大象传媒

The tailoring factory was Philip and Pipers who normally made good quality clothes. I worked on the coat floor and my friend Paddy Keeble worked on the trouser floor below. I worked with mainly older women but Paddy worked with several teenage girls. My first job on a sewing machine was to make the inside pocket on sports jackets. We were shown how to cut the cottons off quickly by holding the blades of the scissors and if anyone failed to learn quickly enough, they got their hands slapped by the forewoman. Later I was put to work on a buttonhole machine. I was the last one on a conveyor belt making army battle dresses. We had 鈥楳usic While You Work鈥� on the radio twice a day and the girls would all sing together 鈥� it was lovely. The factory had a fairly busy main road outside and the girls who worked the big pressing irons nearly always had the window open as it was a warm job. Suddenly one of the girls would shout 鈥淐ONVOY鈥� and all the girls (except the goody goodies and those too old to bother) ran to the windows and we had a very amusing time with the soldiers shouting up three floors trying to make dates and the girls shouting back and saying which one they liked. Our foreman was quite a gentleman and asked nicely for us all to go back to our machines but no-one took a bit of notice until the convoy had gone. The conveyor had been moving all the time and the garments had all come down to my machine and we had a good laugh for about ten minutes, calling out to the other girls and throwing the garments back down the line. Those convoys gave a real boost to morale and probably did for the soldiers as well. Paddy said the same thing happened on the trouser floor but their foreman used to get nasty. He seemed to have more teenagers than we did on our floor. Some of the girls used to write their name and address and put them in the pockets of the garments (and got a reply!)

It was the fashion to have long hair and Paddy said one girl would keep a lookout for 鈥榝ather鈥� while the others put metal grips up the front of the hair to make nice waves and put metal dinkie curlers in the rest. If they heard the word 鈥榝ather鈥� they all rushed to put turbans on to cover the curlers and were innocently machining when he got to them. We were on essential work so were not allowed to leave unless we went into nursing or the forces and we were not old enough for that.

One girl would get fed up and say let鈥檚 go out, so we鈥檇 arrange to go for a drink first (under age of course) and then go on to a large dance hall. We had a wonderful time and I still see some of the girls we worked with and it鈥檚 lovely to talk over old times as we had such a good time with them all. We never had enough coupons to buy new dresses but one of the girls said she knew a shop which would sell dress materials 鈥榰nder the counter鈥� which meant no coupons. One lunchtime about six of us went there and the man got several rolls of material out and was joking with the girls. Then he looked at me and said I could have all the material I wanted if I鈥檇 have a date with him! I couldn鈥檛 get out of the shop fast enough and one girl said 鈥渁ren鈥檛 you going on a date with him?鈥� and I said 鈥淣o, he must be over 40 and his price was too high!鈥� At the time there were thousands of young servicemen stationed in Suffolk so we had plenty of choice. At another shop we were able to buy some nice black-out curtaining material for no coupons and Paddy and I made ourselves 鈥榡itterbug鈥� dresses. They had a square neck, no sleeves, you wore a nice blouse under them and the dresses fitted close to the body until they got to lower hip length with pleats all around the bottom. When you danced and turned quickly, the dresses flared out and showed a lot of leg. As we never had enough coupons to buy many stockings, we used to rub cold tea on our legs and get our friend to draw a pencil line up the back. We used to go to the pictures to see the hairstyles of the stars and copy them. I swept my hair up on top and had all curls, Betty Grable style. In the newspapers were pictures of how to make do and mend and how to make straight skirts out of the legs of men鈥檚 trousers. We managed to get sub standard parachutes and would lay them out on the floor and cut out nightdresses and underwear. They were lovely because they were good quality silk.

It was compulsory to carry a gas mask at all times and they made some nice cases to carry them in. Paddy and I decided we didn鈥檛 want to carry them all the time so we hid them at home and put our 鈥榝ace鈥� in them. It was more important for us to have our bright red lipstick with us than a gas mask. My mum went mad when she found the gas masks hidden in the bedroom. A lot of people made lovely coats out of blankets in grey, airforce blue and some in burgundy. Paddy鈥檚 mum made us one each and they were lovely and warm. A forewoman at work wanted a new coat and she couldn鈥檛 see anything to suit her taste so, as she was a good needlewoman she decided to unpick a checked coat and completely turn it. She made a marvellous job of it and no-one would know that the wrong side was all faded. It became the fashion to buy wooden clogs. I don鈥檛 think they were on coupons and some had lovely styles and were very comfortable. There were some lovely hat shops around and we used to go to one in St Peters Street. My mum favoured the close fitting ones but we went for the Rita Hayworth styles with white gloves to complete the outfit. Paddy and I had the style of hat which I think was the sweetheart style. It had a very small crown and the brim went towards the back and then came forward to frame the face which was very becoming. We always tried to copy the film stars. When I was at home, I鈥檇 get ready and then go downstairs, do a twirl and say 鈥淗ow do I look mum?鈥� The answer was always the same 鈥淥oh, go on, you鈥檒l pass in a crowd with a shove鈥�. When we had a late night through going dancing, mum said 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what the neighbours think of you, coming in at all hours and clip clopping up the road in your high heels鈥�. Really she was trying to shame us into coming home earlier. So after we鈥檇 been out the next time, I said to her 鈥淵ou didn鈥檛 hear us last night did you mum?鈥� and she said, 鈥淣o, what time did you come home?鈥� I chose to ignore that question and said 鈥渨e took our shoes off at the end of the road鈥�. 鈥淥h, you are a devil鈥� was her reply.

There were a lot of empty new houses on the Whitton estate so the army were housed there. We had them next door to us and we never walked up the road without a window flying open and wolf whistles going on. Even when they were being drilled, they whistled just the same. The military police lived there at one time and kept their motorcycles at the bottom of the garden. We didn鈥檛 appreciate it when they got on their motorcycles and roared up the garden at 6.00 in the morning, especially when we鈥檇 had a late night. It woke us much too early as we didn鈥檛 need long to skim into work on our bikes.

We had to take a sandwich lunch to work and the wartime bread was not white but a horrible grey and we used to compare sandwich fillings. One girl loved bread and lard and we used to have dripping, jam or beetroot. There was so little you could get that was tasty; rationed or not. The government realised that the population was not being fed properly so they opened what were called British Canteens. They served a nourishing three course meal very cheaply. The one we went to was in Tacket Street and it was fine if you could forget the old boys who worked in the foundries who would slurp their soup.

Ransomes in Ipswich used to make lawn mowers and ploughs but with the war they changed to making submarine parts. My poor old dad worked a 12 hour day and there was no way he could 鈥楧ig for Victory鈥� and grow our own vegetables as we were encouraged to do so. One summer teatime, mum was saying we ought to have the ground dug for vegetables. I said 鈥渢hat鈥檚 alright; Paddy and I will do it鈥�. Paddy looked at me as we鈥檇 just done 8 hours in the factory but we got the tools out and started. Within a few minutes, two soldiers stepped over the fence and asked if they could help us. They dug quite happily chatting all the time. When they鈥檇 finished the patch, they asked us for a date and I was just saying that we were too young and were not allowed to date, when mum came out and asked 鈥渨ould you boys like a nice cup of tea?鈥� I don鈥檛 think that was the kind of reward they were looking for.

There was a real fear of invasion on this east coast. We feel sure there was one attempt near Shingle Street, which was hushed up. My dad heard about it at work and we also heard about it elsewhere. My dad was reading the paper one weekend and read how Hitler wanted to make a super Arian race with his fair haired German men and fair haired girls from the countries that they invaded. They had taken the girls away from home just to breed. My dad always favoured me as I was fair haired like his sisters. When he read the news item about the Arian race he said 鈥渨e don鈥檛 want those so and sos coming here. They鈥檒l take our gel away鈥�. My daughter has found in recent years that a lot of people further north in Suffolk had the same fear.

When we started going regularly to dances, the Americans were here by then and we were told by friends we could go to their dances. They sent big trucks into Ipswich and there鈥檇 be several every night pleading with you to go to their dances. We went to the airfields all over Suffolk and they treated us so well and made special batches of doughnuts as they knew we didn鈥檛 have much cake. We enhanced our Jitterbug skills and I had one partner who could lift me up on both his hips and through his legs 鈥� it was great fun. Of course, they wanted a snogging session afterwards but were disappointed. My friend Paddy had one drink and was off to some corner with a GI. Being her good friend I went looking for her and told the Yank she had to go home. I was often sworn at and told 鈥渟he doesn鈥檛 want to go鈥� but I said 鈥渘o, but tomorrow she鈥檒l be glad she went鈥�. There were thousands of girls quite willing to please them and we were very young and didn鈥檛 want babies.

In the 40s the white Americans were quite horrible to the black men and used to belittle them by called them 鈥渂oy鈥� and that would start a fight. It got so bad at that time that it was arranged that the black Americans would come into Ipswich one night and the white Americans another night.

Bombs and rockets were still falling in London and my dad鈥檚 sisters lived in Clapham and his nephew鈥檚 family lived in Balham. Mum got a letter to say please could mothers and children come and stay to get some sleep as they were exhausted. They were leaving the men folk behind to work. Our Uncle Tom was a tram driver and he鈥檇 be driving along in the black out and suddenly come to a great hole in the road, made by the bombs or mines. He would pull up and say 鈥渟orry folks, you鈥檒l have to walk from here鈥�. My cousin Alf was a lorry driver working nights for Carter Paterson. He used to drive the lorry with a mate down into Surrey and the Home Counties, to RAF bases knowing they had explosives onboard, with bombs dropping, guns going off and searchlights lighting up a long way around them. Luckily he survived the war.

The women and children came by train to stay with us and there were at least five aunts, cousins and babies 鈥� we had beds everywhere. Mum was a very good cook and it was said she could make a good meal out of next to nothing. She made jam out of everything so that helped a lot. If the women could get a piece of very fat meat, they would cook it until all the fat came out and then save the dripping. That went into sandwiches and cakes and was used for frying. When all the women stayed with us we had a very happy time. Mum had bought a cheap piano for Doreen and our cousin Beat could play anything 鈥榖y ear鈥�. We had great sing-songs and made musical instruments out of a comb and silver paper and also two saucepan lids which were banged together. It was great fun and if the men folk could get a few days off they would come down too. They used to say we made so much noise we would frighten the Germans away.

We didn鈥檛 have much food with the rationing but no-one needed to go hungry if they were willing to deal in the 鈥楤lack Market鈥�. Paddy鈥檚 dad was a very patriotic man and had pictures of Churchill and the King and Queen on the cottage walls. We had to stand to attention every time the National Anthem was played on the radio. When he started to take a flat farm cart to Wattisham airbase to pick up the waste food for the pigs, and the generous GIs gave him a gift of cheese to be hidden under the cart tarpaulin, he saw nothing wrong in accepting the food to help out with the rations. We saw the first cereals, Smarties and tins of various foods that we couldn鈥檛 buy. One day Paddy鈥檚 dad had his cart searched and that was the one day he hadn鈥檛 anything onboard except the pigs food. I always said someone up above knew we needed more food 鈥� that鈥檚 what I call divine intervention.

One Sunday evening as we cycled back to Ipswich, there was a raid going on and it got very noisy. The searchlights were on and guns were firing and shrapnel falling and we suddenly realised we had better shelter. Farmers used to build a strong wooden table to put their milk churns on which were picked up later by lorry. We made a dash for this table, threw our bikes down and sheltered. A few minutes later we could hear army boots. At that time there were a lot of British soldiers billeted in huts under the trees at Shrublands and two soldiers had realised there were two people under the table. They came to look and we were dead scared they would find the American food on our cycles. Luckily they decided we were a courting couple and went on their way 鈥� we were so relieved.

One day a little girl came to our door. I went to answer and she asked to see my mum. When mum got to the door the girl asked if she could come in to show my mum her dolly which was in a cheap tin pram. When she lifted up the dolly, there were bags of sugar underneath.

At Chapel Farm, Ringshall, about a dozen Italian prisoners of war lived and worked on the farm. Paddy鈥檚 mother used to go there everyday to help Mrs Clem Hitchcock to cook a midday meal for them. They were allowed to walk around the village but wore brown battledress uniforms with coloured patches on, where you could aim to shoot them if they tried to escape. They didn鈥檛 appear to have any intention of that and it was said that they didn鈥檛 want to fight in the first place. They were good looking devils with jet black hair and one or two smiled but we were very patriotic and had no intention of getting to know them. One of the German POWs working on the farm stayed a long time and later went on to marry a local girl. Paddy鈥檚 dad said he was a 鈥渄arned nice fella鈥�. After the Berlin wall was built, many Germans found their homes and families were now in East Berlin and so they didn鈥檛 want to return.

Joyce Chalkley (nee Scase)

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