ARP Chigwell Area 1939 to 1943

My Wartime Experiences
In 1938 when we were all fitted with Gas masks as war seemed imminent my Mother and I took First Aid lessons and duly passed our exam. In 1939 when the School Children were evacuated my Mother decided to evacuate her two Pekinese dogs! As my Aunt Marjorie lived in Shropshire and her daughter Josephine and her two children wanted to evacuate there also we drove to Shropshire and having delivered Josephine and family to her Mother’s and the dogs to a Kennels we started the drive home On the way we heard on the car Radio that all headlights had to be masked with two layers of tissue paper. Fortunately we had some toilet paper with us so with the aid of elastic bands we did this.

As soon as we arrived home we were summoned to the First Aid Post. We went every day and some nights and whilst there practiced bandaging and applying splints Unfortunately all this was too much for my Mother who was taken ill with Gastric Ulcers and had to take to her bed, this meant that I could no longer go to the First Aid Post as there was no one else to Nurse her or run the House as the Maid we had left as soon as War was declared thinking she could make more money in a Munitions Factory .I found this very hard as I had never really done much in the house and now I had to nurse a sick Mother run the house and do the washing which in those was all done by hand with the aid of a glass rubbing board. We did eventually get a daily help on loan from a friend but I seem to remember that was only one half day a week to help with the washing, I think the sheets and towels were sent to the Laundry
My Mother was ill for a long time but when she eventually was strong enough to be left I rejoined the ARP (Air Raid Precautions) as it was then called ,it later became The Civil Defence. I joined what was called A Mobile Hospital Unit which was a van fitted out with the equipment for emergency operations. We had a trained Nurse in charge of us and we did duties of 24 hours on and 24hours off. We were stationed at a private house and first of all the owner let us sleep in her Cellar with the occupants of the house which included some Czechoslovakian Refugees who she had kindly taken in, Eventually the building in her garden which had been her son’s Cinema had the projection room shored up so that we could sleep there as by this time night Air Raids had become a nightly occurrence.
Unfortunately I developed very bad Sciatica and had to have some sick leave.The Doctor put this down to sleeping in a damp cellar as by then we were sleeping in the Cellar at home as well, my Father had built bunk beds in our cellar having first shored it up. When my Sciatica was better I Joined the Ambulance Service as The Mobile Unit had been disbanded. Whilst I was there I was designated to represent the Chigwell Ambulance Service at a Civil Defence Sunday at Saint Pauls Cathedral. There were Civil Defence Personnel from all over the Country there and we were entertained on the Saturday night to A Cinema show at The Leicester Squire Odeon and a meal at was then The Coventry Street Corner House. I was accompanied by a Warden and a man from the rescue Service. We travelled up each day by train and on the Sunday we all had to line up and then proceed to Saint Pauls Cathedral which had been quite badly bombed, as we turned to go in we saw the King and Queen, we had no idea they were going to be there as of course their whereabouts was never disclosed in advance. Winston Churchill wasn’t there but his wife was. It was very cold as there was a hole in the roof and it was a winter’s day.

After some time in the Ambulance Service I heard that any one under over the age 25 was going to be sent to a Monitions Factory As there were no Factories near were we lived at Buckhurst Hill it meant I would have to leave home. So with my partner in the Ambulance Service we decided to join The Wrens .I had avoided leaving home before this as my brother was in Canada as an Instructor in The RAF and my Mother’s health was not good..
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