I really enjoyed this episode. My mother was a conductress on the buses in London during the blitz. Sadly, she didn't write down her experiences before she died, but she did share a few stories when I was growing up. Born in 1920, she grew up in Durham, the daughter of a coal miner, and came to London sometime before 1940. She lived in Tunbridge Wells, Kent with her sister's family and worked as a chambermaid in a large London hotel, then as a clerk at a Woolworth store as well as on the buses. I remember her saying that at night the bus headlights had shutters pointing downward so the planes above couldn't see them. She recounted a time when a bomb had fallen on a theatre shortly before the bus arrived on the scene, and the horror of seeing the damage and body parts and limbs in the street. She also spoke of sheltering in the underground, and the chilling sound of the air raid sirens. She told me that her experience during this time were why her "nerves" were so bad. . In spite of the horrors of wartime, my mother entered and won a beauty contest, winning the title of MIss Tunbridge Wells. I believe she may have served on the women's auxiliary or voluntary service as she had a pin. She became involved with a Canadian soldier at this time, became pregnant, and gave birth to a lovely baby girl in 1943. It turned out that the father of the child had a wife back in Canada, so as a single mother, she returned to Durham, where she met my father who was an aero engineer in the Canadian Air Force. They married in 1945 and moved to Canada the following year.
Wow! Thank you so much for sharing your incredible story. Have you tried looking for your Mum in the newspapers? You might find an article or even a pic about her winning the beauty contest!
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I really enjoyed this episode. My mother was a conductress on the buses in London during the blitz. Sadly, she didn't write down her experiences before she died, but she did share a few stories when I was growing up. Born in 1920, she grew up in Durham, the daughter of a coal miner, and came to London sometime before 1940. She lived in Tunbridge Wells, Kent with her sister's family and worked as a chambermaid in a large London hotel, then as a clerk at a Woolworth store as well as on the buses. I remember her saying that at night the bus headlights had shutters pointing downward so the planes above couldn't see them. She recounted a time when a bomb had fallen on a theatre shortly before the bus arrived on the scene, and the horror of seeing the damage and body parts and limbs in the street. She also spoke of sheltering in the underground, and the chilling sound of the air raid sirens. She told me that her experience during this time were why her "nerves" were so bad. . In spite of the horrors of wartime, my mother entered and won a beauty contest, winning the title of MIss Tunbridge Wells. I believe she may have served on the women's auxiliary or voluntary service as she had a pin. She became involved with a Canadian soldier at this time, became pregnant, and gave birth to a lovely baby girl in 1943. It turned out that the father of the child had a wife back in Canada, so as a single mother, she returned to Durham, where she met my father who was an aero engineer in the Canadian Air Force. They married in 1945 and moved to Canada the following year.
Wow! Thank you so much for sharing your incredible story. Have you tried looking for your Mum in the newspapers? You might find an article or even a pic about her winning the beauty contest!