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This story was submitted to the People’s War site by Sarah Housden of Norfolk Adult Education’s reminiscence team on behalf of Phylis Tozer and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site’s terms and conditions.

I got married during the war — one New Year’s Day. My husband was in the Royal Engineers and was sent abroad to North Africa on 3rd February. I had a letter from him to say that he’d arrived safely and then didn’t hear anything until July when I heard he’d been wounded. Someone also wrote the letter for him as his hands were injured. They brought him home on a hospital ship at the end of September and he was taken to Nottingham hospital. I had been in the Forces myself, but resigned to look after my husband. He was in hospital for a year.

I was in the Air Force (WAAFs) doing general duties — which meant doing anything I was told to do. I was based at Martishall Heath Airfield near Ipswich. I remember one day I was standing near the fence with some friends when we saw some planes coming over. When they got closer we saw that they were German so we ran like anything to find cover.

My Mum, Dad and four brothers were in the Forces. Mum was in the WVS, and Dad used to keep look-out for planes. My brother Pat was in the Navy as a Chief Petty Officer. Stan was also in the Navy, while Lesley and George were in the army. My brother Claud had something wrong with his ears and so was in the Home Guard. My sisters did their fair share of war work too. Doll, Ida and Marjorie worked in the NAAFE, while Irene worked in a munitions factory and Barbara was in the Land Army.

One memory I have of the war is of going to Ipswich one day to get my hair done. I was in the middle of having a perm when a raid started. In those days perms were done with wires which were attached to your hair, so when they started dropping bombs I just had to sit there!

Us WAAF girls used to have a lot of fun together and always found something to laugh about.

At one time I was in hospital with kidney trouble and some of the airmen I knew came to see me. However, as it turned out, they were more interested in talking to the nurses than to me!

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