大象传媒

When the war started in 1939 I was 13 years old. In Jan 1940, still aged 13, I started work at a clothing factory. I was taught how to use a sewing machine, and my first job was sewing buckles on Army battle dress. If there had been a bad air raid, when we went to work there was no gas, water or electric. I had to wheel a pram with two teapots along the road to a W.V.S stand. They would fill the pots with tea and give me corned beef sandwiches and I would wheel it back to the factory. If there was an air raid during the day, we had to go into the basement of the factory where some of the workers would do a turn; singing, dancing, playing a mouth organ. One woman used to bring a violin and play all Irish songs.

I lived and worked in Liverpool City Centre. The bombing in 1940 was very bad. One particularly bad night, the ship 'Matland' was hit, on another a landmine dropped on Cazernu(?) Street market. We used to go out after the all clear to see the damage. I watched the mummies carried out from the museum, and could smell the turkeys roasting in the market. The smells were the worst, gas, burning buildings and dust everywhere. We had to take our gas masks everywhere. We had no problem, if we forgot it going to the cinema we got a brick from the bombed site and wrapped it in newspaper and took it under our arms, leaving it when we left.

On V.E night I went to see Joe Loss and his Band. At the end of the show the band came off the stage onto St George's Plateau playing 'In The Mood'. It was great. All the ships in the river were blowing off. People doing the Conga along Lime Street. I think I must have been there all night! But we had won the war!

I would like to add that a lot of praises went to the women who helped with jobs during the war, but no one ever says anything about women!

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