大象传媒

In 1939 when war broke out I was working as a maid down Westbourne Avenue for the Dr Barley and was aged only 15. In 1941 my family and I lived in Cave Street, Beverley Road, Hull and we were bombed out. A land mine dropped opposite our house and as a consequence my dad sustained a slight injury. He happened to be in the toilet at the time and escaped with a bruised head.
The night before this event my bother and pregnant wife had also had a bomb dropped directly down their chimney, causing extensive damage. They were, in fact, staying in our home the following night, to be caught once again. My mum had pleaded with them to get out of bed when the sirens went. They were so tired they were very reluctant to get up. However, ultimately Mum persuaded them and they escaped with their lives as my bedroom wall collapsed onto the bed they had just been sleeping in.
We were taken by the authorities the next day to other accommodation in Pearson Park. The house had no shelter, so when the alarm sounded we all made our way to a very damp cellar under the house. By this time I was working at Wm. Jackson鈥檚 the grocers, and despite all the excitement of the bombings never missed a day鈥� work. Sometimes I arrived with a very sooty face.
Later in the war we had miners billeted from Ackworth (near to Doncaster) who were helping to repair homes by putting tiles on roofs. Every night I would go into the city centre with these men (and my brother as chaperone) to the cinema. My brother Joe was in the Civil Defence Corp. Many a time in the cinema the sirens would go off but we would try to keep in our seats and not miss the end of the film!
One evening as we left the cinema my brother wanted us to shelter in a pub doorway and I say 鈥� No -Lets go to the shelter in Prospect Street鈥� Minutes later the pub was wrecked so we had a miraculous escape. As we walked home we had to climb over hosepipes and tailor鈥檚 dummies and other debris from the damaged shop windows. Strangely I never felt actual fear. I trusted in God to bring me through the War.
At 19 years of age I joined the Land Army and spent 7 very happy years with 60 others girls in Howden Hostel. It was hard work but enormous fun. We had to be up at 6.20 am to pack up our sandwiched for the day. Often these sandwiched were filled with beetroot or potted meat. There was not a job we couldn鈥檛 tackle. Ditching, cleaning out dykes, cutting hedges and lots of manual work. One day we were cutting hedges near to Lancaster Bombers and our bonfire refused to light. However an airman arrived to help us out. He bashed an incendiary bomb against a wall and soon has our fire alight! We took ice and snow off potato clamps. These were piles of spuds, covered in straw and soil, covered to protect them for the winter. However, it was so icy we had to use a pick-axe to get at them.
One Friday us lasses scooped up and backed 5 tons of potatoes for the Hull market. I am only 4鈥� 9鈥� tall, but I could lift an 8 stone bag of spuds on my own! We pulled up carrots, beet and wurzels - all part of the day鈥檚 job. I also picked flax and 鈥榮tooked鈥� the corn and spent many a day stacking corn, wheat, barley and oats. I asked the farmer how I was supposed to get down from the top of the stack as someone had moved the ladder. He told me to close my eyes and just walk about! We used to 鈥榮lide鈥� down.
We lived in dormitories with cubicles with two tier bunks, about 30 girls sharing a room. There was an iron stove in the middle of the room where we would roast spuds and dry our socks. The highlight of the week would be receiving mail and reading letters from home and our boyfriends. My brother, by this time, was serving in the army and driving a tank in Italy. Us girls shared everything. The companionship was precious and lasting. To this day I remain friends with many of these old comrades. They were like sisters to me.

We had only three travel warrants per year. We made the most of these by going to London, Scotland and Blackpool. We were thrilled to see shows starring Richard Tauber and other such famous names of the time. I recall paying half a crown a night for bed and breakfast at the YWCA or the Land Army Hostel in Sloan Square in London.
Toward the end of the war we were working with POW鈥檚 and other displaced persons. These consisted of Germans, Italians, Latvians, Lithuanians and many other nationalities. We were not supposed fraternise with these men. However, one started chasing me. He was a 6鈥�2鈥� handsome blonde Latvian! Obviously we were allowed to talk to the Latvians and I soon became very fond of Arvids (Arry). He would cycle 16 miles each way just to visit me at the hostel. We were married in 1950 and had 3 wonderful children (Martin, Linda and Andrew).
My husband鈥檚 family did not know that he was still alive. Letters and parcels were not allowed. In 1988 we eventually traced his sister Milda and had a wonderful reunion in September. She, sadly died in December of the same year.
I feel I have led a very fulfilling and happy life and, despite all the hard work, have enjoyed good health and still feel young at heart. I feel very proud to have served my country during the war. We helped to feed the nation whilst so many young men were fighting for our freedom.

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