大象传媒

Here's a tale of how there can be beauty in hardship.

I was in my late teens in 1945, living at Bottesford RAF Camp in Nottinghamshire. I was in the WAAF -- the Women's Auxiliary Air Force.

I was in bed in a Nissan Hut (a dome of corrugated iron) --when suddenly I felt something very soft on my face. I looked up, and saw snow, gently lying on the bed. We had some heating in the hut, from a slow burning stove, but it would have been off at the time. The snow must have come in through a vent. I don't remember feeling cold, but I do remember how soft the snow was. It covered my bed.

There were six of us in this hut. We were nursing orderlies -- that meant we looked after the men and women who were sick. The matress was known as a "biscuit", and came in three parts. We had two sheets (one for the top, one for bottom) and three blankets. Each morning the bed had to be stripped instead of making it in the normal way. The "biscuits" had to be piled one on top of the other at the head of the bed, the blankets and sheets came next (after being folded in a special way so that all beds were alike) and the pillow with the open end of the pillowcase had to face away from the door. It had to look perfect! The Commanding Officer was very strict!

I remember those days with affection. You just got used to it. I enjoyed my time in the WAAF. I didn't mind the discomforts -- everybody was in the same boat.

(TO READ ABOUT LIFE IN THE GIRLS' TRAINING CORPS, TAP "SMELLING THE GAS" IN THE SEARCH ENGINE!)

THIS STORY WAS SUBMITTED TO THE SITE BY JOHN YOUNG OF 大象传媒 SOUTH EAST TODAY ON BEHALF OF MARY LONGLEY. SHE UNDERSTANDS THE SITE'S TERMS AND CONDTIONS.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.