大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War site by Lin Freeman of Radio Derby CSV on behalf of Mrs Hazel Hadwick and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

My earliest memory is on the Sunday afternoon when Churchill announced on the radio that 'we are now at war with Germany'.
That evening the alarm went - the sirens went continuously - no one knew what was going to happen, but we needed to go down into the cellar of our pub (The Rose and Crown)in Belper. All the firemen went down as well, but my sister, Muriel, took rather a long time to appear as she was taking her curlers out. She didn't want the Germans to see her like that!

The Rose and Crown was used as Belper's Fire Service Headquarters at that time although we still lived there. The garages and loft were taken over. I joined the Fire Service soon after as my father was already in it (as did my sister for a short while).

The Government then took over a large house in Spencer Road to use as an office and I worked there for nine months until we moved to Allestree Hall. In those days women weren't active as Fire Officers, but either worked as drivers or in the office.

Although we heard the sirens going we were very lucky in this part of the world as the action concentrated on Derby.

I stayed in the Fire Service for six years, and then went to Egypt with my husband Roy who was posted there from India.
We returned to the UK after about three years - the boat journey home taking ten days!

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