大象传媒

Mrs.R.E.Ward, Tewkesbury
Nee Miss Dorothy Patricia Hogan.

1939- 1942.
Having left School in July 1939, after taking A-Levels, it was alarming to realise that we were at War with Germany from September 3rd , a Sunday.
Riding the pony on Corse Lawn the following day I remember feeling quite nervous as an aeroplane flew overhead in case it was a German one sent to
bomb us. In the Autumn I took a Course of Shorthand and Typing at Cheltenham Technical College, travelling in by bus from Corse Lawn to Tewkesbury to pick up a Cheltenham Bus, in the day as I remember. I think 1 managed to type at thirty words a minute, so had a Certificate, and possibly one after a Shorthand Test. We moved house to BIRTSMORTON Rectory in December when I helped my parents settle, during a severe frost with water having to be collected from the cellar and boiled for use all pipes being frozen. I remember falling into the stream at the Court, when the ice broke, and being hauled out by my two younger brothers. We had to light a blazing fire at the Rectory to dry my clothes, the only heating available then. I remember the beauty of a birch tree in the churchyard clothed in icicles in a silver thaw, I was told.
It was more difficult to get to Cheltenham from Birtsmorton, but my sister a trained Secretary gave me some practice and told me of a possible vacancy in the Aeronautical Inspection Directorate (A.I.D.) at Sunningend Works,Cheltenham, for which I applied in April 1940 and was accepted as a Copy Typist at H.H.Martyn's Sunningend Works, as a Civil Servant. The Factory was employed on vital War Work,with the A.I.D. being the Government Inspectors. I was able to find lodgings with a kindly couple quite near, so could walk to work at Sunningend. Most fortunately this couple had a proper
Anderson Air Raid Shelter built in their Back garden, which was invaluable during the frequent Air Raid Warnings we experienced and really bad Blitz on 11th Dec.1940. The Sunningend Works were targeted and destroyed, the night Watchman killed when blown from the roof. The Air Raid Shelter visibly moved as the Bombs fell nearby and of course there was extensive damage and casualties in the town. The office next to ours was destroyed, so three men moved in with us temporarily. Everything was black and the Women鈥檚 Toilet disappeared. We all tried to carry on as normal and I could go back to the Rectory at weekends being given a lift with my sister by a kindly local friend. At the Rectory, three storeys high, we could see from the top floor a red glow in the sky from the fires in Birmingham when it was being Blitzed.

Shortly after this our Office was moved to an Office behind a Garage in Bath Road, very stuffy with no windows and I was frequently idle with little to do, unsatisfactory with every one working hard on War Work, so I obtained permission to join the Women鈥檚 Land Army, where the opposite was the case but it was much more satisfying. Most local people in Tewkesbury were working very hard and long hours in the many Dowty Factories engaged in War Work.
We were all very aware of Security and the warning 'Careless Talk ousts Lives' so signposts were removed, to confuse any enemy invader. One afternoon walking to Sunningend Works, which were not visible from the main road, a man with a foreign accent said to me 'Where is Aircraft
factory?' so I said I did not know, and when I looked round a few minutes later he had disappeared, and there were no Police in sight I could report to, but I was very suspicious. Street lights were dimmed, but Searchlights gave plenty of illumination when there was a Raid. The German planes sounded quite different to British ones with a staccato sound. One day with a dogfight over-head, all the Factory Workers came out for a quick look, also office staff including myself. It did not last long fortunately, as a Spitfire drove the raider off. I was in the Library at the start of the Cheltenham Blitz on Dec 11th 1940, so cycled back to my digs in Gloucester Rd in record time and the safety of the Air Raid Shelter. My Landlady's husband, an A.R.P. Warden, was out all night helping and rescuing people, as so many did in those Wartime days, while we drank tea with local neighbours
One aspect of Wartime life I remember were the various Evacuees who came to stay in our large Country Rectory. The first, if I remember rightly
was the wife of a London Policeman with her two boys aged about nine and eleven years old. They were very well behaved, but did not stay long as they missed the shops and excitement of the City, and preferred to take their chance with the bombings and Shelters, rather than vegetate in
a dull country village, with very little activity.
My grandparents came quite soon afterwards, having been bombed out of their retirement home in Southampton. My Grandfather had broken his leg earlier in the Blitz, but travelled as soon as he was able and their eldest unmarried daughter accompanied them. After a while they were able to buy a country cottage not too far away, for the rest of their retirement, not far from a Church, my Grandfather being a retired Church of Ireland clergyman. We were able to visit them regularly there.
A Preparatory School having been evacuated to the Village later, we were able to accommodate various Teachers. The youngsters were all put up in
Birtsmorton Court, while the owner moved to a nearby Cottage. The children attended the Church, a big boost to the Congregation. One of the Teachers
brought a large Scottish Deerhound with her, and it was quite a shock to meet this large grey animal along the passage, though he was very quiet.
At the time I remember being rather shocked when the older Teachers wore slacks when off duty, unusual in those days, but of course the norm nowadays. They came from Seaford in Sussex.
Later on I remember we had the Matron of Alderney Hospital staying with us when the Channel Islands were occupied by the Germans, but she had escaped.
My father had done some occasional Clerical duty in Alderney, so knew the lady. Later still we had a Hungarian lady,a refugee from the Germans, a very nice person, who eventually retired to a Methodist Home in Tasmania. She kept in touch and sent us souvenirs from there,a Tasmanian scarf and ashtray.
During the War rosehips were collected by the children to be made into Syrup, which was very nutritious for young children, also blackberries for Ribena, to help out with Wartime rations. We were not allowed on nearby Longdon Marsh, as it was being used by the R.A.F. for bombing practice, which must have been difficult for Farmers, encouraged to grow as much food as possible. In the other direction a small Landing Ground was also built in case of emergency, though I do not know if it was much used. An R.A.F. plane did make an emergency landing quite close to the
Rectory at one time and we all turned out with bicycles to help if possible Father with an axe and Mother with the First Aid box, but fortunately the
R.A.F. arrived first, as the pilot must have warned them and he was soon evacuated and taken to Hospital. We knew he was coming down when he flew low over the Rectory. My parents had attended classes for First Aid and my Father was an Air Raid Warden, but the Germans did not bomb Birtsmorton but concentrated on Birmingham and the big cities. It was a memorable time for all British citizens, which remains in the memory.

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