大象传媒

I was 15 years old when war was declared-I was the fifth child of seven of us-six girls and one boy. Father had left two years previously and my eldest sister didn鈥檛 enter the war effort, she was busy having seven babies of her own. The first to do any service was Elsie, she joined the NAAFI and was stationed at the Citadel. She was there when she meant met her husband in the R.E.M.E the next one to join up was Joyce who at 18 joined the Wrens and was stationed at Manadon.
The next to join was my only brother, Malcolm, who went in to the RAF at around 20, he went on to the train as a rear gunner in the Bomber Command. His first 30 ops were over Germany and his story touches me deeply-such young men doing that long night time flying. Sat in a rear turret, freezing cold, staring into the dark, looking for enemy aircraft. I asked him if it worried him and he said that he just did what he was ordered to do. But now, when he is 82, he clearly remembers the awful details-by the end of the war he had done around sixty trips and got the DFC at the Palace.
In 1942 at the age of seventeen I joined the WAAF and went to Innesworth, Glos, for square bashing then trained with the First Womens Flight Mechanics. We trained at RAF Chanwell (we were wing command Steddy鈥檚 girls). We wore battledress and navy berets on the flights but skirts and jackets on the Parade ground. I worked on Oxfords and Ansona to begin with, then (American) Harvards and finally got on Spitfires. As a flight Mec 鈥淎鈥� I was on every part including the engine. We did daily tests before the take-off, I remember having to sit on the tail plane of the Spitfires as they were 鈥榬eved up鈥� to test the engines to prevent the tail lifting up.
It was a lovely job and we worked alongside the lads. We had camp ballroom dances or we went to Sleaford or Lincoln for trips out. We had top rate wages: 拢1- 2s 6d a week, paid fortnightly and could send some to mum. We didn鈥檛 have make-up or perms etc, we curled our hair with pipe cleaners. In 1945 I caught Pneumonia and could not work out of doors in inclement weather without sufficient protective clothing. After 18 months in hospital I was invalidated out of the WAAF at 21 years of age.

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