大象传媒

I鈥檓 Ethel Wootton, and I鈥檒l be 90 in April. I was born in 1916.
I was married in 1941, and, as I was working in a shoe shop, my call up name came up, and I went in to the ammunitions, as my husband was already a soldier in the war. I was called up in 1941, at the end of the year. I was married in the June, and I was called up at Christmas.
I worked in CIA- Chief Inspection of Armaments. I related to a Major Graham, and a Captain Ague. I was working in Radway Green near Alsager, in Cheshire. My job was inspecting armaments- shells. 20mm shells and 20mm projectiles. I was doing that job for ages, and then they came to me and told me they wanted me to do a different project. And it was hush hush. I think I can tell you now though. It was with the Chief Inspector of Armaments. I went on that on my own. I had to have my rings covered up, no jewellery, because it was dangerous up in the TNT room. After a while, they suggested that I get another person to help me, so then I went on to twelve hour shifts, instead of 24 hours. So I got my friend to come. She was working for the ammunitions, but she came, and then we got a third one, so then we did nights, noons, and days. That took the pressure off me. But, in that time, I had to learn the gauges. How much pounds it took the pressure off a gun, to release it. So I had to do maths, and all sorts of things, and I wasn鈥檛 very good on that, but my sister in law was a teacher, and she brought me up to scratch. It was how much pressure do you need to move the gun, the trigger. I was in charge of all the machinery round about, and I could stop them if it was going wrong. The men didn鈥檛 like that! But I had to stop them if it was wrong. I used a micrometer. We went out on the gun site, and tested it there- how much pressure it would take for that bomb to go out. It was dangerous work, but it was very useful. And it kept my brain going.
We were searched as we went on, and as we came off the site, to check we weren鈥檛 taking anything away.
My social life wasn鈥檛 so good, after my husband was called up. He had an arm injury, and they had to saw his arm off.
I stayed in munitions until 1946. By the end, I was working on the canister for ejector seats in planes. I was a bit worried about that, because I felt that if it didn鈥檛 work, I was responsible. I didn鈥檛 make them, I just inspected them. For my work, I had to sign the Official Secrets Act. And I wasn鈥檛 allowed to go into any communist country, because they鈥檇 want to know what I鈥檇 been making. I can still remember how to do it now.

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