no time for anything
fancy. We’ll get them into all the Emergency Centres and
First-Aid Posts, and everywhere else we can think of. I’ve
managed to get hold of some large sheets of paper - here,
spread them out on the table. Now, I must get down to the
Clothing Store. We had a new consignment in last week that
I don’t think has even been unpacked yet. I’ll take Mrs
Daysh with me and we can sort them out at once.’
She was” gone, leaving the two girls with a pile of paper
and a box of crayons between them. They looked at each
other and Judy grinned a little ruefully.
‘Well, I suppose it’s important work.’
‘It is,’ Laura assured her briskly. ‘Even if it does feel a bit like being back at school. Let’s see how many we can get
done by lunchtime - and what’s the betting that by then
she’ll have thought of something else for us to do!’
As it turned out, by lunchtime the Mayoress had thought
of quite a few things for them to do. Most of the women
who were already volunteers had gone straight to the
Emergency Centres, but some had come to the hotel with its
new offices to ask for orders. Laura and Judy, by now
inundated with requests for help, were kept busy matching
them up, and Judy soon lost any sense of embarrassment at
asking a well-dressed woman to take a frail old lady to the
lavatory, or sending a young mother with three small
children of her own to look after a crowd of bedraggled
urchins who didn’t seem to have any parents at all.
‘They wouldn’t volunteer if they didn’t mean it,’ Laura
remarked as she helped an efficient old lady to unload a pile
of woollen jumpers that someone had sent in. ‘It’s like the
Mayoress says - if you’re in the WVS you’ve got to be
flexible. Ready for anything. I can’t see anyone offering if they’re not prepared to do whatever they’re asked to do.’
‘Well, I hope we get lots more offers from these notices,’
Judy said, printing wanted - volunteers for the WVS out
for the hundredth time. ‘It’s been busy enough before, it’ll
be even worse now, especially if we get more raids like
Friday’s.’
‘D’you think we will?’ Laura paused in her sorting.
‘D’you think they’ll bomb us that badly again? I don’t know
how much more people will be able to stand.’
‘We’ll stand as much as we’ve got to,’ Judy said grimly.
‘We don’t have any choice, do we? And the Germans aren’t
going to stop because they feel sorry for us. They’ll hammer
and hammer and hammer till they think we’ll give in.’ She
drew a thick black line under the words and looked up.
‘We’ll get more raids all right, Laura. They haven’t finished
with Pompey yet - but what they don’t know, is that
Pompey hasn’t finished with them.”
Chapter Five
Back at home at last, Judy stretched her toes out to the fire
and took a cup of tea from her mother. ‘Thanks, Mum. I
really need this. It was a horrible journey back. There’s any
amount of streets still blocked, the bus kept having to go a
different way. Some people said they were further away
from home when they got off than when they got on!’
‘It’s a shame you’ve got to go all the way out to Southsea,’
Cissie said, offering her a tin of broken biscuits before
settling a saucepan on the coals. ‘I hope they manage to get
the offices back into town before long.’
Judy shook her head. ‘They won’t go back now. You
haven’t seen the damage, Mum. We’ll be out at Southsea for
the duration, that’s what Miss Marsh says.’ She nibbled a
piece of Rich Tea. ‘Anyway, what sort of a day did you
have? Did you manage to get the rations sorted out?’
Polly nodded. ‘We’ve got temporary books, and we’ve
registered at the Co-op where Mum gets her rations.
They’ve opened up a grocery store not too far away, being
as the big one’s been bombed. Had to queue half the day but
at least we’ve got a bit of food in the place
fancy. We’ll get them into all the Emergency Centres and
First-Aid Posts, and everywhere else we can think of. I’ve
managed to get hold of some large sheets of paper - here,
spread them out on the table. Now, I must get down to the
Clothing Store. We had a new consignment in last week that
I don’t think has even been unpacked yet. I’ll take Mrs
Daysh with me and we can sort them out at once.’
She was” gone, leaving the two girls with a pile of paper
and a box of crayons between them. They looked at each
other and Judy grinned a little ruefully.
‘Well, I suppose it’s important work.’
‘It is,’ Laura assured her briskly. ‘Even if it does feel a bit like being back at school. Let’s see how many we can get
done by lunchtime - and what’s the betting that by then
she’ll have thought of something else for us to do!’
As it turned out, by lunchtime the Mayoress had thought
of quite a few things for them to do. Most of the women
who were already volunteers had gone straight to the
Emergency Centres, but some had come to the hotel with its
new offices to ask for orders. Laura and Judy, by now
inundated with requests for help, were kept busy matching
them up, and Judy soon lost any sense of embarrassment at
asking a well-dressed woman to take a frail old lady to the
lavatory, or sending a young mother with three small
children of her own to look after a crowd of bedraggled
urchins who didn’t seem to have any parents at all.
‘They wouldn’t volunteer if they didn’t mean it,’ Laura
remarked as she helped an efficient old lady to unload a pile
of woollen jumpers that someone had sent in. ‘It’s like the
Mayoress says - if you’re in the WVS you’ve got to be
flexible. Ready for anything. I can’t see anyone offering if they’re not prepared to do whatever they’re asked to do.’
‘Well, I hope we get lots more offers from these notices,’
Judy said, printing wanted - volunteers for the WVS out
for the hundredth time. ‘It’s been busy enough before, it’ll
be even worse now, especially if we get more raids like
Friday’s.’
‘D’you think we will?’ Laura paused in her sorting.
‘D’you think they’ll bomb us that badly again? I don’t know
how much more people will be able to stand.’
‘We’ll stand as much as we’ve got to,’ Judy said grimly.
‘We don’t have any choice, do we? And the Germans aren’t
going to stop because they feel sorry for us. They’ll hammer
and hammer and hammer till they think we’ll give in.’ She
drew a thick black line under the words and looked up.
‘We’ll get more raids all right, Laura. They haven’t finished
with Pompey yet - but what they don’t know, is that
Pompey hasn’t finished with them.”
Chapter Five
Back at home at last, Judy stretched her toes out to the fire
and took a cup of tea from her mother. ‘Thanks, Mum. I
really need this. It was a horrible journey back. There’s any
amount of streets still blocked, the bus kept having to go a
different way. Some people said they were further away
from home when they got off than when they got on!’
‘It’s a shame you’ve got to go all the way out to Southsea,’
Cissie said, offering her a tin of broken biscuits before
settling a saucepan on the coals. ‘I hope they manage to get
the offices back into town before long.’
Judy shook her head. ‘They won’t go back now. You
haven’t seen the damage, Mum. We’ll be out at Southsea for
the duration, that’s what Miss Marsh says.’ She nibbled a
piece of Rich Tea. ‘Anyway, what sort of a day did you
have? Did you manage to get the rations sorted out?’
Polly nodded. ‘We’ve got temporary books, and we’ve
registered at the Co-op where Mum gets her rations.
They’ve opened up a grocery store not too far away, being
as the big one’s been bombed. Had to queue half the day but
at least we’ve got a bit of food in the place
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