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Marriage and Family Life

I was married just when the war started. I was going to be married in my hometown, Cheltenham. Everything was arranged, cousins were to be bridesmaids and that sort of thing and then the war started and there was no leave for anyone and my chap was in Catterick and my father went down to his drink shop and bought a crate of champagne and my Mum, well we had a cook and she had made my wedding case. We packed that into a hatbox and the only way I could get to Patrick was on a train and so we all went on the train to Catterick. There were soldiers sleeping in the luggage racks — they must have been more comfortable than today!

My mother had a friend called ‘The Hunting Vicar’ who lived near to Catterick. So my mother rang him and asked what we should do and he said if the bans had been read we could be married anywhere, in a sitting room if we liked. In fact the army had a chapel and the padre was delighted to help. So we were married in the chapel. I hadn’t got any of my chums there though.

My friends and I just sat around waiting for the chaps to come back and knitting socks. I couldn’t knit a sock today. We were up at York for nearly a year then we came to Warminster. Then, they went by sea to wherever they went and it was all went to be very hush-hush, but one day I went into town to get my hair done and when I came back I told him (my husband) when he was going. He was very shocked. ‘Keep Mum’ was the saying, but it didn’t work that time.

I became pregnant and at that time my Grandmother who lived outside Cheltenham. My parents went to live in her house and I had the family home. I got some girlfriends whose husbands were also abroad to and they had children too. When I had the baby I lived with my friends so that Jasper wasn’t an only child. Four boys and one baby girl were in that house.

The Canteen

Sometimes I would have a night off from looking after the baby and I would help at a canteen and being one of the young ones I mostly had to do the washing up while the oldies were talking to the customers. I remember one day I was at the counter when I spotted a medal I hadn’t seen before on an American service-man and said ‘Oh, what did you get that for?’ They hadn’t fought anywhere or done anything in the war at that stage but were covered in medals.
His friend said (broad American accent) ‘He saved a lady’ ‘Oh I said what did you do?’ ‘He saved a lady having a baby’ he said. We used to occasionally have them in (to the shared house) and they used to bring oranges for our babies — things we couldn’t get ourselves.

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