大象传媒

When I registered for War work, I didn鈥檛 fancy the idea of work ing in a factory. I was asked if I would like to learn how to be a telephone engineer. I jumped at the chance. Living in Central London, I was then put to work in Holborn. It was not a matter of installing single lines into houses, but switch boards and extensions into offices.
The Air Ministry had been bombed. Myself and another girl were sent in to replace most of the equipment, before any of the building damage could be repaired. We worked with part of the roof missing and it was freezing. Stripping cables in those conditions, was not easy. Our Foreman informed us that, no matter how difficult the job was, we had only a certain amount of time in which to finish it. We worked long hours and many a night to ensure the work was completed properly and on schedule.
A letter of appreciation was sent to our office, for the speedy replacement and quality of the work undertaken.
鈥淧lease pass on our thanks to the 鈥榤en鈥� involved.鈥�
was the message. They were never informed any different.
After the men returned from the war, we women were given a week鈥檚 notice and never really received the recognition we deserved. At least I had learned how to use tools properly, which has proved to be very useful over the years.

Catherine Byrne.
Queensland. Australia.

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