大象传媒

"This story was submitted to the People's War site by the Barnsley Archives and Local Studies Department on behalf of Desiree Chipp and has been added to the site with his/her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions."
I left school as war started aged 14 years. (No jobs for girls except going into service, too young for the forces.) I ran away from home to get employed in the mills at Keighley and then on to work in the munitions factory for 18 months. While I worked in the bullet factory there were 40 deaf and dumb people working there. They had flashing lights to alert them of changes in their working conditions, at lunchtime they danced in perfect timing although there was no music. They were lovely people.

When I left that work I went to the Sprotborough tank Factory and was employed as a overhead crane driver and I was very frightened as I climbed the steps and along the iron gantry sparks were flying from the furnaces that were used for melting crap metal (old railings, bikes, beds etc). One day Fred was pouring hot molten metal from the bucket into the mould when there was an accident and metal went into his eye and blinded him.

I stayed in this job until the end of the war.

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