Spencer Sisters in the War
During the second world war, two of the Spencer sisters, Joyce and Molly, my great aunts, were faced with a choice by which to play their part in the war effort which was either to join the forces or to work in the factories. Both sisters preferred to go into the forces, but their father, Percy Spencer, didn't want them going off into the company of men and refused to sign the papers. For this reason they had to go into the factories. Molly got to work in a munitions factory making nuts and bolts on a lathe, and Joyce worked in the salt baths.
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The other Spencer sister, my redhaired grandmother Eileen, had a newborn son to look after (David, my father), who was only a month old when war was declared, so she could not work at first. Her Welsh husband, George Harrison, had volunteered for the war and had gone off to fight battles in north Africa and Italy, for which he was later awarded many medals.
After a time Eileen did take up work in an aircraft factory making parts for spitfire planes. Along with other girls, none of whom had any formal training, and during the height of the blitz, they made these vital wonders for the skies and the assemblage was a great success. 8,000 spitfires were made in this way, build in separate pieces and assembled at airports. |
At the beginning of the war, the father of the family, Percy Spencer, worked as a chef on one of the warships. One time, as it was on it's way to France, it got bombed, and when the ship grounded in Southampton he could never bring himself to go on a boat ever again. He stayed in Southampton, not even returning to his hometown of Dovercourt, for which the rest of the family joined him in Eastleigh, near Southampton, for the duration of the war. Southampton was the place where, during the first world war, he'd met his future wife, Florence, in a pub.
Southampton, nevertheless, was not the safest of locations. There were often air raids in the town which killed and wounded many people. Even Eileen's spitfire factory was bombed, though lucky for her she was not there at the time.
Southampton, nevertheless, was not the safest of locations. There were often air raids in the town which killed and wounded many people. Even Eileen's spitfire factory was bombed, though lucky for her she was not there at the time.
The sisters had a wonderful time socialising in the war, with so many young French and other foreign men to meet at dances and for drinks in the pub. All were desperate for a good time, because they only knew they were here for today, with no guarantee they would be around for tomorrow. Even with a baby, Eileen, being such a beauty, got lots of attention. My father remembered plenty of kind 'uncles' coming to visit and giving him presents. One Canadian soldier, it is said, was particularly close to Eileen, though come the end of the war, off home went the charming lovers and life had to return to normal. Eileen was married, so was he. And maybe, just maybe, her next son was really his, though some secrets will never be known and all may just have been gossip anyway.
The war experience took a huge tumble for the family when it was discovered that Joyce was ill. Poison was used in the salt baths where she worked, the baths being a place to submerge metal for airplane parts. At first the doctor thought Joyce to be pregnant, as her periods had stopped, but she 'd not done anything by which this could happen. What a shock it then was to discover not only that poison from the baths was in every part of her body, but also that she had got tuberculosis. Being checked over in hospital she was found to have a very advanced state of the dreaded disease. She was put into an isolation hospital, Alton Hospital at Aldershot, and was laid out there on a balcony in the cold. In 1843, on April 21st she died, princess Elizabeth's birthday. She was only 20 years old. Eileen was the one to go and identify her body. It was the only time their father Percy ever cried.
When the rest of the family was checked out for tuberculosis, Eileen's x-ray revealed her to have a shadow on one of her lungs. For health reasons she was advised to move to the countryside and so went off with her son David to Wales to join her husband's many Welsh relatives up in the hills. She stayed there for the rest of the war and the air certainly did her good as she never succumbed to the malady and lived a good long life.