大象传媒

In 1939 Dot had a boyfriend Freddy Davis, a sailor. Freddy was a gunner on The Javelin and was one of the first to die in the war when the gunner crew of 3 were killed by a bomb. Dot remembers that Mountbatten sent a very nice personal leter to Freddy's sister. In 1941 Dot was going out with a man called Tompson who was wounded and waiting to be evacuated at Dunkirk. As his boat was leaving Dunkirk it was bombed and Thompson died.

Whilst the war was on all young women, upon reaching the age of 17 or 18, had to register for war work. In 1940 Dot had to register and was sent to work as a conductress on the local buses. Although Dot would have enjoyed being sent away her mum was pleased as she was able to carry on living at home. On the buses Dot was trained by Ronald; not an easy job for him as Dot suffered from motion sickness and was sick on Roanald's trousers 3 times in the first week! None the less, Ronald was won over and married Dot, in St. James's chuch in 1943. This was a time of very strict rationing so a lot of thought and planning were required to dress the bride. The dress was a white nightgown, hapily lace was not rationed so the dress was covered with it. The bride's veil was borowed, her step-sister bought her a blue garter and white satin dancing slippers were worn. The groom had a friend who worked as a chef at the Spa Hotel and he was able to get hold of enough sugar to make a 2-tiered wedding cake with angels decorating the top. The reception was held at the busman's sports club. Dot and Ronald lived at 33 Goods Station Road, above a jewellery shop where Hayward's now stands today.

One of Dots's clearest war memories is of the many Canadians who were stationed at Crowborough and Forest Row. Dot remembers them as rather pushy but very generous with offers of cigarettes. Dot had to carry an identity card and certain areas such as Hastings and Gravesend were out of bounds. Another clear memory is of the German bomber planes being chased away from London and as they flew back to the coast, dumping their bombs, a fair number of which fell on Tunbridge Wells. In particular Dot remembers her bus being stopped because of unexploded bombs being spotted on the road. Buttons, a department store in Tunbridge Wells took a direct hit and a man was killed in his house in Landsowne Road. At home, when the sirens sounded Dot and her family would hide under the Anderson table. Several times fires could be seen in London after partiularly severe bombing raids; fireman from Tunbridge Wells would go to holp as so many of London's firement were killed.

Dot remembers V.E. day. She and her friends and family bought a few drinks and then sat on Tunbridge Wells common. The church bells were ringing - the first time for many yeas as this was to have been the signal for the start of the expected invasion so this was a wonderful sound.