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I was 13 when war broke out. I was on holiday with my sister, Holly, in Harrogate when war was declared and we were rushed back to our home in Burgh-le-Marsh, Lincolnshire to find our mother putting up the blackout curtains. We were very frightened, we didn’t know what was going to happen to us, whether we were going to be bombed or invaded. After a while we became used to things and tried to get on with life as normally as we could.

I left school at 16 to train as a telegraphist for the GPO in Skegness. During my employment I would transmit telegrams for various organisations including the armed forces. The airfields of East Kirkby and Great Steeping were close by. One particular morning I remember vividly after a big raid, possibly on Berlin, we had the unfortunate task of sending 93 telegrams which began with “Deeply regret to inform you..” to relatives of the RAF bomber crews who didn’t return. This had a big impact on me as a teenager.

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