大象传媒

Rose told her story to a volunteer during the Peoples War Roadshow.

Rose鈥檚 eldest brother was captured in Germany and placed in a POW camp, and eventually made friends with one of the German guards. They passed the long boring hours by trying to teach each other their respective languages. The two men kept in touch after Rose鈥檚 brother was sent back to England under the 鈥渆xchange of prisoners鈥� scheme common at the time. After the war both men visited each other鈥檚 homes several times, leading to a lifelong friendship. Rose鈥檚 brother even studied German at night school to facilitate his learning.

Rose was a very pretty girl much in demand, but her brothers warned her that the life she had been enjoying, i.e. dances, dates, picture going, would all end if the war began in earnest. They were very wrong; the fun was only just beginning. In fact when asked about the war, Rose鈥檚 one most quoted sentiment was that she had a lovely war. But the young impressionable girls were not just left to their own devices when it came to eager young servicemen. The girls were provided with a chaperone, usually an older lady whose job was to keep an eye on he girls and to ensure that they got home safely. Most of the fun was to be had at the American bases. Buses were sent for the girls, again chaperoned, and so to the dance halls where the jitterbug was in full sway. But it wasn鈥檛 just Americans who benefited from the girls company. The English Brass were aware that the Americans were poaching on their territory, i.e. 鈥渙ver paid, over sexed and over here鈥�, so groups of English girls, properly chaperoned as usual, were taken to the British Bases to teach guys how to hold their own on the dance floor. Local dances took place in St Lawrence Church Hall, and in the Baths Hall where the floor was rolled over the swimming baths leaving a huge area unsupported so that the dancers could really get the floor bouncing to the jive and jitterbug.

Rose was employed in a sewing machine factory, before the war she was engaged on making little boy鈥檚 trousers but as soon as the war began she was put on war work, i.e. making uniforms for the North Africa. In fact one of her brothers served in North Africa under Montgomery and came home with irritated eye due to the constant dust moving across his eyeballs. In fact, Rose had three brothers, all of whom saw service during the entire war, and who all survived intact. The only one who was wounded was Rose鈥檚 brother-in-law; he was badly injured in his shoulder which was virtually smashed. Due to the professional acre he received from a much respected local orthopaedic surgeon, he made a full recovery.

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