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This story has been submitted by Margaret Payne of the Lancashire ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Guard on behalf of Mrs Marjorie Baxter and has been added to the site with her permission.

I worked for the Health Service at Norbreck. One or two private houses were taken over for this purpose, ie Ingledene. I worked there for two years during the war. I left my place of work to help my parents run a hotel and boarding house. They took airmen in the boarding house and Dutch sailors in the hotel. One Dutch sailor was a monkey! He rather pursued the ladies. There were one or two yanks, and a few Australians.

Before the airmen/forces were billeted to this boarding house, people from around Liverpool were sent to Blackpool before the onslaught of the bombing of Liverpool. They were often full of lice and had to be treated for this.

Apparently, the boarding house keepers picked who they wanted to stay with them, and the remainder went to my Mum’s boarding house. In other words, some had the pick of the crop. Most of the others went back to Liverpool early, but some stayed longer than was necessary. Obviously, they knew when they were onto a good thing!

I met my husband, Alan, when he was billeted to my parent’s boarding house. He was in the air force and we were married during the war. I wore a suit and a hat for my wedding, due to rationing.

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