My mother, by all accounts, had quite the life, especially in her younger years. Though some of what I know I only know from stories my sister told me much later, after my mum passed. What I did get to hear from her, firsthand, was how, despite being in a loveless marriage. An arranged marriage at that. And still only being technically a teenager (18), she ran away from home.
Let me tell you I was as surprised as anyone, knowing not only had my mother been married before she met my dad, but that it barely lasted a year before she knew she was suffocating, and left. That’s how she put it. From somewhere deep inside, she found the courage to not only leave a man she didn’t love. But in doing so, defied convention, this was back in the early stage of WWII. A number of women, she told me, were doing the same, signing up for service.
Why? Well, for the obvious, but also, because, at the time, the military were desperately recruiting as many young women as they could into the services. And, like many, my mum knew she wanted a better life. A different life, and one that gave her opportunities. She left to join the WAAFs and trained as an MT driver. Her first posting was to the outer most reaches of Scotland, to Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides. She served as a driver for the aircrew of squadrons patrolling the North Atlantic for U-boats, flying Avro Ansons under Costal Command.
She told me a story about how one night she was called up to drive out to the runway, in the dark, with no lights on, in order to help a troubled aircraft land. She had to guide the plane in by driving, still in the dark, but pumping her breaks to flash out a small red light for the plane to see and follow.
Can you image? I know I can’t fully grasp doing what she did, out there on her own, being guided by people in the tower to effectively “jerk” her way up the runway for the plane to know when said runway was. All in the middle of the night in the dark.
For her, even terrified, she said it was one of the most exhilarating things she’s ever done in her life, and never once regretted escaping her family and marriage to create a life for herself. And for that, I salute her courage.
NaBloPoMo: 21/30
[grey_box]This post is part of NaBloPoMo where I write 30 blog posts in November. Thank you for reading and leaving me a comment, which is encouragement for me to finish this challenge. To follow along you can subscribe using the form provided in the sidebar or use RSS.[/grey_box]
Wow! What a cool story and experience! Now that we fly I am very curious how airplanes operated during the wars – what technology they had and what they did to stay covert.
Exciting, but also, terrifying. I’m not sure I would have had the courage, in the same circumstances.
As for how planes flew back in the day? Very basically compared to today’s modern aircraft. But still, there were advantages to the materials used and the type of engines used. But stealth wasn’t up there on the list, most WWII aircraft were loud and noisy.
That’s an amazing story, your mom was clearly very brave. What if she had married happily? She would not have had that experience, probably.
Certainly bracer I think than I would have been in such circumstances. And it’s weird to think, if she hadn’t done what she did, maybe me and my siblings wouldn’t be here. Her life would have been so different, and I might never have been born.
Wow, that is truly amazing. I always wonder how I would react in hard circumstances like the war. I suspect not as well as your mum.
I know what you mean. From our perspective living in the now, it’s seems like a huge thing to do. But I know the kind of life my mother had, and the upbringing was through hard times. They just did things differently than we do know because they had to.
Wow, that sure is an interesting story. I can’t even imagine. I do hope we never find our what we would be capable of in a situation like this but your mom must have been a very brave woman.
And what’s also so interesting. My mum met other young women in similar situations like her, who had join up to escape bad situations. It gave them freedom and a new start to life.
Wow, your mom sounds like an incredible woman. To have the bravery to leave a loveless marriage and help out with the war. What a story! I know there are so many WWII novels but now I want a fictionalized tale of your mother’s time in the war!
It was quite the courageous thing especially given the era and with a war going on. And funny you mention a novel. My mum was part of a history thing she told me, from her stay in Stornoway in Scotland, back in the day.
Wow, that was quite an interesting tidbit about your mom. It sounds like something right out of a movie.
A movie or a book. And the thing is, as she tells it, there were dozens of young women who joined up who had done the same thing. Escaped from impossible lives to try make something for themselves.