大象传媒

At the beginning of the war I worked on munitions at Bootle. We were making detonators and one week in the month we were on ramming gunpowder into shells. At the time we had no masks to wear, and at the end of the week our skin was very yellow. I got lockjaw - I think from the powder. I had to lie on the sofa and my mum poured soft boiled eggs in my mouth so I could eat something. A few years later I had my gall bladder removed and my stones were as yellow as gunpowder!

I worked in the sheet metal shop at Vickers, making ventilators for ships. We worked mainly on destroyers - HMS Urchin, HMS Urania, HMS Wizard, HMS Wrangler and HMS Spartan. The sailors used to come in with a tray of tomatoes - he tripped and fell. I helped him pick them up to help him and he said you silly thing - put some in your bag! But I didn't because I don't like tomatoes! And when I looked up, one of the officers was watching and listening!!

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