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Working and being evacuated

My father lived in the East End of London and he worked at the Royal Courts of Justice. In early 1940 my father’s work was moved to [Gonville and ]Caius College Cambridge.

I lived in Forest Gate, London with my mother. When I was in London I worked in a chemist Timothy White and Taylor’s. I also worked in an aircraft factory for a while. I remember once a warden tried to get me to go into an air raid shelter and he wouldn’t let me go. My mum was waiting for me and so I hit him!

My mum and I would visit Cambridge occasionally for a rest, to get away from the bombs. I moved to Cambridge in 1941 because it was bad after Dunkirk, they were bombing badly.

I worked as a shop assistant in Newnham, and my [future] husband was a van driver for a grocery store in Newnham. That’s how we met. When he went into the army, I came home. That was about 1943.

This story was submitted to the People’s War website by Frances Harris of the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio Cambridgeshire Story Gatherer Team on behalf of Mrs Rhoda Pool, and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site’s terms and conditions.

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