大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War site by Katherine Hobart, a volunteer from 大象传媒 Radio Northampton at Irchester Library on behalf of Yvonne Bowness and has been added to the site with her permission. Yvonne Bowness fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

Travelling in the Blitz

I was at school in London and came home when the war started. I was almost seventeen. A friend of mine was a German Jewess, she went back to Germany for holidays and we never heard from her again. I got a place at the Royal College in London. I travelled on the workers bus from Raunds to Higham Ferrers but was turned off the bus because I wasn't a worker. From then on I biked it with my Violin on my back. I then got the train to Wellingborough and then St Pancreas, where I got a bus to the Albert Hall. I had lessons all day and played in the First Orchestra. I then took the same track home. This was during the Blitz, but I was never late! When the bombing got too bad they closed the train stations and I had to get a coach. This journey was always different but we got there in the end! When I wasn't at the music college I was practising or working part-time in an office.

The Land Army

When I was eighteen I was going to be called up. It was mostly factories and munitions work so I forestalled that by joining the land army. I went to Moulton College and after three weeks of training I was asked to stay on as a teacher, which I did. So I was teaching at eighteen and still am today. Although I was working I still managed to have music lessons throughout the war by going to my teacher's home.

VE Day

I had a lot of friends at Moulton College(who I am still friends with today). When VE Day came, me and two of these friends (Anne and Vicki) went to London. We got the 'milk train' and arrived very early. My sister had a flat in Notting Hill where we stayed over night. We went and sat on the monument outside Buckingham Palace (I sat on the big toe) and drunk bottles of milk. Anne's mother heard on the radio that there were three girls in Land Army uniforms drinking milk on the monument and it was us! There was a photo taken which appeared in the Daily Sketch - I think. We stayed for a couple of nights, got the 'milk train' back and returned to work. We came out of the Land Army shortly after and I started teaching the strings at various schools.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.