Interview with female. Worked at Shortstown on barrage balloon production during Second World War

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Title
Interview with female. Worked at Shortstown on barrage balloon production during Second World War
Notes on Audio Quality
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Interviewer
Semeraro, Carmela
Document Type
  • Oral history Recording
Date
13 Aug 2003
Interview Date
13 Aug 2003
Biography
The interviewee was born 23 August 1920, in Stopsley, Luton. Her mother and father were originally from London, moving to Shortstown when her father started a job at the aerodrome. Her father died of pneumonia 1924 but her family were allowed to stay on in the house and her mother did office cleaning. Her maternal grandmother, from London, used to terrify her. She recalls her paternal grandfather being a lovely old gentleman who lived in Luton. She was one of eight children, and her mother had to work to keep them together, with jobs such as office cleaning and laundry for football team. Neighbours would help her mother with the shopping. She talks about life as a child, and her siblings. She left school at fourteen and worked for Marion and Foulgers, who made picture frames and film spools, for two years. She then got job at Shortstown RAF camp for seven years. She married and had a son, worked part-time, then increasing hours, for twenty-one years. She progressed to the Department of the Environment (DOE) for ten years. She recalls air force dances at Shortstown camp. She met her husband there when he was in the RAF. During the Second World War, she was one of the women making and repairing barrage balloons. She had to stitch, tape and glue the fabric, they also made decoys. She notes about her role in this, and the details of the job. She recalls that there were no bomb damages to Shortstown village during the war, but the camp had a couple of bombs, damaging a few huts. Sirens went every night. There were a lot of romances on the RAF camp, with girls swapping airmen. Quite a few marriages occurred. Her first boyfriend was killed in the war. She left to have children before the war ended. After the war, extra houses were built at Shortstown to cope with extra RAF forces there but the RAF later moved to Henlow. Her husband left the RAF in 1946 and got job at Vauxhall where he stayed for thirty-three years before retiring through ill health. She worked in the canteen after the war which was hard work. Five of them had to serve 300 dinners a day. Later, at the DOE, she was in charge of twenty-one women and two men. She had time to chat to people there who attended courses.
Length (minutes)
60
Copyright and Source Archive
Material sourced from Bedfordshire Archives and Records Service