"My bra went on a bombing raid to Germany..."

"My bra went on a bombing raid to Germany..."

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Wearside at War - Kathleen Wilkin's story
http://www.sunderlandecho.com/daily/My-bra-went-on-a.5803013.jp

06 November 2009
Sunderland Echo, Sunderland


A fear of cows was to the change the course of Kathleen Wilkin's life forever when war was declared in 1939.

"I was 17 and didn't want to get called up at 18, because I was worried about being put into the Land Army – as I was scared of cows!" she said.

"So instead I volunteered for the Navy, Army and Airforce Institutes, and ended up working for the NAAFI at air and army bases around Yorkshire during the war."

It was while serving at Skipton airfield near Thirsk, a base for French Canadian fliers, that Lambton-born Kathleen saw both the dark and lighter side of battle.

"A funny thing happened one day, when all of the bras and knickers belonging to the NAAFI girls mysteriously disappeared from the washing line," she recalls.

"We used to hang them out in a big yard, surrounded by high fencing with spikes on the top, but somehow they vanished and couldn't be found anywhere on the base.

"Eventually we were told that an air crew must have taken them on a raid to Germany, to bring them good luck, and that is exactly what had happened.

"The men said our underwear had helped them fly home safely, but we took no chances after that. We put everything on radiators to dry from then on!"

The tragic side of war was also ever-present at the base, as Kathleen, who now lives in Shiney Row, remembers only too well.

"One of the French Canadian chaps gave me a photo of his plane and asked if I could keep it for him, as he was going home on leave after his next operation," she said.

"But neither he, nor his plane, came back that night. It was very sad, as he was a nice chap. We lost two or three planes that night, but I still have the photo he gave me."

Once preparations for D-Day began in early 1944, Kathleen realised that most of the NAAFI jobs would be moving south or abroad – so she volunteered to go too.

At 20, however, she still needed parental permission to work overseas. Her father, fearing for her safety, refused to sign the official form – scribbling over it instead.

"The airbase had practically closed by then, so I was sent to Nayton, near Thirsk, to an Army base catering for soldiers coming back from abroad," she said.

"On the day I arrived, as I had some free time, I decided to take a trip into Thirsk and went to ask if there was any Army transport going that way.

"The chap I approached to ask about transport ended up being the man I was to marry, Frank. We danced together at a dance in Thirsk that night, and that was it."

Kathleen and Frank enjoyed nearly 60 happy years together, with the marriage producing four daughters, seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

"I went to see a fortune teller once during the war, with the French Canadian chap who died, and she told me I wouldn't marry the man I was with," said Kathleen.

"She said that man I would marry was now on sand, desert sand, and she was right. Frank was serving in Egypt at the time."

http://www.sunderlandecho.com/daily/My-bra-went-on-a.5803013.jp