大象传媒

[This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Margaret Collinge of Leicestershire Library Services on behalf of Mrs Mary Costall, and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.]

In 1942-43 farm workers were short and as an 11 year-old at Welland Park School, Market Harborough, we went potato picking. A Land Girl would pick us up on a bus and take us to a local farm. There were German prisoners of war working and driving tractors and we had to follow the tractors. One was spinning the potatoes out of the ground, and we had to pick them up and fill our buckets and then empty them into a trailer towed by another tractor. It was back aching work and we used to crawl along the ground to save our backs, for 2 shillings a day, 2s 3d on a good day. The farmer鈥檚 wife used to bring us out a bucket of cocoa at dinnertime to go with our sandwiches. We also had a bucket of water to wash our hands in and it was difficult to tell which bucket had dirty water and which bucket had cocoa in!
Before coming home we were allowed to get some potatoes we had missed to take home, which our mum were grateful for.
I belonged to St John's Ambulance Cadets, which I went to every Friday evening with my friend. I used to go to the Market Harborough Cottage Hospital in Coventry Road, to help the staff to wash up after the evening meal. The nurses used to get a cooked meal while on duty, so we would go up to the Maternity and the General and Private wards while they ate. It would be around nine o鈥檆lock when we walked home in the blackout. I even went one Christmas Day, as they were short of staff.
We had an evacuee at home from London, and there were already five of us in the family. I can鈥檛 imagine how we all managed in the house, or where we all slept! I am still in touch with her now.
When the air raid siren went, we were allowed to run home from school if we could get there within 2 minutes. My friend and I knew we couldn鈥檛 get up the hill in that time, but we went anyway!

By Mrs. Mary Costall

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