大象传媒

This story has been submitted to the People's War website by Pam Riding of Kirklees Libraries on behalf of Mrs Taylor and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions
Things were of course in short supply at this time and an uncle hit on the idea of making toys out of wood and selling them to Busby鈥檚 on Manningham Lane. I think he did pretty well as there were not many toys about. Factories that had made non essentials had now to make more suitable things, if possible. Our dad took up his brother鈥檚 idea and began to make large wooden battleships. It became the job of my brother and me to hammer in about a hundred small tacks around the sides for hand-rails, and we quite enjoyed the task when Dad was home on leave. How successful they all were I do not know, but I do remember one keeling over and sinking when we tested it in the bath! At that time there was a standing joke in our house with us imitating Dad鈥檚 cry of 鈥楢nyone want to buy a battleship?鈥�

At this time I was attending Belle Vue School on Manningham Lane. One of my main pleasures was going to the Prince鈥檚 Theatre with my friend Gwen every Monday night. At the time Harry Hanson鈥檚 Court Players, a repertory company, put on a different play every week. Because Monday was their first night and they were more likely to make mistakes, we could have two seats in the gallery for nine pence. The theatre was in Little Horton Lane and Elsie Tanner (of Coronation Street) was one of the players. She was probably just starting her career, but even in those days, she stood out from the others.

There were many soldiers about in Bradford. Some were Belgians. There were also Canadians and people would befriend them and invite them home for meals. Locally we had a lot of our soldiers from the Grammar School opposite Lister Park. The prestigious building had been completed at about the time that war broke out and the Government immediately commandeered it for our troops. My brother Len was stationed there for a time which meant we could see more of him. I didn鈥檛 like it though when on one occasion he brought home his rifle to show us. It made my blood run cold to think of it killing people. When he attached the bayonet and demonstrated what it might do I was horrified and could not stay in the room. The boys were most interested in this killer but not me.

Quite a number of large houses were taken over by the army, too.

Near to us in the Heaton Grove area there were villa type houses that had been built for rich textile merchants and mill owners. Those that were empty were commandeered and filled with soldiers and A. T. S. My sister-in-law to be was housed in one on Wilmer Road, I believe.

Security was tight, we liked to believe. There could be spies and enemy agents anywhere. My doctor on Keighley Road had one poster 鈥榃alls have ears鈥� with a cartoon showing a wall covered by ears listening to someone鈥檚 conversation. Similar posters were on buses and were also screened at cinemas. One I remember said, 鈥楤e Like Dad Keep Mum.鈥� We were made well aware that careless talk cost lives.

The only possible enemy I had ever come across was when I was at Frizinghall school. In my class there was a Jewish girl called Winnie Librowich. Her father had a dental practice on Bradford Road. I liked Winnie. She was rather quiet but nice, and her friends who lived in her area were my friends too. One day Winnie brought to school a new girl called Elisabeth. She was a very attractive girl with long wringlets tied back with a big white bow. She was wonderfully dressed in a frilly white frock that I would have died for, and her black patent leather shoes put my pumps to shame. Elisabeth鈥檚 English was poor. Like Winnie鈥檚 parents, she was German. It was only for a few days that I knew her and then she disappeared. Winnie told us that Elisabeth and her family had been staying with her parents, but they had been told by the authorities that they could not stay in our country. They had been sent to an internment camp, I believe, on the Isle of Man, for the duration of the war.

Another thing that has just struck me about school at that time is the fact that all the female teachers were single. Up to the war years females could not have a career in teaching and have a husband. Teaching was not just a job, one had to be really dedicated it would seem. I think male teachers must have been subject to call up, because there came to be a shortage in the classroom, and the ruling for female teachers was changed. My teacher a Miss Connel was quick to take advantage and became Mrs Ackroyd. But no matter what she was called she was great. She took Standard Four preparing us for our Scholarship exams and was both inspired and inspiring. I would have done anything for her. No other teacher ever came near her for me.

Not so with some I could mention though. At this time because of sufficient numbers in teaching, a scheme was started in which men (and perhaps women) could have a month鈥檚 emergency training and be put in schools. Desperate times require desperate measures I suppose! One teacher trained this way should never have been let loose on children. He had no understanding of them and only knew how to humiliate, hit and bully any unfortunate that didn鈥檛 come up to his standards. I don鈥檛 think that anyone liked him not even his fellow teachers. He was still teaching at the same school in the late sixties.

When I was fourteen I left Belle Vue to earn some money for Mam. She was still having a big struggle to make ends meet and did nothing to dissuade me when I suggested I didn鈥檛 stay on until sixteen, as I was supposed to do. Fourteen was the minimum age for school leavers then.

I went to work where I could earn most and that was in the mill. I became a weaver at Mason鈥檚 in Shipley. I was now grown up! After the initial shock of facing those horrifically noisy looms I soon learned to lip-read conversations. When I wasn鈥檛 doing that I would sing away at the top of my voice. No one ever asked me to shut up. They couldn鈥檛 hear me for the racket.

I was on piece work and earned about three pounds a week. Out of this I got five shillings spending money. It was amazing how far I could make that money stretch as I could manage the pictures (cinema) three times a week at nine pence a time, and swimming once, at Shipley baths; out of the rest I could buy a few sweets, a magazine like 鈥楻ed Letter鈥� and even smoke. I learned to smoke at the mill in the lavatory with a few mates (until the boss saw our looms standing and banged on the door with a shuttle to make us come out) I remember feeling light-headed but was advised that this was usual for the first time and that I鈥檇 soon get over it. I did and went on to go without part of my dinner to buy Woodbines instead, when I was hooked. Most adults smoked. We thought it was very adult. Years later and thousands of pounds worse off and suffering blighted lungs, I wondered why I鈥檇 been such a fool. It was very difficult to stop and when I did finally manage I knew that I would never be crazy enough to start again. Why idiots are taking up smoking today with their advanced knowledge I will never know.

Of course, with starting work went trying to make myself more attractive. My clothes were few but we were encouraged to 鈥楳ake do and Mend.鈥� Pieces were added to garments to give them a new lease of life. To be properly dressed up we had to have shoes, handbags and gloves to match, if possible. Hats were worn too, but with us young lasses we preferred to imitate the film stars with our hair-dos. We鈥檇 have swept up styles at the front like Betty Grable and Alice Faye and pageboy styles like Rita Hayworth. Frizzed styles were fashionable too, and I used flat metal curlers under a turban at work, to get this effect for a date, if I had one!

There were dances held in Saltaire in a room under Salt鈥檚 library, at the Lakeen in Shipley and also the Carnegie rooms. In Bradford there was the Ideal at Bankfoot and the Textile Hall. There were also places where you could have lessons in ballroom dancing and as dance halls were places where boys met girls, many were interested. The Ideal I remember particularly because it had a mirrored ball hanging from the ceiling (very romantic when the lights were low for a slow dance number). They also had a band, Bert Shutt鈥檚 and they were pretty good. The dances were quick steps, foxtrots and waltzes mainly, with the odd party dance when things livened up. Jitterbugging had come over from the States but wasn鈥檛 always appreciated. The dance required a lot of room if other dancers were not to be kicked, and at most places was confined to the corners. This was a dance where underwear was sometimes seen and you could be thought a bit common if you showed your unmentionables, especially if they were French knickers or the rayon cami-knickers fashionable at the time.

There were no nylon stockings then and we wore rayon (and looked like Nora Batty when they wouldn鈥檛 stay up properly) or we painted our legs. Cocoa and water looked quite good when applied, especially when black eyebrow pencil was used to mark out the seams. Standing still on a stool required patience and you hoped the artist wasn鈥檛 making a hash of the job! Then there was the weather to contend with. If it rained you could finish up with very streaky legs!

I would buy cheap powder and rouge from the chemist in Shipley. As he sold distemper too, I had my doubts about the quality. For mascara I used boot polish and with a slash of bright red lipstick I thought I was the goods. Unfortunately, the boys didn鈥檛 usually think the same and would make a play for my blonde bombshell girlfriend instead!

The distemper I鈥檝e just written about was much used during the war. I don鈥檛 think there was any wallpaper about or maybe it 鈥榳as scarce鈥� and went under the counter for friends and those willing to pay extra. At home I helped Mam with the decorating of our large living room and we used a sunny yellow distemper. Some one had found out about stippling to make the covering look more like wallpaper and we armed ourselves with sponges. It wasn鈥檛 too bad when we had finished but would have looked better if we鈥檇 evenly loaded the sponges with the other colours. The effect, too, was more like large hydrangeas than the roses we鈥檇 planned, but we鈥檇 done our best. It is interesting to see this method of decorating being used in home improvement programmes now. Fashions go round and round, don鈥檛 they?

The rest of the war passed off pretty uneventfully for me really. I haven鈥檛 mentioned that we all had to carry Identification Cards which I think could be helpful nowadays, too. Mine had a number K. B. K. F. 2. 2. which I was glad about because it was easy to remember. We could be stopped in the streets by the Police and although I never knew of this happening to anybody, it was nice to think that I could give a number if I didn鈥檛 have a card with me.

I stayed at the Mill in Shipley only a year. I found the monotonous work very boring and so went to work at the Mechanic鈥檚 Institute Caf茅 instead. Here I was a waitress and then a veg and pastry cook and I liked the work much better. My wage was only thirty shillings a week but I could pick up the same amount in tips and my meals were all free.

My brother Len had been released from the Army at about this time. He had survived the horrors of the evacuation from Dunkirk. He told me later that evacuations took place all along that coast and that his battalion had kept back the Germans so that our men could get away. Because of this he had been amongst the last to leave. Maybe in the end he was fortunate, as many were killed trying to get to the boats, and those that did, faced the enemy bombs. I knew little of all this apart from the maps with their arrows on the front of the 鈥楾elegraph and Argus鈥� to show which side was going where. Only Mams worried face showed the seriousness of war and how much she suffered, not knowing what was happening to her son. Len told me later that when he did come home that Mam had run across the street to greet him. He鈥檇 been surprised at the fuss! He couldn鈥檛 possibly have known her relief at seeing him alive and safe.

After this I know Len was released from the Army temporarily to go back to engineering and munitions. He worked for Hepworth and Grandage near Leeds Road. Luckily the next time he heard from the Army the war was over and we were all free to continue our lives without fear.

I shall never forget V. E. day; the news broke whilst I was at work at the caf茅. The war in Europe was over at last. The war with Japan would soon be over too, it was felt, but it was the European one that mattered most to us. We did have lads out East its true, but I think that it was felt that the war there belonged more to America than us. I know that I had never felt threatened by the Japanese; they were much too far away.

Within a very short time of the announcement the Town Hall Square began to fill. Voices, excited voices, drifted up and into the Mechanic Institute Caf茅 windows. Then the music started. Someone had brought along an accordion and people were beginning to dance. Within the kitchen of the caf茅, conversation was unreal. We were saying silly things to one another interspersed with 鈥淚t鈥檚 over, I can鈥檛 believe it. It鈥檚 over at last!鈥� It was impossible for our grins to be any wider.

Our customers soon dispersed wanting to see what was going on below. And so did I! There were still hours to go before we could finish so I opened the caf茅 window wider and climbed up onto the sink to look out. The Square below was now full, heaving with people, laughing and cheering. I couldn鈥檛 see everything from my stand on the sink so I climbed out on to the broad window sill risking my life if I fell down two storeys, but I didn鈥檛 care. What greeted me was well worth the risk. For coming up from the Square was a great swell of happiness that enveloped me. The euphoria filled my being. That wonderful elation from the mass of people I shall never forget for as long as I live. My feet itched to join them. I looked round at the Manageress who was more than a little anxious about my being out there perched on the high ledge. 鈥淐ome down, Dorothy鈥�, she said. 鈥淕et yourself off and go and join them.鈥� My feet hardly touched a step as I raced down the several flights and than I was there. Out in the Square amongst the joyful crowd!

There were no strangers that day. Only friends to throw our arms about and hug and dance with. We sang until our throats hurt and then sang some more. Other musicians filtered in and took up the tunes we danced to. It wasn鈥檛 proper dancing though, there was no room for that. We just swung round from person to person in a wonderful abandoned way.

How long the festivities lasted I cannot say, but eventually I felt I should go home and throw my arms around the family too. Mam had tears of joy in her eyes. 鈥淭hank God鈥� she kept saying. 鈥淭hank God, It鈥檚 all over.鈥�

It wasn鈥檛 properly over until the Americans dropped the atom bomb on Hiroshima. That ended the war for the Japs but can we ever forgive the horrific aftermath of that bomb? And yet, I suppose it made others decide against its use in the future.

I believe V. J. (Victory in Japan) followed V. E. day by about six weeks. Street parties and other celebrations were organized and there was a gay atmosphere for a while. The fighting men were demobbed and tried to settle back down in their jobs. Some of these jobs had been taken over by women but there had been an understanding that the women must give them back to the men.

My Dad came back to us after a brief period of serving in Germany. He had been lucky not to have been in the fighting and didn鈥檛 see Germany until after the surrender. At this time I think he was an officer鈥檚 batman. I remember he brought back a German iron and discovered it was no good on our electricity supply.

There had to be some reshuffling in many households I should think when the Army, Navy and R. A. F. returned (conscription of young men continued for some years so that the country maintained its defences. These young men all served two years 鈥� part of that abroad.) Many of the returned men found it difficult to settle down again although they were, of course, glad to be out of the fighting. But they missed the friends they鈥檇 made and all the camaraderie of being in the forces.

For me it was work as usual and life carried on. I was lucky in that the war had not affected me too greatly. But like everyone else I was certainly glad that it was over and hoped that never again would our country be threatened. Freedom is a very precious possession, indeed.

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