First published in Great Britain in 2011 by
Remember When
An imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
47 Church Street
Barnsley
South Yorkshire
S70 2AS
Copyright Collette Drifte, 2011
ISBN 978 1 84468 096 2
eISBN 978 1 84468 746 6
PRC ISBN 978 1 84468 747 3
The right of Collette Drifte to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
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Mentioned in dispatches
Miss Dorothea Abbott,WLA
Private Yvette Abbott, ATS (now Mrs Yvette Wright)
Sergeant 2003451 Angela Baddeley,WAAF (now Mrs Angela Allen)
Ordinary Wren 55232 Audrey Bell,WRNS (now Mrs Audrey Parsley)
Leading Wren 53330 Margaret Carson,WRNS (now Mrs Margaret Freel)
Wren Pat Chicken,WRNS (the late Mrs Pat Straughton)
Private W/196667 Angela Cummins, ATS (now Mrs Angela Frampton)
Corporal W/121079 Joan Dargie,ATS
Leading Wren 9374 Doris Hatcher,WRNS (now Mrs Doris Lewin)
Acting Sergeant Major W/184621 Iris Holmes, ATS (now Mrs Iris Haddon)
Section Officer 3327 Edith Heap,WAAF (now Mrs Edith Kup)
Miss Kathleen High,WLA/Timber Corps (now Mrs Kathleen Watt)
Ordinary Wren 46632 Mary Hunter, WRNS (now Mrs Mary March)
LAC/W 2055486 Kathleen Jennings,WAAF (now Mrs Kathleen Cove)
Leading Wren 51064 Edith Keating,WRNS (now Mrs Edith Roberts)
Miss Kit Knox, WLA (now Mrs Kit Dornan)
Miss EL,VAD
Private W/21710? Peggy Mortimer, ATS (now Mrs Peggy Caudle)
Leading Wren 48444 Janet Murray, WRNS (now Mrs Janet Smith)
Miss Mabel Newton (now Mrs Mabel McCoy)
Private W/200253 Marjorie Painter,ATS (the late Mrs Marjorie Hunter)
LAC/W 470001 Jenny Parry,WAAF (now Mrs Jenny Aitchison)
Mrs VP, NFS
Lance Corporal 296285 Joan Robinson, ATS (now Mrs Joan White)
ACW 458252 Mary Rose,WAAF (now Mrs Mary Dawson)
Petty Officer MR,WRNS (the late Miss MR)
Nursing Sister ES, QAIMNS
Corporal 2071371 Sybil Scudamore,WAAF (now Mrs Sybil Singleton)
Miss Marjorie Tyson, NAAFI (now Mrs Marjorie Buzzard)
Ordinary Wren Doris Watson, WRNS
Leading Wren 375? Pamela Weightman, WRNS (now Mrs Pamela Woodford)
I'd like to extend special thanks to Miss Dorothea Abbott, Mrs Edith Kup and Mrs Yvette Wright, whose help and support were above and beyond the call of duty. If there was a medal
Steve Cawood, Liverpool Daily Post & Echo
Derek Lishman, Hexham
Steve & Lesley Middleton, Hexham
Monica Nevin,Tyneside Branch ex-WRNS Association
Andy Pryor, Riding Mill
Cathy Pugh,The Second World War Experience Centre, Leeds
John Robinson, Hexham
Susan & Mike Robinson, South Tynedale
Terry Robson, Hexham
Martin Sugarman,Archivist,AJEX Military Museum, London. For more information about the Museum and its history, see www.ajex.org.uk
Geoff Singleton, Hexham
Derek Tiffin, Hexham
Brian Tilley, Hexham Courant
Margaret & Phil Walter, Allendale, Northumberland
Graham White, Northumberland
Federation of Women's Institutes: Teesside, Cumbria-Westmorland
Cumbria Life
Hexham Courant
Lady magazine
Lancashire Evening Post
Lancashire Telegraph
Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Daily Post
Newcastle Journal
North West Evening Mail
Rochdale Observer
Southport Visiter
Introduction
A s a child of parents who both served in the armed forces during the Second World War, I grew up hearing the stories and anecdotes of their adventures, and I was always fascinated. Some were amusing, some were amazing and several were gruesome. As an adult, I realised the importance of documenting these stories and I promised myself that one day I'd write them all down. Having read Julie Summers's fascinating book Stranger in the House in the spring of 2009, I decided that one day had come and I really must get down to writing.
I was particularly interested in the women who went to war. What made them leave the security of hearth and home to join the massive military operation that was the Second World War? How did they cope when, coming from protected and sheltered homes, they were thrust into the rough and tumble of camp life? And what happened to them during those six dark years?
In order to find out, I sent letters to newspapers, wrote to women's organisations, magazines and clubs, contacted residential homes for the elderly, scrounged information and contact details from all my acquaintances, and then sat back to see what happened. In flooded the emails, letters, memoirs and telephone calls wonderful ladies in their 80s and 90s, willing to tell me of their experiences; all amazing women with fascinating stories to tell.
As I travelled around the country, meeting them and speaking with them and my goodness, what welcome hospitality awaited me in every home I visited (thank you, ladies: the tea, coffee, sandwiches and biscuits kept body and soul together!) ? a pattern began to emerge. Virtually every one of them said something along the lines of, I've always meant to write it down, and now I'm too old, but you can do it for me while Ive still got the memories fresh in my mind\ So here I am, a willing conduit, to bring you the stories these ladies have to share. Where possible, I have enabled each woman's voice to come through, by quoting her directly. Occasionally, I've added a little information or clarification so that you'll know exactly what, or who, she's talking about; or so that you'll have a better idea of the wider context of her particular anecdote. Some of the women requested anonymity, and I have respected that by changing their names and any other identifying details.
The tales cover the whole spectrum, from famous battles, such as Monte Cassino, the stuff of Hollywood and tomes discussing military strategy, to being shipwrecked by a torpedo, to simple acts of kindness, which in themselves seem nothing, but at the time meant something very special to those young women; so much so, that even 60 years on, they remember the hot water bottle tucked into a cold bed when they came in from a freezing night shift, the unexpected payment of a meal bill by a total stranger, or the loan of a locket for a special dinner date, because of the need to feel human and pretty again, and not just a clockwork soldier. The kindness of strangers, or of friends, is remembered in detail, even after the passage of so many decades.
