91Èȱ¬

FROM BALL GOWNS TO CAMOFLAGE

I first came to Cambridge age seventeen I went to work with my sister making ball gowns until the war came then her husband was called up and she followed in round the camps. I went to do voluntary work with the W.I. and was guided to make camouflage nets. We had strips of yellow green and brown and we had to join them together I never ever came to the end of one of those nets. After that I got a job in the war office in St regis house on Chesterton road taking and writing down phone messages I remember noticing how many poor cows had been killed in the bombing
My future husband was a mechanic and was asked to go and help at Marshall’s airfield working on the planes to keep them flying ‘ one day after he had finished one the pilot asked him if he’d like a ride, so up he went, after a few mins the fog came down and the pilot couldn’t get back so Frank (my future husband) suggested they got lower and he would try to find a landmark, he recognised the Newmarket road and the plane landed safely. Meanwhile back at the war office I received a message to say one of Marshall’s planes had gone missing, luckily it all ended up ok

This story was submitted to the People's War Site by Paula Dolan of the 91Èȱ¬ Radio Cambridgeshire Story Gatherer Team on behalf of Jessie Davis and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions

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