大象传媒

This story was told to East Ayrshire Library Staff by Elizabeth Cowan as part of the Drongan鈥檚 week of World War 2 Celebrations.

Elizabeth Cowan (nee Hamilton) was from Ashgill in Lanarkshire. She joined up in 1942 when she was 20 years old and served until 1946.

My training took place in Inverness for 3 weeks 鈥� square bashing - I was only in a week when I conked out it the parade ground and I was excused physical training and marching drill! From there I went to Oswestry as part of ACKACK 鈥� Royal Artillery 鈥� for 6 weeks training on what we would do when we took over a gun site in London.

After that we went to Wales, we went over the Menai straits 鈥� to practice firing real bullets on the cliffs over the sea. We were right up on the sea cliffs and this was the first time we had done this.

I was a telephonist and wasn鈥檛 termed operational. I was with 574 Heavy ACKACK Battery 鈥� my number was W/172048 - when I went to London and was based at Acton between Wormwood Scrubs and Hammersmith Hospital. We had great big walls that we had to go up between them that was frightening. I was entitled to an evening pass and a 陆 day pass per week. There were 6 men and 6 women to a table for meals and the food was awful 鈥� you couldn鈥檛 tell whether you were drinking tea or coffee. One day a week you got what we called 鈥渄og biscuits鈥� to empathise with the troops overseas.

We were then made operational - a battery had 2 halves 鈥� one was based in North Acton and the other in Acton Town. Princess Elizabeth had manned a gun site - when she joined the army - in Hyde Park and Elizabeth鈥檚 battery took over from Princess Elizabeth a week after she left. Elizabeth鈥檚 battery went all around London relieving gun stations for a fortnight at a time. This was horrid in a way as you never got to know an area or the people there.

One night while relieving a station situated near an orchard, the police came to the gun site and the girls were worried they were looking for apple thieves. The girls had been the thieves (and flung the apples away when the Police arrived) but the police were only warning them there was a POW in the area that had escaped.

I got moved from the operational area to Acton Town as a telephonist in an office. I wasn鈥檛 well and after going before a medical board I got a Dental Corp secondment and sent to Paisley. From Glasgow a red coat directed me to Paisley on the tram for a penny. The tram took half an hour and she was worried that she didn鈥檛 know where she was going 鈥� she kept asking the conductress if she was at Paisley yet. She had to report to Brabloch House that involved another tram 鈥� another penny fare but a much shorter journey - dinner was heavenly that first night 鈥� chops, chips and green peas.

She was in Paisley at D-Day still training to be a dental receptionist. Before D-Day most of the men had went away and she was left to run the dental centre. The dental centre was a room in Abercorn School (it still had children attending the school) and after D-Day stevedores came to the school and the dental centre moved to 72 High Street. It was a film star鈥檚 flat but it was very basic if you had seen the kitchenette and bathroom you wouldn鈥檛 have believed it was a film star鈥檚 though I still slept at Brabloch House.

After D-Day. I had six weeks training 鈥� in Aldershot - I came out first as I had been running the dental centre previously (though I still couldn鈥檛 type). Elizabeth was sent to Glasgow. I slept in 78 Hyndland Road but the dental centre was a church hall on North Woodside Road with 6 small dental rooms and a big room downstairs.

After I had been there I was moved to Perth, again working in a dental centre, I was based at a small barracks just off the High Street. While there I wasn鈥檛 well and was sent to an army hospital outside Perth to get my tonsils out. She remembers her mum visiting from Ashgill as they had told her I was very ill, accompanied by a neighbour as she didn鈥檛 know what to expect. I was demobbed from the hospital outside Perth.

Once when on leave from London, I took very ill and when the doctor came I was diagnosed with pneumonia and I got a line from my doctor. As was the rule, you had to take the line to the Police who would inform my unit but my dad had to report to Hamilton Barrracks with the line. The army sent a a great big ambulance 鈥� a huge big thing - to take me to be checked out. My dad came with me. I was sent from the Hamilton Barracks to Drymen Castle that was a military hospital. Hess was a prisoner in the hospital grounds. I was very ill and felt every cobble being driven through the streets of Glasgow. I remained at the Castle for about two weeks and when discharged was entitled to the two days remaining of my leave, from when I had taken ill. I was still very weak 鈥� I remember hitting off the sides of the Castle鈥檚 corridor. However when I returned to London, the medical officer took one look at me and Q
sent me home for a further two weeks recuperation/leave.

In the dental corp. you were off every Saturday afternoon through to Sunday and this allowed me to visit my family in Ashgill. I was friendly with the cook 鈥� Mary Cowan - at Hyndland Road and took her home to meet my family sometimes. On one of the visits Mary was accompanied by her brother Archie, who I had meet previously at Hyndland Road. I never thought for one minute I would marry him. We were married after the war.

Archie was originally a miner from Stoneyburn in West Lothian but later joined up. He was sent to 鈥� I think - Egypt on one of him postings but the ship he was being transported on sank and Archie spent a night in the sea on a raft. He was picked up by a passing ship and taken to Canada. Here he and the others in his group were billeted in a large house with a posh lady 鈥� a right rough Glaswegian in the group used one of the fingerbowl as a cup!

Archie was missing presumed dead for a year before his family got word he was a POW. He was a taken prisoner in Italy and transferred to Germany as part of the 1000-mile march. Archie didn鈥檛 talk much about his time in the army but he told Elizabeth a little about his time as a POW. When Italy capitulated, the army soldiers were free to roam and Archie said there was a lot of destruction in the vineyards etc. In Italy, the British soldiers were filthy 鈥� they weren鈥檛 allowed to shave or cut their hair. They had many bugs and they put paraffin in the Red Cross tins under the bed legs to stop bugs infesting the beds but the bugs climbed up the walls and dropped down on the bedding. When the German army arrived they let the British soldiers cut their hair and cleaned them up. Archie worked in Germany planting trees at a big house. The 鈥減ay鈥� was bread that fitted into a tobacco tin. They gave the girls who worked in the offices chocolate in exchange for bread. Red Cross parcels kept them alive 鈥� Archie returned from Germany weighing 5 stone and suffering from malnourishment and dysentery. The war took its toll on Archie鈥檚 health and he never fully recovered.

Archie鈥檚 family were also told his brother John was missing presumed dead too but he was in hospital shell-shocked. Another soldier recognised him from Stoneyburn but they couldn鈥檛 take one persons word for it and it was only after another man recognised him that the family were informed that he was safe. Elizabeth鈥檚 brother and sister also served in the war effort 鈥� her brother 鈥� Wullie - was a radio operator in the Merchant Navy and her sister was in WAAF. Her younger brother 鈥� Jim - did his National Service in the RAF.

Elizabeth鈥檚 mum 鈥� Jeannie - took in an evacuee from Possil Park in Glasgow called Margaret Sherlock. The arrived by train, Margaret was the youngest of a large family, fair-headed, and her dad was killed in the blackout. Margaret鈥檚 mum worked in an ammunitions factory. Margaret didn鈥檛 have much but what she had was good quality. One of Elizabeth鈥檚 mum鈥檚 neighbours gave Mary a coat as Margaret hadn鈥檛 one and she got 6p a week for running errands for Mrs. Lessels who lived across the road. Margaret saved her money and bought kid gloves. Jeannie bought Margaret shoes.

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