大象传媒

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Before World War Two started I was living in Belfast with my mother, father and brother, Alan. My father was in the R.A.F. Reserve and on the first day of the war he was called up. I remember him arriving home in his uniform and telling us he had been posted to Norfolk and we were departing that night. My mum, brother and I were excited about going to Norfolk since we had very happy memories of living there with my mother鈥檚 mother.

The journey that night across the Irish Sea was very frightening for me since I was most anxious that we might be hit by a torpedo. Also, it was dark and everywhere on the boat I was aware of soldiers. The trains from Liverpool to Norwich Thorpe Station, were also very crowded with troops. It seemed to me as if the whole of the armed forces were on the move. It was only a short journey from Norwich Thorpe Station to where my grandma lived in Marlingford.

I attended school there but there were so many relatives living in the house there was a shortage of beds so I had to sleep with grandma and my brother slept with my mother.

Because of the crowded conditions in the cottage at Marlingford, my brother, mother and I moved to rooms in Norwich. I attended school there for a short while before I worked at a photographers called Van Dykes, owned by Mr. Pink. I was fourteen at the time.

Our main clientele were American soldiers who were very keen to be photographed so they could send photos home. There were so many American air bases in the area. The American forces seemed to have so much money compared with the British forces, thus we seldom got British troops wanting their photos taken.

My job was to touch up the photography. I was taught how to do this by an artist who painted portraits and who also worked at the studio. His name was Mr. Davis and I always thought he was very old fashioned. I also took names and addresses of the troops so we knew where to send the photos.

I always remember Mr. Davis used to call me Miss Marlingford. This was because after the heavy air raids on Norwich in 1942 we returned to live in Marlingford, because my mother thought it was far too dangerous to stay living in Norwich.

I always remember when the siren went while I was living in Marlingford with all my family that there was not room for us all under the table, so my mother would go down the garden. We used to shout to her 鈥淒on鈥檛 walk.鈥�

At the end of the war my father returned from Egypt where he had been posted during the war and I was so delighted to see him. He was keen to return to Belfast but I had such mixed feelings about leaving Norfolk. I had been very happy working in Norwich but I wanted to go with my family. Mr. Pink then asked me to stay at the photographers for another six months as he was retiring. My father agreed to this provided I returned to Belfast at the end of this period.

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