大象传媒

My Aunt Joyce worked in an iron factory. When war came she was conscripted into factory work for the government. For three months she was sent to Leeds for training in machining parts for aircraft and the use of micrometers and pricision instruments. She was housed in a hostel with a warden. Welsh girls were on the ground floor and Yorkshire girls upstairs, two to a room.

FREEDOM

For the first time in her life she was free from the strict Salvation Army rules which had dominated her life at home, where cinemas, pubs and dancing were regarded as of the devil. She met some lovely girls, and remembers how, when the siren sounded, they all trouped into the shelters with 'sing as we go'. It was an experience of freedom she had never had before, and she revelled in it.

THE AIRCRAFT FACTORY

After training she was transfered to Corsham, near Bath, where there was an underground British Aircraft Company factory in prodution. She was assigned to an area down below, like a huge cave, where each section was painted in a different colour for identification. Through her twelve-hour shifts she worked on grinding small aluminium parts for the aircraft engines being assembled above, and loved it. "An experience I could never forget", she said.

THE DARK CAVE

One day she was persuaded by an adventurous Pontefract girl to follow an intriguing concrete path which led into the darker caves beyond through which running water flowed. Evenually they came to an even more massive underground cave. They were terrified! Bare-backed men wielding pick axes in full swing were preparing another area so that even more engines could go into production. She felt it was the nearest thing to experiencing 'coal mining' conditions deep below the earth.

DANCING TO THE MILITARY BAND

During her time there I went to stay for a few days. I was lodged with a couple who lived on a housing estate. One evening she smuggled me into a dance underground. I was under age but looked older because of my height and long hair. All around the factory were military camps with men from many countries waiting to be drafted to military posts abroad. Some came to dance to the military band and exciting American music. It was the most thrilling experience of my life at the age of fourteen.

ENTERTAINMENT

Joan Slocumbe, a friend of my aunts who came from Plymouth, had sung with ENSA. Like my aunt, she had a beautiful voice. Once during a dance, they sang 'The barcarole duet' and 'Only a rose' together. It brought the house down!

REFLECTIONS

Today my Aunt Joyce is in her early eighties but still with a lovely voice. She often sits at her keyboard bringing back the memories through the hymns and songs she plays. They remind her of the days when she met, worked with and shared the lives and experiences of many wonderful women in the dark days of WW2.

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