大象传媒

Call up

In 1941 I received my call up papers and was sent to Aylesbury to do testing and continuity on vital Radar equipment. During this time I met quite a few of our forces when they were sent to the section to familiarise themselves with the completed radar sets in preparation for the onslaught that was to come.

When civilians were called up, the Government officials in the area would billet (lodge) people with householders - this was compulsory, they had no choice. I was fortunate - I settled in quickly and soon became friends with my landlady.

鈥淧lane-less鈥� Bombs

In 1942, the air raids were lessening - the Germans seemed to be concentrating on certain areas and in Aylesbury, we did not seem to be in the range of the bombers. As time went on, the Germans started using the rocket bombs, the 鈥淰 1鈥檚鈥� and the 鈥淰 2鈥檚鈥�. The machine鈥檚 engine chugged like a motorbike. They were horrible - if one was in your area and the engine stopped, you knew that you would have to take cover, as it could land anywhere within a 5-mile radius. On one occasion, my landlady and I were not able to get under cover and we instinctively grabbed each other and waited for the explosion - the bomb landed, thankfully, about a mile away.

The day that the Yanks joined in

When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour in December 1941, the decision was made - America was now in the war! Until that time, we were on our own - in more ways than one! The young Americans were mobilised and before we knew what had hit us, the place was swarming with Yanks! [Or so it seemed!] The children loved it - they seemed to idolise them and in turn they were rewarded with bubble gum, candy bars, etc.- all the things that were rationed, now appeared to be easily supplied.

Some young girls became Camp followers - following the Yanks everywhere, falling for the so-called glamorous Americans, who were able to supply nylons. Some of the girls were a little free with their favours and became pregnant - to accommodate them, the authorities had to set up accommodation to house them and their babies until the babies could be adopted. I would like to stress that not all Americans took advantage, as always, there were good and bad - thankfully the majority were good.

News Reporting

The relaying of news was very primitive compared with today.

We had battery operated Wireless sets - an accumulator was used to charge the battery. Whilst one was being used, one was charging. We had to be careful not to use too much power on our sets, so we only listened to the news items.

Whenever we went to the cinema, we would see a full news report, supplied by either Gaumont British or Pathe News - the war correspondents risked their lives with the troops, in much the same way as Kate Adie now does.

If anything of great importance happened, the news boys went out onto the streets of Cardiff selling the South Wales Echo, shouting out 鈥淪pecial Echo鈥� - we would then run to buy one at the price of one (old) penny.

Transport

Public transport was the main way to get around - cars were only used for the Emergency Services and for the forces V.I.P鈥橲. Petrol was strictly rationed. Those people who owned cars were told to remove the wheels - the reason given was that we were under threat of invasion by the Germans and by doing that, it would prevent them being used by the enemy.

Certain roads had concrete blocks across them. Volunteers manned posts - these were the L.D.V. (Local Defence Volunteers) or Home Guards (probably better known to you as Dad鈥檚 Army!).

The majority of war workers and the military travelled by night - one night, I was on one of the night trains, going back from Christmas leave. The weather was really bad, freezing the rails, and when the train arrived at Swindon, it was stopped - a severe blitz was raging in London, our destination, and the train could not proceed any further. We were delayed for 3 hours - eventually we were on our way, albeit slowly. When we arrived at Paddington station, the raid was still in progress. We were told that the only underground train that was in use would be going to Baker Street. When I arrived at Baker Street, I was then told that no trains would run from there while the raid was on. I was told to go to Marylebone station and ask there - by now it was 2 am. With everywhere blacked out and with only a hand torch for light (just enough to shine down on the floor in short bursts), I left Baker Street station and turned into Marylebone Road in complete darkness, where I bumped into what I thought was a lamppost. To my surprise I heard a voice - I shone my torch quickly and the 鈥渓amp post鈥� did the same (it was a funny moment in an otherwise serious situation). I looked up into a black face - a six and a half foot American Airman was staring down at me, he said, 鈥淪orry Ma-am, can I show you the way?鈥� to which I replied, 鈥淚鈥檓 going to Marylebone station.鈥� We both laughed and walked away - even though there was death and destruction all around, we still had a sense of humour!!

I recall the underground stations being used by the Londoners every night to sleep, taking their possessions wrapped in bundles, and trudging to the stations. More often that not, when they returned to their homes the next morning, they found bombed out shells, or more frequently, their homes totally flattened.

Occupations

Men and women in reserved occupations - i.e. jobs important to the country, e.g. farmers, doctors, teachers, became volunteers and a great deal of role reversal took place.

Men took on part time jobs in the following areas: special constables, air raids wardens, first aiders, helping to dig people out of the debris after an air raid. This work was unpaid and done in addition to their normal jobs.

Women became crane drivers, part time ambulance drivers, mobile canteen workers, first aiders, guards on trains, tram conductors, etc.

We all did our 鈥渂it鈥� in our own way.

Continued in 鈥淎 Welsh Girl鈥檚 Perspective 鈥� Part 4鈥�

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