A Riveting Tale!

I was seventeen years old, and working for the Imperial Tobacco Company in Liverpool when I was called up to 'do my bit' for my country.
I was sent to work at Rootes Aircraft factory at their Speke Airport site, where I was trained as a riveter. My partner was a girl called Katherine Bryce, and together we did many intricate little jobs on the huge Halifax bombers that were being made there. We worked long shifts from 7pm until 7am, six nights a week and were often tired. I remember one occasion when I accidentally pulled the trigger on the rivet gun before Katherine was ready on the inside of the cockpit, and the impact of the rivet gun caused a huge crack in the aircraft skin! Within minutes we were surrounded by managers and experts who seemed to take hours to come to a decision while we waited with bated breath..
Finally we were allowed to rivet a small patch over the crack. I'd love to know where that Halifax ended up.
I still remember Vera Lynn and two or three top orchestras coming to Rootes to play for us in the canteen at midnight. We also had visits from handsome Polish Air Force men; one of them really caught my eye and we were married at the end of the war!

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