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First we signed on and were kitted out with lace-up shoes, khaki uniform, two hats and underclothes- you could not have anything of your own. Then I went to Oswestry to do drill training, discipline and for them to decide where they were going to send me. I went into the 37th Heavy Artillery Regiment.

We went on many gun sites in the London and Kent Area such as Woolwich common, Greenwich and Chislehurst, moving every two weeks to avoid discovery, more often in London. In between moving we also had to go on gunnery practice in somewhere more remote, which meant a month once at Rossneith in Scotland, on the Clyde. If we wanted to go anywhere they would take us on a little boat for Helensborough and from there you could get to Glasgow. That was time off, which we did not get very often. There was never a drill or any of that once we trained as we were too busy working. By then I was a telephone operator, aircraft spotter and a plotter working in a command post- concrete with telescopes on the top to do the spotting, which was shift work day and night. I used to go on at six or seven in the evening and not get home until six or seven the next morning.

I also went to for our gunnery practice in Whitby, up on the moors. We had to go through the cobbled streets where fisherwomen sat outside mending the nets. In the front room windows there were dressed crabs, which we used to buy on the way home. While there, we lived in big, tall houses, facing the harbour and I remember climbing the steps with our helmets on and gas masks on the back for gunnery practice.

The third firing place I went to for a month was on the Isle of Anglesey for training and practice. It was very hot. I used to have my dark hair rolled up at the sides with a quiff at the front, which I used peroxide on while I was there. When I got home my father said, 鈥淲hat on earth have you done?鈥� on seeing this blond quiff. 鈥淒ad it was so hot there,鈥� I said, 鈥渁nd of course I was pushing my cap on to the back of my head and the sun bleached it!鈥� I don鈥檛 suppose he ever believed me.

Often, as we were in such remote places in Britain when were on Gunnery practice, having a shower was a bit of an experience. Once a week or even once a fortnight we had to go by lorry to two marquees in a field run by the Royal Ordinance Core. You would undress in one and then run through the passage to the other and all stand in a ring to have a shower. You lost all of your modesty then.

For a fortnight we also went to school in Chislers, for a course on identifying planes to keep us up to date for spotting. We had to make models of the aircraft out of balsawood in order to help us recognise them.

While in Kent our accommodation was in Nissan huts. These had old stoves in the middle with the beds arranged either side like in a dormitory. Nearly every morning there was an inspection, we had to make our bed and stand by it while they saw whether you had folded everything right. There was a canteen- the food was not wonderful, but we always looked forward to spam or corn beef done in batter.

Another place I was stationed was by Clacton-on-Sea, living in a modern bungalow. I remember one night coming back off leave, I could not find where I was staying as it was dark because of the blackout and they had only sent to tell me to report back, no other details. In the end I went to the police station and the policeman took me to where he thought the latest people were. Luckily he was right!

We gradually moved down until we were getting near the coast. By then the Germans were getting pushed back out of France. We were on the Rodney Marshes in terrible weather and I remember when I opened the tent you could not see a hand in front of you it was so bad. I went on leave from there as I was going abroad. I had to walk to Rye Station at six o鈥檆lock in the morning. Then from Rye Station I went up to London and had to go to Paddington to get a train home to Cardiff. Luckily, by then the journey was not so dangerous, although there were still a few air raids at that time.

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Sian Roberts of the 大象传媒 Radio Shropshire CSV Action Desk on behalf of Mrs. Catherine Deakin and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.

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