大象传媒

This story has been added to The People's War Website by CSV Volunteer, Ann Toomey, on behalf of the author Shirley Polkinghorne, who understands the site's terms and conditions.

My call up came in late 1943. Living as I did in a semi-rural area of North Cheshire. I had always planned to join the Land Army and this I had indicated when filling in papers prior to call-up. I was told however, that there were no vacancies in the Land Army and I was directed into industry!

First of all I was sent to a Government Training Centre north of Manchester. Here for the first fortnight we were set to use various machines; Centre lathes, capstan lathes and Milling machines. For the last hour or so of the shift we were sent to the classroom for lessons in English and Maths. At the end of this time we were tested to discover our aptitudes. As a result I, together with six other girls, was selected to train as an inspector. For the next four months we learnt to read a blue print and the stresses and uses of various metals and alloys etc. This was all quite new to me and I enjoyed the work.

At the end of this training I was sent to the A.I.D. school (Aeronautical Inspection Department) a department of the Air Ministry. Now I was a Civil Servant. At the end of a month's training, I was posted to an aircraft facory, Faery Aviation. Here the fuselage of the Halifax bomber was manufactured. The noise was horrendous, caused by the riveters. I cannot but admire the women who did this monotonous job all day long. There were no such things as ear protectors in those days. I am sure many of them became deaf in later years.

By this time, most of the inspection was delegated to the firms' own inspectors, consequently the A.I.D. had very little to do and time dragged heavily.

After a couple of months I was interviewed for a further, more advanced A.I.D. course. At this interview, I made it clear that I was bored with the idleness for which I was being paid and requested that I should be moved to where the work was more worthwhile and challenging.

To my relief I was transferred to Avro at Woodford aerodrome, about three miles from my home. Here the Lancaster Bomber was assembled,the large components, fuselage, wings etc. arriving by low loader, probably overnight. It was unforgettable to see these magnificent monsters gradually taking shape as they progressed along the assembly lines. Once all the main components were connected, seemingly miles of cables, pipes and wires were fitted until one of the final phases was the fixing of the huge Rolls Royce Merlin engines. These were hoisted on chains and swung into position where the fitters waited on tower scaffolding to attach them with enormous nuts and bolts.

Every process of the building and fitting of the 'planes was inspected down to the smallest nuts, bolts, screws and split pins. This work was done by the firm's inspectors and the A.I.D. inspectors and three of these were women, therefore much of the work was delegated. One task, however, which was not delegated was the installation and function of the flying conrols, ailerons, elevators and flaps. This work was all checked by the A.I.D. - mainly by the three women. My job was to inspect the installation and function of flaps (air brakes). To do this one first had to arm oneself with two pieces of equipment, a handbag mirror and a bent paper clip. The flaps, towards the outer ends of the wings were reached by climbing a steep and lofty pair of steps on wheels. One had to inspect the insertion of each of the rods into each of the sleeves. The inspection hole was at the back, hence the mirror. The paper clip was inserted into this tiny hole to ensure that the rod was fitted to the depth of this hole. If this could not be located, the fitter concerned had to deal with it. Slowly one progressed from rod to rod, the trolley being pushed along by the fitter. When the job was completed on both wings, one clambered down the rather greasy ladder. On one occasion I descended rather unceremoniously and uncomfortably. Finally, one had to shout "flaps up" then someone high up in the cockpit, raised the flaps. This done, it was necessary to check that there was a close fit, otherwise this would interfere with the airflow in flight.

Then one had to check the function of the Automatic Pilot. To reach the cockpit one had to enter by the rear door and scramble through the length of the 'plane, including the main spar, which was no mean feat! In the cockpit one sat in the pilot's seat and held the control column.

When the Auto pilot was switched on, the control column began to buck and was difficult to control. If it could not be done, adjustments had to be made until it settled down.

There then were the final checks - after the removal of all tools etc. and a thorough clean-up, the Lancaster was towed out of the Assembly Sheds and moved sedately down to the Flight Sheds to await the attention of the test pilot, before being despatched to the R.A.F.

There was no glamour or smart uniform for those of us working in industry, but in the main they were busy and rewarding times and to see these beautiful aircraft on their way into service was quite a moving experience.

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