大象传媒

Do you remember a well loved comedian saying 鈥淲hen war broke out, my missus said to me what are you going to do鈥�??
I think a lot of us felt like that, what were we going to do!! We faced a lot of changed and looking back Southam is quite a different place to what it was pre 1939.
First of all a lot of bell tents appeared down at Stoneythorpe and a company of soldiers were camped down there, their employment was to set up machine gun posts along the canal, as the powers that be thought the enemy would invade us by water. It never happened and as winter approached the army was brought into town and many buildings were occupied by troops. Beechurst was the HQ, the Stoneythorpe was taken over, the upstairs had soldiers sleeping up there and the downstairs was used for feeding the troops, meals were cooked by a big field kitchen in the car park but we still had dances in the big assembly room. The old Co-op had troops sleeping upstairs, the rear of the Craven was the sergeant鈥檚 mess, there were more troops over the Ball and the Red Lion and up at Newstead Lodge and Brooklands. The Convent was a wardens post and the old church hall was for casualties to be tended by Red Cross volunteers. The old welfare that was taken over became a canteen, the old Methodist chapel was also occupied and the upstairs rooms at other places.
The market hall was used as a parade ground. The siren was at the fire brigade HQ.
When the bombs began to fall on Coventry the troops were sent there to help dig out the injured and the Coventry people were so grateful for their help that they sent acts from the Hippodrome to perform at the Court House at Southam for the troops.
I remember Gert and Daisy (transcriber鈥檚 note, a music hall act, Elsie and Doris Waters), Webster Booth and Ann Zeigler among many other stars.
We had a land army hostel where the girls lived
My personal life was many changes. I was first of all living at Newstead Lodge, employed as a nanny to two little girls. I remember sitting on the stairs hearing Mr. Chamberlain telling us that war was declared. We were to have evacuees, 4 from one family, 2 from another also relatives of the Pugh family from London, 2 little boys, their nanny and mother.
Mrs. Pugh collected the children, it was really my half day off but I went back to bath them and get them settled. I said to Mrs. P to see if their heads were clean, she said they were OK but next day I saw one scratching and found lots of nits, when I showed her them she said I had never seen any before so didn鈥檛 know what to find. The gardener鈥檚 wife went into hospital so her four children were added to the others; I had 14 children to look after. One of the family girls had mumps; so I had to segregate her and no one caught it. We had an Austrian refugee as cook Josephene, she owned a shoe shop in Vienna but had to flee from Hitler, she was a good cook but at first had very little English but we got on fine.
The family moved to Leamington and I went back to mothers and to an old office job at Brewster Bros. to replace two men who were called up. I was busy buying and selling, doing all the paperwork and filling in War Ag. forms for lots of the farmers. We had an ambulance at Southam kept up at the old workhouse, and I often had to lock up the office and be picked up to take patients to hospital. I learnt to drive on the way home, it was an old van with a canvas back, the proper ambulance was needed at Coventry.
My sisters worked at Rootes for a while and then went into the WAAFS, my brothers both went into the army, one was with the Eight Army in Africa, Sicily, Italy etc., and the other in Burma, so were lucky that they came back. Their bedroom was vacant and mother took pity on two RAF men who were pilot instructors. A big field up the Welsh Road was used as an airfield and a bus load of cadets from Anstey came out every day to learn to fly.
We often had air force and army men to supper Sunday nights and had a good sing song round the piano. I remember one Xmas, my cousin brought a gang of RAF and WAAFS from Gaydon and a lot stayed the night, the girls were four to a bed and the boys on the floor downstairs. They all enjoyed themselves, but never had a drink and mother was TT; they all appreciated a bit of home life.
When we heard that there were army dances at the Stoneythorpe we were very keen to go and heard we had to get tickets from the Sergeant鈥檚 Mess at the Craven.
My two sisters and I found two soldiers on duty outside the Craven, one a tubby Scotch man and one a tall thin Irish man. We plucked up courage to ask them if we could have three tickets for the dance. We got quite friendly with them and the Irish man said there it is a condition of the sale; that you dance with me! I said you won鈥檛 know me as you can鈥檛 see in the black out! We went to the dance and he did know me and we danced together all night and from then on he was my big romance and we were married in 1942.
I had quite a busy time helping at the canteen on a Saturday, and on Sundays I had a day VAD nursing mostly at Pipers Hill, Bishops Itchington or at Shuckburgh, I had to bike up to Shuckburgh but usually had lifts up to Pipers Hill.
When the siren went I was on duty at the convent, one night my brother came into the post with a man who had walked from Coventry to escape the air raids, and was very stressed. One of the wardens was very officious and didn鈥檛 want him there, so I took him home and put him in my bed and went back on duty. I was scared mother would go to call me in the morning and see him in my bed but luckily the all clear went about 7.00 and I rushed home to get him downstairs before mother found him; he was just a ship that passed in the night.
Mick was in the regimental police which meant during air raids he patrolled the streets. I was on duty at the post and he often came round to see if I was OK. The sisters made us cups of cocoa in the night. I remember one night we walked up to the nuns burial ground and watched the fires as Coventry burnt. We heard a bomb coming down and Mick rammed his tin had on my head and threw himself on top of me; luckily it was not very near. Strangely enough the men were given helmets long before we were and when shrapnel fell we were unlucky sometimes.
From that first night we danced together, we saw each other every night. We walked to the Bell at Ladbroke or the Fox and Hen at Bascote in the blackout in rain and snow, or we biked up to Marston Doles as they made us very welcome on the farm, and it reminded Mick of Ireland. If Mick had a leave we loved to go to a relative鈥檚 farm in Derby, in fact we spent our honeymoon there, as did several other couples, we called one bedroom the bridal suite.
I鈥檓 afraid mother did not approve of my marriage. She said 鈥榶ou are the one to look after us in our old age鈥�. It happened that my husband died ten years before her so I did look after her in her old age, there were a lot of obstacles to get over, but we got engaged and said we鈥檇 wait until the war was over before getting wed. The war did not get over soon enough for us, so in 1942 we decided to take the plunge.
Mick was stationed on an island in the Bristol Channel and could not be sure when he would get leave. We went to the priest and the registrar who advised us to get a special licence, we filled in all the forms but at first I dare not tell mother we were getting married at the Catholic Church. I waited until Mick had gone back from leave, and then broke the news. I nearly had to leave home but stuck it out and she came round in the end. I had gone up to the farm for a few days and my aunt had come to Southam as I could cope up there in her absence. A telegram arrived at Southam 鈥楬ope to come Thursday, better fix wedding for Sat鈥�. There was also a letter from Mick鈥檚 brother to say he was on leave and hoped to bring his wife and little girl to Southam to meet me. This was Wednesday so I tore back to Southam, saw the priest and registrar, took out wedding invitations and ordered a taxi to meet Pat鈥檚 train but luckily they arrived before we set off.
Pat was to go back on Friday, but I took him up to see my doctor (Penne) he had been prompted by mother to tell me it was unwise to get married having had TB, but said afterwards not have a family for a while.
When he saw Pat he said 鈥業s this the lucky man?鈥� I explained it was my future brother in law who had to go back on Friday and would miss my wedding Sat., he winked at me and said he looks like a sick man to me Margaret and gave Pat a sick note as he was MO to all the troops: Pat had several days in Southam. When he returned his |MO gave him another week off and send him to see a psychiatrist.
Our honeymoon at the farm soon passed, we had to take Mick鈥檚 gun and our gas masks as well. It just happened I got married on my birthday; I walked up the aisle to hear my groom say Happy Birthday love!
Mother gave us a lovely spread at home and we had two wedding cakes - she had made one and Pat had brought one; he was a chef in civvy street and a cook in the army, so managed to get one.
Our honeymoon was soon over, Mick went back to his island and I went back to my duties.
After a while, he was stationed in Wales and I would pop down for a few days in between leaves, in between leaves I gave up my job in Southam as I could not get time off. I worked for a while in a tax office in Leam and then at Baggington; I was in the statistics dept. and had to work on the payroll.
Mick was in the D day invasion, we were on edge waiting for it, and when it came I had no news for three weeks. I lost two stone and could not sleep or eat, but then had three field cards and 2 letters - I wrote to him every day.
I wrote to his mother in Ireland every week, even if I hadn鈥檛 heard I said he was OK. I had not met her but our letters made us friends and I knew how worried she was.
VE day came at last. I was not sure if I had to work because of getting the wages out so got up early and when I heard the news decided to stay up. I opened the door to be met by a neighbour鈥檚 dog who indicated it was a lovely morning for a walk so we set off through the fields - I really appreciated England鈥檚 green and pleasant land. When we got to the church I left Trixie on the mat and went in to say a prayer of thanksgiving. Our men had all come through safely.
We had great celebrations; a bonfire up Welsh Road, dancing on the market hill, victory parade. Southam was very lucky .

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