Betty's war

It was 1942 and I was twenty one and liable to be called up. I was working at Carters Seeds at the time and they had not registered its workforce as essential war workers and although they tried to keep me, I had to go. No-one else went from there but it was too late for me and in March of 1942 off I jolly well went.
Dad came with me to the station where he met a policeman who was seeing off his daughter, Gladys, so they shoved us two together. Reporters from the papers were trying to find out where we were going and we were acting like idiots saying we didn’t know. We didn’t actually! We arrived at a hostel in Swynnerton, Staffordshire, to work in a munitions factory!
It was very strange at the hostel. We weren’t told anything and went to bed utterly bemused. We were woken up the next morning by loud knocking on all the doors. It was five o’clock! I staggered out to bathroom and got dressed then the matron told us new girls we would be called for later!
After a couple of days being assessed we were accepted on the ‘blue shift’ and started work, Gladys on the inspection and me in the varnishing shed. A coach would pick us up and drop us off at different points round the factory and then wait for the outgoing shift to go home. As we were ‘West One’ we were searched at the gate, went in to the cloakroom where we had to take off our shoes and any jewellery which we put in bags, then don a khaki overall, a blue scarf over our hair and rubber soled shoes. We then had to cross over a barrier where a woman would go over us to see we had nothing on us. She was like a prison warder and really frisked us especially ruffling our hair for stray pins. When she was satisfied we were clean we would enter the washroom. It was furnished with a host of barrier creams and powders which we used. We kept our money in a canvas bag hung round our necks under our overalls.
Then on through to the walkways, which were made of black rubbery stuff. First the filling shops then the closing shops and then the cleaning and varnishing shop. The inspection rooms were behind and then the magazines. Each shop was surrounded by high brick walls and very far apart. There were swing doors in the wall and out of reach the door into the workroom so that the outer door closed before we reached the inner door. First one in would switch on the lights and immediately open second door at the back so that when an explosion occurred there was little resistance.
There was a huge cupboard filled with sawdust in which the detonators were put into rollers. The door closed they would turn a handle like fury so that the detonators were whizzed round and cleaned. I don’t believe there were ever any blows in their shop; that was reserved for the filling shops and varnishing. In our shop they were left in the dryers for twenty four hours then taken out again. We would count them back into the pots. The hospital in Stoke had two wards for the factory and was well filled — mostly from W1.
The trains used to come into the factory and, coming off or on shift in the dark, we had to keep well away from the lines. As they were black and the trains were black and very quiet running, they would loom up beside us without any warning.
In our breaks we again had active service rations so were well fed. Sometimes we would have entertainers during our dinner break and we enjoyed many a sing song. Sometimes Gladys and I would sneak back stage and join the players and have a bottle of beer. Strictly forbidden but who cared.
Shift work is killing. We would work three weeks then have two days off. Starting Monday morning at seven till three we would finish on Saturday afternoon. Then Sunday we would be on nights starting at ten o’clock until seven o’clock next morning through to Saturday morning then Sunday from three to ten finishing on Friday. We had a recreation room where we could buy cakes and tea or coffee and a big dance floor.
Quite often we had the RAF boys over and they would bring their band. I often wonder if they knew what we were working on. We never spoke about work and they never told us what they were doing. Every night we could hear the engines revving up and heard them taking off. We all confessed to saying a prayer for them. If we were on nights we would listen for them returning. Such young boys most of them but then so were we.
April through to June was a bad time for us. On the night shift we were returning from our break. The young girl I was working with had gone on ahead with Joe our foreman. I was following with Lily who worked in the opposite shed. As I put my hand on the door there was a whoomph and I realised what had happened. I opened the outer doors and saw the inner doors opening and Joe came out supporting my workmate. They were both covered in blood and I was stuck there looking at them. After a while a young nurse found us and took us to the second first aid post. We had hardly got in there when we heard another blow. We were shoved behind a screen and in came another girl and man. For the rest of the two months there were blows every day. Some minor some major as when a girl in the inspection shed was killed and several injured.
I married Harry in Christ Church in Colliers Wood, London. I don’t know if it was a premonition but the following week the church had a direct hit and was badly damaged.
I returned to Swynnerton and stayed until I became pregnant when I was allowed to go home and continue my job at Carters Seeds.

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