Worker; Occupations in a "Comfy" Shelter"
KEYNOTE of optimism and cheerfulness is reflected in two recent letters received by a British resident here from a woman engaged in educational work pr rior to the war, who has since become a welfare adviser to one of the rest centres equipped by the Government in London school els. The Government took over the schools when the bombings started in earnest and converted them into-rest centres for those whose homes have been partially or wholly destroyed or who were awaiting the removal of delayed action bombs. The centres are under the charge of teachers working in teams of six. The second letter is written from a "Comfy" shelter where electricity and a radio have been installed.
The letters follow Eltham, S.E., Oct, 15, It's now some weeks since I wrote to you, During that time many things have happened, To begin with, education—for me—has ceased to exist, although I'm working in an L.C.C, school (where, incidentally, 1 am writing this letter at 4 am.) When bombing of London started in earnest the Government took over some of the schools and equipped them as rest centres for those whose houses had been damaged or destroyed or who were awaiting the removal of delayed-action bombs, Certain teachers were transferred to the Pub-lie Assistance Board and put in charge of these centres in teams of six. They were to work shifts of 24 hours on duty with 24 hours of rest following, I am the Welfare Adviser (I know "all the answers") at the......and have been doing it for the last two months, "I have to deal primarily with eva-enation, billeting, and the keeping of records, all of which keeps me well and truly occupied. The work is extremely interesting but is very arduous, for it means that if I'm lucky I get two or three hours sleep during my shift (that is supposing no fresh people come in) or, more often, none at all, I do, however, get a full night's sleep during my off period, though that leaves me little time to do things at home, However, I can stand the strain and am fit and well, although I've had two narrow squeaks (one a piece of shrapnel, the other machine-gun bullets), and our home, opt for a couple of tiles, is still as s when you saw it—it seems ages A "Comfy" Shelter You may remember (that is if my last letter reached you) that I had made a shelter, It was a nice little job, but at the time I did not realize that the raids would last as long as they do, and in consequence only designed it for sitting purposes, Finding as a result that it was too small to sleep in, I got in touch with a builder with view to having a surface shelter erected that would be large enough to sleep in but would be at the same time a smaller target than the house. This has now been built, After the war, when the nine-inch baffle wall is removed and a couple of windows are put in, it should make a nice little workshop, We've now made it into quite an attractive little bed-sitting-room, I distempered the walls primrose and shall do the ceiling a paler colour as soon as I get a chance, I bought two camp beds (I would have made them if I'd had transplant, the other because it was diseased, 'However, these will be replaced by trained' trees along the fence, as they are just as decorative as roses—and I like apples anyway.
Well, no need to worry about us, you see, Apart from a direct hit we stand every chance of coming through successfully and we're not troubled anyway, All being well the war should be over by the time you come on leave again and then we shall also have something to talk about, P.S, Since writing this we have moved one or two things round in the shelter, The fire is now in the corner on the shelf (which has a bottom to it to hold a spare electric bulb, matches, and our most important papers), and the wireless (another Murphy) stands on the table, There are also two other pictures on the wall, and the curtain at the end of the baffle wall now has a door behind it to give added protection—from draughts!"
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.