Time at HMS King Alfred - Hove

I was 16½ when the war commenced and started working as a shorthand typist
in the Medical of Officer of Health’s department at a local District Council. Evacuees were arriving and we had to register them and arrange for medicals, orange juice and cod liver oil to be provided. Doctors from surrounding villages had to notify the office of any infectious diseases and we were kept very busy keeping all these records. The staff also had to take their turn in fire-watching at night - fortunately there were no incidents when I was on duty! Due to circumstances at home I had to leave that employment and in 1941 I worked in an office for a company that made rubber dinghies and parachutes.

In September 1942 my fiancé was reported missing - he was in the 1/5th Queens Royal Regiment with the Desert Rats, and it wasn’t until January 1943 that we heard he was a prisoner-of-war in Italy. This was followed by internment in two more camps in Germany before he was able to come home in May 1945.

At the beginning of 1943 I joined the W.R.N.S. The probation period of two weeks was at Pendragon, Southsea, and having been an only child I found it quite daunting having to share a bed room (cabin) with several other girls! I was quite homesick for the first few days, but there were so many lectures and a tremendous amount to learn in that fortnight, that there was no time to dwell on longing for home! We were issued with navy blue ill-fitting thick serge overalls and had to parade along the promenade every morning wearing these, and we must have looked a very motley crowd! We had cleaning duties to perform - for a week I had to report at 6.30 a.m. to wash, scrub and polish floors in various parts of the building, and one day we had to weed the tennis court instead of playing games.

As a trained shorthand/typist my allowance was 1s.8d a day, plus 8d war bonus, and 4d a day post-war credit - approximately 13½ p in today’s money. Out of this we had to pay a certain amount for our food and laundry, and we were paid every fortnight. We had four free travel warrants a year for journeys home, and rail travel cost two-thirds of the normal fare at other times. Medical and dental treatment were free, as was optical treatment, but we had to pay 18s.0d (90p) towards spectacles.

When the two weeks had finished it was time to sign on for the duration and we all anxiously surrounded the notice board to see where we would be posted. I was to go to H.M.S. King Alfred, a shore establishment in Hove where R.N.V.R. officers were trained. We were billeted in San Remo - a large house facing the sea. I was in a room with a balcony sharing it with 9 other Wrens. I was the only Writer, two were Drivers, and the others were Stewards who had domestic duties to perform.

After working in a general office for some months doing routine office work - opening and logging letters, taking dictation and typing, issuing ration cards for those going on leave, filing, etc.- I was promoted to be secretary to the Training Commander. His name was Commander Aitchison (he was awarded an OBE after the war) and his eldest son married the actress, June Whitfield. I also worked for several other officers typing lecture notes as well as letters, etc.

We had weekly morning parades and a certain amount of drill, and on one of these occasions I was called out to shout the commands. As the squad approached a wall my mind went blank and all I could think of was ’STOP’ instead of ’halt’ - I was never chosen again - to my relief!

I finished my days in the Wrens at H.M.S. Mercury, near Petersfield, just doing general office duties, and was demobbed in January 1946.

These are just a few recollections of wartime for me - it was a time of making lasting friendships, anxious times, happy times, sad times, and an experience I will never forget.

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