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This story was submitted to the People's War site. Alison McNaught has added the story to the website on behalf of Barbara Arnold with her permission. She fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

Lathes were my destiny during the war

I was reminded of my war effort the other day when I walked passed the old Technical College (which is now the Adult Education Centre, in Tunbridge Wells). I remember registering there in 1941 when I was 19. Although I was in the Red Cross, I was directed into engineering as more girls were needed in engineering, to release the men.
At that time men were directed to the mines. They were called The Bevan Boys, and we were called the Bevan Belles, although I have not heard that term mentioned since.
Anyway I had to go into lodgings as the course I was on started at 7am every morning for seven weeks. Two other girls started on the same day that I did, Mary Boakes and Alma Ferris, they both lived locally.
We studied in the basement of the college, where boys were trained as part of their education.
We had to learn about lathes, how to name the parts and how to read a blueprint. Our exam at the end of seven weeks was to take a lathe apart, name all the pieces , put it all back together and cut a piece of metal (I didn’t like that part), working the piece to the blueprint. The three of us passed the exam and were sent to London.
Mary and I were sent to a firm called ‘Bovis’ where we worked on large lathes making shells. Our friend Alma went to ‘Smiths’. We all lodged together, sharing a room.
Two other girls I knew followed the same course at Tunbridge Wells and when they finished their course they were sent to Birmingham to work.
I wonder if the college still has those lathes?

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