大象传媒

D-DAY IMMINENT - June 1944

We watched gliders practicing in the skies on the Kent outskirts of London. Troops on transporters throwing sweets to the waving children at the kerbside, tanks churning up the surfaces of Westthorn Avenue and Sidcup Road in Lee SE London heading towards assembly points - we knew not where.
Most of the usual air raids had died down - not soon enough for our family though. In a mini blitz on 2nd March my maternal grandmother was killed by an incendiary bomb which bounced out of a container which stored many of them, (it was known to us as a bread basket') from the roof of Siemens factory in Woolwich, crashed through the roof of their Anderson shelter then exploded killing her and 2 other adults also a baby, our mother was inconsolable.
Prior to this we did feel that the war was going our way and the worse over. Three friends and myself all aged 17 years left our office desks in the shadow of St Paul's Cathedral to spend a week of our holidays helping the war effort working at an agricultural camp in Berkshire. An open lorry met the train at Abingdon , we climbed in hanging onto the front and sides then along the winding lanes at speed until we came to a field at Kingston Bagpuise. Our abode was a bell tent sleeping 8 - feet to the middle, there were many others also containing a rubber sheet - 8 straw mattresses and grey blankets, a line behind each deemed to be our wardrobes. After 5 years of war and rationing we did not have that many clothes anyway. Two wooden shacks were also on site, one for ablutions the other for meals and recreation. Time for our evening meal, we paid 28/- for our bed and board for the week which was rather a lot, as we only earned 拢2 a week in our offices but hopefully we could earn enough to pay our expenses. The food was filling but awful. Entertainment consisted of a dart board, table tennis, board games and a gramophone plus a few records and the company of a few spotty youths and older men.
We never found a village shop or pub, what were we doing here? One of the other girls spotted a notice, we were invited that night to a dance at the US base further along the winding lanes beyond our compound. At our speed it only took 10 minutes to reach. It was great, Big Band type music - partners by the dozen. We did all agree to stay together (you know what Yanks are!) We were not worldly, our usual recreation was at Church youth club level, plus the fact that the bombing curtailed going out a lot anyway. When the interval came we found out that our current partners worked in catering and asked if we would like some supper. WOULD WE. None of us had seen food like it for years and were absolute PIGS. Ham and eggs, nice rolls and butter, gorgeous chocolate cake and fruit. Back to the dance and goodies to take back for a midnight tuck in. As the next day was Sunday they asked a dozen of us for a cycle ride and picnic, we all cycled to a field to play baseball or rounders as we called it, paddled in the stream and ate food that you only saw in films. Danced to a radio (before our days of transistors). As we all lived and worked in London and endured 4 years of terrible bombing raids with very little in the way of fun and entertainment, this week we were having a ball.
During the daytime we went off to the farms in a lorry, mostly weeding - backaching we were paid 1/6d an hour. At one farm we were given wheeled hoes with blades at each side, to go up and down the long rows dipping the blades to clear weeds. I don't think that we helped the war effort very much once boredom set in, we had races. Time for lunch, someone boiled a billycan containing tea and condensed milk, we thought that the tea was on it's 3rd trip after drying. The sandwiches were 2 x 1" thick slices of chaff tasting bread, you could have beef or salmon, we drooled until we found that it was a thinly spread paste on one piece only and slapped together, hardly any taste at all. Luckily there was the dance and food to look forward to that night. We made sure that we hung onto the cookhouse partners, and who could blame us. We didn't mind the work as had the dancing and chats with these new colourful people to our land and lives to meet at the end of the day. All exchanged addresses and said that we would write when we returned home. After a great few days and evenings we were woken in the early hours of Friday morning, it was still dark and the ground beneath us was shaking. We could hear heavy vehicles on the move and orders being shouted. My Goodness we thought that we'd left this all behind in London, but stayed abed as didn't want to trip over the ropes in the blackout darkness. Off to work for our last day looking forward to our farewell dance that night.
What a shock, we were stopped at the gate and met by a few of the older men on security watch.
Everyone else and the equipment had vanished, the lively camp was empty and lifeless. Like the movements at home the soldiers were off to their embarkation ports. We were sad for them as we had been to see our troops go by at home, they were all going into danger.
We were glad to go home the next day. A few days later the D-Day landings had taken place. We don't know how many came back, but like to think that we had been fun to be with in return for a lovely slant on life that they gave us. Not to mention that wonderful food. I can still see and taste it 60 years on.(DORASH)

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