Eva Aldridge

Tell me about your life before joining the service.

On Saturday afternoons I used to go to the cinema in the winter and in the summers I used to go to the swim and baths. I was in the girl guides, which is very similar to the girl scouts here in the States.  I joined the girl guides at 11 years old and I was there until the war.  I used to love the girl guides. We learned all sorts of things and I used to go camping once a year with them.  The War broke out when I was 17 and I would join the army at 18. 

Living in England did you or your family notice any signs that WWII was coming?

We did not notice until only a few months before, when the Prime Minister of England went to Germany.  When he came back, the people knew that things weren’t going to stay as they were.  Then the War broke out in September. 

Do you remember the day that the War broke out?

It was on a Sunday.  I was due to go on an outing, a whole busload of us were.  It was canceled on that Sunday because the War broke out.  So we didn’t go.  I had already signed up with the government to be assigned to watch over civilians and at that time I was only 18.