One Woman's War by Eileen Younghusband

Author:Eileen Younghusband [Younghusband, Eileen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: WW2, war, autobiography, military, history, women
Publisher: Candy Jar Books
Published: 2011-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

This is how their menu read:

Christmas Menu

Soup

Cream of Tomato

Joints and Poultry

Roast Pork

Roast Turkey and Chicken

Apple Sauce Chestnut Stuffing

Brussels Sprouts Cauliflower

Sweets

Christmas Pudding and White Sauce

Mince Pies

Dessert Cigarettes

Beer and Minerals

I imagine it was a good deal more than civilians could have managed on their rations.

The winter of 1941/42 was extremely cold and coming off-duty at midnight in snow and ice we often waited outside the bunker for transport for up to a half hour. This resulted in many airwomen going down with colds and other infections. Having always suffered from bronchial catarrh, I wasn’t at all surprised to succumb to a bout of it. I would cough my way through the eight-hour watch but there was no chance of going off sick as I did not have a temperature. To add to the gloom, a couple of weeks later I contracted chicken pox. Never having had it as a child, I was really spotty! I had eighty-six eruptions on my face alone. No-one could come and visit me in the sick bay unless they had already had it, so I spent two miserable weeks in a room on my own.

On my return to duty, there was one bright spot. The senior Royal Observer Corps officer invited me out to dinner. He had his own car and a large private income. We went to the famous Moorcock Inn, high in the hills at Clitheroe. It was a memorable night as for the first time I drank alcohol.

Many years before I had signed the pledge, vowing that alcohol would never pass my lips. Having been brought up as a Baptist, I was prevailed upon to sign this when quite young, probably fourteen years of age. This particular evening I decided it was time at last to try the evil drink. My escort knew his way around the menu and I left it to him to choose the meal. This was my first experience of a high-class restaurant, a few meals at a Lyons Corner House being the height of my previous gastronomic experience.

We started with a Rye Highball with the first course, a consommé. The main dish of locally reared venison was accompanied by a bottle of vintage Burgundy, and after a chocolate dessert and then cheese we finished with a Van der Hum liqueur. There was little sign of rationing at this hotel, high in the Waddington Fell near the source of the River Ribble, and the meal was delicious.

I soon realised I must have a strong head for liquor because I returned to report for duty at midnight and worked safely until 0800 hours the following morning. My companion was about forty years old and married. He spent the whole meal talking about his wife and little boy. He showed me their photos. I could see he was missing them. I hope my companion enjoyed my conversation, since that was all he got out of it.

It was during my time at Barton Hall that we saw the success of new technology to counteract German navigational and bombing aids.

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