 when I鈥檇 been to the Cinema. I was running to get home (2 miles) when a bomb could be heard whistling down. 鈥淕et down, get down!鈥� shouted a warden. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 I鈥檝e got my silk stockings on鈥� that was my priority! We were sent off the street to the cellar of a factory and stayed there until the all clear. My parents were very worried about me. They were in the Anderson shelter, which was damp and smelly. My mother gave me my Christmas present (a watch) in case we didn鈥檛 survive.

The main damage to Salford was the dock area, just one bomb fell on the field opposite our house, the windows broke but there was no further damage.

At work we went on two shifts, night and day, I did days. The city centre was badly damaged but the GPO building was ok. My friend and I had to walk into Manchester, as the buses could not get into the city centre. I did one week of nights, my mother wrapped the doorknocker and put a notice on it 鈥渘ight worker鈥�. My father said I鈥檝e worked nights for years and never had that treatment!

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