大象传媒

In 1938, not long after I had left school and started work for the Oxo Company, the Government were asking for volunteers between the ages of 18/50 to train for the ARP (Air Raid Precautions). Well even though I was only 16 I decided to give it a go, nobody worried too much about correct ages! All winter I attended classes in first aid and anti-gas measures and in spring 1939 I attended a passing out parade at St Andrew's hall in Norwich. I received my certificates and was now a fully fledged ambulance attendant with the ARP, ready to serve my country should a disaster occur.
At the end of August I was given my first post at Bussey & Sabberton's garage in St Martins at Palace Plain, Norwich, a short distance from my home. My first night on duty I had to dress in full anti-gas clothing, all thick smelly rubber (no PVC or plastic in those days) and stay in it until the all clear sounded. The smell of rubber was overwhelming, that and the smell of geraniums and peardrops which remind me of anti-gas training are smells that I don't like much today.
The day war was declared I was sent on my bicycle to tell my mother's parents who lived at Old Catton (which was very much out in the country in 1939) - they had no wireless or electricity!
First came the Phoney War or No-go War as some named it when very little seemed to happen - we had about 14 raids between 1940 and 1942. One in 1940 happened as I was walking in Magdalen Street at about 5.30pm. A German plane swept low over the street and went on to drop bombs on workers leaving Reckitt & Colman, Laurence Scott and Boulton Paul - about 14 people were killed.
I married in 1939 aged 17 and gave birth to a daughter in 1940. My husband joined the RAF and I lived with my parents who helped me with my daughter. I obtained employment in the wages department at Laurence Scott & Electromotors (they made submarine parts). They also had their own Fire Dept and I joined this as a part time telephonist.
Late in 1941 the National Fire Service was formed and all private fire departments and Auxilliary Fire Service were asked to join them. In March 1942 I became a full time telephone operator with NFS A Division based at Bethel Street, Norwich. We worked three shifts 6am - 2pm, 2pm - 10pm and 10pm - 6am.
The Blitz attacks began at the end of April, part of the so called Baedeker Raids, when places for night raids, including Norwich, were selected from the Baedeker Book of Travel. The city centre was devastated by H.E. (High Explosive) bombs, the whole part around Rampant Horse Street and St Stephens seemed to have disappeared. There was a great gaping hole where Curls Department Store (now Debenhams) once stood. However, the Castle, Cathedral and St Peter Mancroft Church stood almost intact and gave ones spirits a lift.
Shortly after these raids A Division control room was moved fron Bethel Street to a large house in Upton Road on the outskirts of Norwich. There were some nasty fire raids in June and July, not so many H.E.'s but Hermans Breadbaskets and Molotov Cocktails, containers full of incendiary bombs which exploded on contact with the ground. I was on duty on the night of the 27th June when the Luftwaffe really did try to burn Norwich down. Approximately 20,000 incendiary bombs were dropped that night causing 650 fires in and around the city. 200 0f these were classified as large fires. I knew St Paul's Church was alight and my parents house was alongside it. When I came off duty I literally ran the whole way home (one and a half miles) dreading what I should find. But they were safe in a shelter a few streets away. All the men in the locality, including my father and brother, had bravely put out smaller fires that had started in surrounding houses. The church was gutted and never rebuilt, the ground is now part of the city inner link flyover. Churches were not a priority for the fire brigade. Industry, factories, hospitals etc came first and even houses were well down the list. I knew a fireman who had to pass his own house ,which was well alight, on the way to a higher priority call - no way could he stop, duty came first.
In September 1942 I transferred from operational to administrative staff and joined the stores department of no 13 Fire Force HQ at Whitegates, Hethersett. We were transported by bus every week day fron Bethel Street at 8.30 am and returned at 5.3opm. We also had occasional weekend fire watching duties. This was an interesting job, the sort of work I had trained for originally and I stayed with them until my discharge in 1946.
Early in 1945 things began to move very fast, there were no more raids in England. Prisoners began to return home and we held parties for them at Hethersett. Then came VE Day, the atmosphere was something you would have to live through to understand the feeling. I remember going into the city centre to dance and sing until all hours with crowds of very happy people.
I transferred to Anstey Hall, Trumpington, Cambridge with an amalgamated regional fire group in July 1945. We girls were housed in the old stable and next to us was a prisoner of war camp. One night in the middle of August we were woken by the sound of singing and cheering coming from the camp. We thought they were breaking out but they were celebrating the end of the war in the Far East - they knew before us! We got up, dressed and lit a huge bonfire and danced until dawn.

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