大象传媒

I was 19 when war broke out and we were living in North Harrow in London because my father worked at the Air Ministry. I was working as a counter clerk and telegraphist in the Post Office in the West End.
In 1940 father was sent to South Africa with the Ministry and my mother and sister went with him. My brother and I stayed behind and lived with friends.

I worked at the Post Office in Mayfair and one morning arrived at work only to find the ground floor had been blown out.It was like that during the blitz - going to work every morning wondering what you were going to see. There were anti aircraft guns in Hyde Park and bombing every night.

I finished up at the Post office at South Audley Street near Grosvenor Square. I met my future husband there - he was in the army and was stationed round the corner.We used to go to the theatre with free tickets - we had a really good time.

By the end of 1942 I decided to join the Wrens. I trained at Westfield College and remained in London for the duration of the War. I worked as a teleprinter operator and was based at Combined Operations HQ in Whitehall. Then they opened a new Teleprinter/ Communications Centre underneath The Admiralty. We used to have to go down to it in a really deep lift and there were tunnels underground. We were taking and receiving messages from our ships and naval stations. I remember when the Invasion was about to start I saw the word Overlord in lots of the messages - I didn't realize it was the codeword for the Invasion.

As Wrens we lived in Quarters in Bayswater near Hyde Park. We had a great time when we were off duty.We went to all the theatres - there were free tickets for the Forces - and we saw all the Ivor Novello shows as well as Bob Hope at the Palladium while our parents, over in South Africa, were worried stiff about us.

I remember D Day in London - it was very quiet and very still and we knew something was happening but we didn't know what. We heard the news bulletins later that day and were relieved that the Invasion was under way.After D DAY my husband went to France, then to Belgium and to Germany.

It was in 1944 after that that the V1 Doodle bugs began - they were pilotless planes - Hitler's secret weapon - and they were deadly quiet. Then there were the V2 bombs - I saw them - you could watch them coming and then the engine would cut out and they would drop silently.

It was 7th May 1945 when we heard that the War was over and VE day was on the 8th May. We were off duty and went into the Mall - there were crowds there already and everyone was dancing and it was really exciting. The next day Churchill and the King and Queen came on the balcony at Buckingham Palace - though I didn't actually see them.

My parents came back from South Africa and we had a great reunion. I wasn't demobbed till January 1946; my husband came home in May 1946 and we got married in June. In 1947 my husband went to Rhodesia and I followed him with a three month baby in 1948 - and we were there for the next 35 years.

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