大象传媒

I was conscripted into the Army and after doing the usual training, I settled into doing clerical work, Army style. I was not a shrinking violet and was always sticking up for the girls, trying to get them a few basics because although the ATS was quite a large thing in its own right, it was still run very much by men along the men鈥檚 way of thinking. I quickly became a sergeant鈥擨 din鈥檛 even go through the corporal stage, just straight to sergeant--and was even confined to barracks for a whole month for challenging a senior male officer. When I had gone to try and get some basic things that the women under my command needed, this officer banged his fist on the desk and shouted 鈥渢he British Army is not a democracy, sergeant,鈥� to which I replied: 鈥淵es, I鈥檓 fully aware of that, Sir鈥�. And that was me鈥攊n barracks for a whole month. But I did get what I was after鈥擨 think it was for the women to be supplied with sanitary towels.

But undoubtedly the worst experience of my whole army career was when I was off duty, walking across Mitcham Common one night. The blackout was on and it was totally black. As I walked across the common, I kicked something soft that was on the ground. I thought it was probably a dead rabbit or a cat or the like, but when I bent down I realised that it was the severed leg of a child鈥攕till bleeding and warm. I managed to find an ARP chap and gave it to him and I remember he said, 鈥淭hank you, I鈥檒l put it with the rest of him.鈥� It was clearly a part of a child who had been blown up and he knew who the child was. That was awful and I remember keeping my cool with a reasonable distance before vomiting. The child was about two, judging by the size of the leg.

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