大象传媒

Women who worked at the radio stations, logging pilot's positions and giving out directions had one of the most harrowing jobs. Often they were the last person to talk to a pilot as their plane was going down after being hit. Screaming came out of the radio as men cried for their wives. We had to send messages to close friends and family that said "their dying words were that they loved you". And it happened several times most days.
Not that women who stayed at home didn't work hard too, everyone had to make do and mend. Housewives were proud of what they did, having the whitest nappies and the roughest hands-this signified the amount of sewing you did. Due to the rationing of thread, most clothes were knitted, even underwear! Knitted swimwear caused a slight problem, because as soon as they got wet they went saggy, lost all colour and fell down! But they were the comfiest thing around at the time.
Women worked in ammunitions factories- you could always tell as their hands were yellow from all the chemicals. There was no such thing as 'health and safety', to test whether ammunition worked properly. They would be given a bowl, told to test the wires, put on a lid, and they'd just made a bomb.
All day long this would go on, and then come 6 o'clock they'd go out dancing at the Town Hall. In small villages they'd have to cycle for miles before they could dance, and then at the end they'd have to cycle all the way back again. We'd paint out legs with cold tea, so it looked like we were wearing stockings, just to impress the fellas. We'd dance the night away as if there was no tomorrow. We only knew about what was happening overseas from the news, we went out and had a jolly time because you didn't know what was going to happen.
When our men got leave we had a good time amazing them with the foxtrot, jive, jitterbug, quick step and the waltz.
Although rationing made life hard, you had to get used to it. Today you can just pop to the cupboard and grab a chocolate bar if you're hungry, but then if children complained they might get a smack round the ear, or if they were lucky a carrot to nibble. All sorts of food was used to make things you wouldn't expect, potatoes were used in cakes, and they were surprisingly nice! If couples get married during the war, they would have a wedding box, rather than a cake,and in a small draw in the front would be a tiny cube of real cake, because that's all the rationing would allow.
Another side of wartime life was evacuation. You got sent to a house far away from your family, and everyone was very scared. If you were lucky you got evacuated with a sister or brother, usually a sister, because boys went to different schools and were evacuated to different places.
But there were always the jolly war songs that would cheer everyone up at the end of the day. From the bright and lively 'Roll out the Barrow' to 'There'll always be an England', everyone knew the words and people of all ages were always ready to join in a joyful chorus for their King and country.
The message was always the same, forget your troubles and live life to the full!

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