Eva Aldridge

Tell me about when you left the service.

I came out of the service to get married.  I met Kenneth, my husband, in the service in Germany.  We were both sergeants and the men used to come over to our sergeant's mess.  I met him there at a dance we had in Germany.  Eventually he came out of the service because his number came up and he wanted to get married. And that sure didn’t bother me. So I put in for leave and came out of the service and we got married. 

Tell me about your early years of marriage.

It was a bit strange at first.  We both had almost no clothes that fit. I wore my uniform quite often, especially if we went out anywhere.  We lived in Yorkshire for awhile with my husband’s sister and her husband and then we moved down to Gloucestershire because that is where Kenneth lived before the War.  I knew part of the city, but not the part where we moved to.  At that time we lived with some friends, because there were very few houses. Eventually the person we lived with found us a little old house.  It was one up and one down and the toilet was above the garden between three houses.  It was really in the country and we lived there for two or three years. If I hadn’t been in the army I could not have stood it. I wouldn’t have roughed it.  But it was a little house on our own, one up and one down.  And that was it until eventually we moved into the Midlands where my husband got a job. 

Did the two of you have any children?

One.  I’m currently living with her. Her name is Carol. Interestingly, she was born on Christmas Eve. We didn’t name her Carol because of when she was born. We had decided on the name earlier and it was one we both agreed on.

When did you move to the United States?

I used to come over for a week or a fortnight each year to have a holiday with my daughter Carol.  I came over here about ten years ago (around 1998) for good because my husband had passed away and I was on my own.  I had very few close family members left in England and so I came here to the United States and stayed here. And I quite enjoy it.  I am lucky enough to have wonderful grandchildren and now even great-grandchildren. 

How would you like to be remembered?

I would like to be remembered by my grandchildren as someone they liked.  Someone that would get told off for doing the things that they wanted to do.  Someone that they would say let's ask grandma because she will do it.