Working On The Railways

I am writing on behalf on my Mother, Constance Violet Houghton (nee Wikberg) and would like to pass on some of the stories she told us of her experiences working for the Great Western Railway Company, during the Second World War in our home town of Birkenhead, Wirral. For like a lot of young women she had to make a contribution to the country's war effort, and as the men were going off to enlist, their jobs on the home front had to be filled by women. Though the work was often very physical, hours long, and the conditions rather undesirable, the jobs had to be done. Added to this, nights spent in the air raid shelter behind their terrace house in Cleveland Street, during the relentless German bombing, life couldn't have been easy. Though when you heard our Mother tell her stories, you couldn't help but feel, that from the safety of surviving the war, she did seem to reminisce such times with a great deal of fondness.
For as a young girl before the war, whose only experience of employment was in low paid domestic work, the freedom, respect, and increased pay, given her by doing a "man's job", must have been quite liberating. One funny story in particular she told us, was when as a young, and rather naive girl, working on the railway, the older women would somtimes slip off a bit early, probably to try and find time to do the other family duties, but our Mother being a bit scared, and brought up with a strict sense of right and wrong, decided to stay, and went for a cup of tea in their rest hut instead. Unfortunately, the Foreman happened to also be on his rounds, and when finding her in the hut, told her off for skiving, while the other women where out working, but not wanting to get her fellow workers in trouble, she took her scolding, and promised not to do it again. But one valuable lesson she did learn was, next time the other women slipped off early, so did Mum!
The war however did come to an end, and the men returned home, and returned to their old jobs, so our Mother and her work colleagues were served their notices, which she had kept for all these years. So it was now a return to "normal" womanly duties, of marriage, raising a family, keeping a home together, working part-time, and doing the other hundred and one jobs being a wife and mother entail. So a very special thank you to our Mother and all the other women who gave so much for this country's war effort.

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