蜜芽传媒

WAR STORY


On Sunday 3rd. September 1939 I was 13 years old, living in Frieth, a small village in Buckinghamshire and attending the High School in High Wycombe. At 11 o鈥檆lock I was in the village church, with almost all of the villages, listening to the Prime Minister telling us that we were at war with Germany. The church was completely silent as we listened and at the end the organist started to play and we sung鈥漁 God our help in ages past鈥� That was the first of many times that hymn was sung during the next six years.

Shortly after the outbreak of was a school was evacuated to share our premises. As you can imagine six hundred girls would not fit into a space designed for three hundred, so a lot of adjustments had to be made. We took some space from the local Baptist church in the town, where lessons which did not require classroom facilities were held, but this was not sufficient so we had lessons at school two days one week and three days the next. The remainder of the time we worked at home. It must have been a nightmare for the staff to organise this to ensure that we all had laboratory time and gym and games. It was a great temptation when working at home if the weather was good, to spend less time on work and more on activities of our own.

In spite of all the distractions and disruptions we were working hard towards our final exams 鈥� the dreaded Matric. I鈥檓 quite sure the exam (equivalent of today鈥檚 O levels) was much more difficult the. We had to pass in six subjects, which had to include maths, English grammar, a science, a language and two other subjects of our choice, added to this we had to attain a minimum level of 60% in all subjects. If we failed only one exam, the all had to be re-taken. Thankfully I passed.

Out of school I did the usual things open to my age group. I joined the Guides, belonged to the Young people鈥檚 Club, did Keep Fit and had some very happy moments involved in amateur dramatics.

Of course the war was ever-present, and when I was old enough I joined the Red Cross and the ARP. I had thoughts of nursing as a career, but the sight of blood and gore in the very graphic training films rather put me off. I did finish my training though, and did rather well in the exams, getting higher marks than the majority of the older ladies!




I joined the ARP ass a messenger, the lowest of the low. I was given my uniform (a tin hat and an armband) but had to provide my own transport, a very ancient and dilapidated bicycle. We were called out on duty every time the siren sounded, and as our area was linked to London, this was almost every night. It was tiring, but I was young, and I can鈥檛 remember ever having to take a message anywhere. It always provided a good excuse if I failed to do my homework.

When possible my father went for a short walk in the evening before bed and whenever I could I went with him. We could see the glare from the fires in London and see flashes from the bombs and gunfire. It was frightening to imagine the horrors the Londoners were suffering night after night. Other times we could hear the distinctive drone of enemy bombers as they flew to attack Coventry and other cities. Once you have heard the throbbing sound of these aircraft I don鈥檛 think you will ever forget.

We were very fortunate that there was very little enemy activity near us 鈥� a few rabbits were killed when an aircraft jettisoned its bombs in local woods, but the nearest we came to disaster was one night when a land mine drifted across the village and finally came down in wood across the next valley. Windows were blown out and some property was damaged, but we really got off very lightly. A cluster of incendiary bombs was dropped near some wooden buildings being used by a school from London but they failed to ignite. We foolishly spent the next evening trying to burn the residue in the road. This did not endear us to the local constabulary or my father either!

When Churchill called for Local Defence Volunteers (later known as the 蜜芽传媒 Guard) my father was one of the first to join. Looking back now of the Programme 鈥淒ad鈥檚 Army鈥� it appears quite hilarious, but at the time it was deadly serious. The threat of invasion was ever-present and every line of defence had to be explored. These men were prepared to fight to the death to defend the land they loved. These volunteers came in all shapes, sizes and ages, and from all different backgrounds, but they had only one aim 鈥� to keep their freedom.

In the beginning these volunteers had no uniforms and no weapons, and most of them were not in very good physical shape, but this was outweighed by their keenness ands commitment. My father could tell some amusing tales of some of their exploits. On one occasion the Captain was leading his patrol on exercise and failed to do his forward planning and found himself sent up the nearest tree by an irate bull. Being a countryman he really should have known the difference between a bull and a cow!



On another occasion the patrol had to attack the local airfield, and had very strict instructions as to the approach direction. Captain of course knew better and ended up falling, with his men, into a dugout manned by airman with live ammunition. Luckily they were so surprised that no one got shot but I believe there were a few red faces. The day the platoon was issued with their rifles was a Sunday and they were on Church parade. As they formed up outside the church rumour has it that an enemy aircraft flew over quite low. Sadly the 蜜芽传媒 Guard had not been given any bullets for their new guns!!!

Of course the war was ever-present, rationing had been introduced and growing our own food became even more important. Every scrap of land was used to grow fruit and vegetables. Posters were pt up telling us to 鈥淒id for Victory鈥�, but living in the country we were already self sufficient to a degree. Where possible we kept chickens and rabbits to supplement to meat and egg rations, which were extremely meagre. Those of use keeping chickens would preserve any surplus eggs for us later. It was a simple procedure; the eggs were just lowered into a bucket of water-glass solution. As long as the eggs were crack-free when they were put down they could be cooked in any way except boiling. If there was sufficient space a family were allowed to keep a pig, fattening it on any scraps that could be scrounged. When the pig was slaughtered the Ministry of Food kept half and the owner the other half. Of course there was a lot of bartering going on, and the Black Market was well and truly in existence. As far as I recall no one got caught and I never recall being hungry

In our family the very sparse rations of butter and margarine were mixed together- this appeared to make them do further and certainly improver the taste of the margarine. New and sometimes weird recipes were conjured up using the most unlikely ingredients 鈥� I can remember going to school with sandwiches filled with parsley mixed in Marmite water thickened with gelatine 鈥� it was surprisingly tasty. With the shortage of sugar jam making was almost impossible, but those with a little to spare would pick blackberries from the hedges and leaving the garden fruits to be battled. Fruit itself was never rationed, but oranges, lemons and bananas vanished from the shops

We were not deprived of entertainment in the village. We had an amateur dramatic society, which put on plays and shows and there was a weekly whist drive and occasional dance. Several executives from the 蜜芽传媒 had rented homes in the village to escape the blitz and they would sometimes bring the latest film releases and entertainers from radio to give shows.





We also did our bit for the war effort. We would have weeks when we would save every penny in to National Savings to buy a Spitfire, and for a small village we pledged a surprising amount of cash. Our Young People鈥檚 club went from house to house collecting every piece of aluminium to be used for the manufacture of weapons. The church held special services from time to time to pray specially for sailors, or army who needed help. Naturally when Churchill spoke without exception everyone who was able listened in. There is no doubt that he was the inspiration that kept us all focussed, and he left us in no doubt that the struggle would be long and hard.

Some of the schemes thought up by the government were hardly feasible. When the threat of invasion was greatest it was decided that some arrangements had to be made to feed the population. In the case of our village, the Guides and Scouts would construct a field kitchen, and cook sufficient to feed everyone. As one of the older Guides it fell to me to try to make this possible. I really had no idea what to do, but with some help we tried to make arrangements. In reality it was not too difficult, bricks were forthcoming from a local builder, and other adults came to lend a hand. When we considered that all the preparations had been made we had a dummy run and managed to produce an acceptable meal, it possibly tasted more of smoke than anything else but the villages gave it their seal of approval. Luckily it never became necessary, as I think it would have been hard to continue on a long-term basis.

I left school at sixteen, all thought of university had been abandoned and my ambition was to join the RAF. I had to be seventeen and three months before this could happen, and even then I had to have my father鈥檚 permission. I had first mentioned the Air Force when the war started, but I was told in no uncertain terms that it would be over long before I was old enough. Little did we know then? I obviously had to get a job in the meantime. My exam results were good enough for me to join the civil service, so I joined several of my friends in the office of H M Inspector of Taxes. In spite of living in the country and buses being few and far between we managed to enjoy ourselves.

As I approached by seventeenth birthday I started to persuade my father that the RAF was really what I wanted. My father was the most understanding of men and when I realised that my mind was made up, he gave his permission. It must have been one of the hardest decisions he had ever made.




After enlisting I was sent home to await call-up. Work had become very time consuming, the PAYE system was being introduced and we were all working weekends to get through masses of paperwork. Every employee had to submit a return of income and personal details, from which we calculated a code number. As many quite large companies had re-located from London we were considerably overstretched. In spite of all this I acquired my first semi-serious boyfriend, and any spare time I had was taken up with cinema and dancing. This all changed and I was called up the day after my eighteenth birthday. I was glad the RAF didn鈥檛 delay any longer, as I would have been in a reserved occupation as soon as I was eighteen.

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