The April 2011 issue features our annual 1940’s special – a 32-page extra filled with memories of the wartime decade. This year we look at the experiences of women at war – celebrating the role women played in WWII and beyond.
Here are a selection of reader stories – see the April 2011 issue for more memories.
Beatrice Knight was a wages clerk in London:
During the Battle of Britain the Germans bombed us nightly. We had to be in at 8am as usual and sometimes the trams couldn’t run because of the craters. When this happened, we thumbed down any likely vehicle to get a lift – once it was an army staff car with officers.
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The girls from Dispersal L with Charlotte third in the row.
Charlotte Weir worked at a bomber factory in Lisburn:
We became riveters on tail sections of the Stirling Bomber. Our day began at the ‘normaliser’, where the rivets were heated to make them soft and pliable. We brought them to the wing section of the plane in a jar. One worker held the pieces in place while another put in the rivets.
One day we found ourselves standing in Lisburn town square, wearing Wellington boots being trained to use hoses and extinguish fires. Once a month we did fire duty staying overnight in the factory where we slept but had to be alert for sirens. Fire duty earned a fry-up for breakfast and extra pay and with time to spare before our watch, we could visit the pictures.
Pam Buckland was in the WAAF in Cheshire:
If you felt homesick you were quickly distracted by the constant physical and mental exercise, from 6am with reveille piped over the tannoy.
Each day the bed had to be unmade and stacked. After morning chores – including polishing our bed space – we stood at attention, fully-uniformed with cap for inspection. The officer of the day, the sergeant and the corporal surveyed us. The cap must not be tilted rakishly. Greatcoats must be fully buttoned.
