大象传媒

My name is Eileen. I was born in May 1920 and am the youngest of three sisters.
I was just over 19 years old when I went to work as a machinist in the coppersmiths shop in the dockyard in Plymouth during the war. I lived in Old George Street with my Mum and Dad and sisters. My eldest sister went away to Shrewsbury Ness (near Southend). We used to shelter in the Western Morning News building and also go across to Frankfurt Street Archway to shelter.

I remember one night when I was working at the dockyard, my sister came to tell me that our house had been bombed and was completely destroyed. When I saw it, the rubble was still smouldering, everything had gone. We all went to stay in one room at the home of a friend of my sisters.

We used to drive out of Plymouth every night at about 9pm on the back of a lorry. We borrowed a tarpaulin to cover us. Then every morning we would return at 6am to go into work. Mum used to spend her days trying to find somewhere for us to live. She found a place in Hasting street. One day when she was out looking for somewhere she fell into a bomb crater and injured herself. She went to South Devon Hospital for a week and was then transferred to Bodmin because of the bombing. I remember going to visit her. Then we had a letter from her saying that she was being transferred to Birmingham. She was there for about a month. My Dad and sister went to visit her and they stayed a relatives house. It was my 21st Birthday whilst they were away visiting so no celebration for me.

We were also bombed in hasting Street and had to move again. We went to live with two aunties who had bought a house in Yelverton and stayed there for the remainder of the war. They had a shelter there. I shared a room with my sister and her 6 month old baby and mum and dad had a room downstairs. I remember one night a glass panel fell out of the wall above us and landed between my Dad and I. everyone else had been hiding under the table.

I got married on 14th July 1945, my husband was called up the next month to join the navy on 14th August.

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