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I was a student at the outbreak of war and was evacuated with my college to Cambridge for the next three years. In the summer of 1940 the Dunkirk evacuation happened and the ‘phoney war’ was over; my friend and I went to work in the auxiliary women’s land army in Warwickshire for two months, dealing with potatoes, beans and cabbages — still along way from the ‘fighting war!’

Then, in 1942 I went to live and work in London, in a hospital, for the next four years, and experienced the regular bombings, and ‘doodle-bugs’ and V2’s which were showered on the city, and the rest of Britain. Each hospital did its turn of being ‘on take’; and we all had to be on ‘fire-watch’ every ten days, ready to deal with any ‘incident’ whether we were ‘on take’ or not.

I will never forget June 6th 1944; hearing on the radio that the second front had started and we were at last actually landing in France — never mind the rockets — at last it seemed the end of the war might be on its way. I went for a week’s holiday on a farm in north Devon and remember falling asleep in a field whilst weeding carrots; and cycling, all twenty of us, to the south coast on a hot Sunday to the sea; we could hear gunfire and imagined we could see across to France. After what seemed a never-ending winter and spring, and the awful sadness of Arnhem, peace in Europe was declared on May 8th 1945.

My one thought was to return home to my family some 30 miles out of London — after a dream-like day at work I was allowed off early, and rushed to Kings Cross. Trains were still running and were packed solid with excited people singing and happy. I walked home from the station and suddenly lights were on everywhere after five years of blackouts. My sister too had returned from away and we all went down to the square for dancing and singing and laughter and fun — back at work the next day, crazy with excitement and relief; but all were thinking — what about the war in Burma?

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