麻豆社

Elsie in Eccles missed the last bus and had to walk to the Women of the Royal Navy Service (WRENS) Camp in Blackpool so she missed out on the VE day parties her friends got invited to.

Elsie Sharp was just 14 when signed up to the WRENS and served in Warrington and Blackpool during World War Two.

鈥淚 mentioned the WRENS and the lady at the labour exchange looked at me and said she didn鈥檛 think I鈥檇 have a chance. Mother didn鈥檛 think I鈥檇 pass the medical but I did and when I got home, I was in trouble,鈥� Elsie recalls.

On VE day itself, Elsie remembers the news was everywhere and she missed the last bus so after walking the five miles to camp she was put on a charge: 鈥淚 had to sit near the exit while they were all going out to parties. I had to sit in camp, on show, watching them all go out.鈥�

She remembers how she and her friends would get dressed to go out with the Americans.

鈥淚f we went out with our lot... nothing against them but you had to climb in lorries .You would put your nice knickers on (if you were going out) but you had to put navy ones over the top because of all that climbing in lorries, whereas with the Americans they put on nice transport and you didn鈥檛 have to do that sort of thing.鈥�

The VE day charge was not her first office, nor would it be her last.

She was learning to drive and the chief petty officer took her out around the camp and she caught a ball of barbed wire under the truck: 鈥淭he next thing I knew, I was dragging [the ball of barbed wire] across the garden of the captains鈥� bungalow. He was stood in the window 鈥� a very tall gentleman looking man 鈥� but after that day, no, he was no gentleman. The language that came out, even the chief petty officer hadn鈥檛 heard some of it. I was put on charge for that.

鈥淚 always seemed to be getting put on charges come to think about it. 鈥�

Image: Elsie Sharpe

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