Smile ...

Dear All,

Thank you for all your lovely messages. We girls have been working non-stop today, clearing new planes from the factories. It has brightened my day to hear from you. Helen asked:

Dear Evie, What is your favourite wartime slogan? Is it difficult being a woman in such a male dominated world?

I think my favourite is 'Make Do and Mend'. Stella is far better than me at 'Keep Calm and Carry On'. I must be honest, before the war I was shockingly wasteful, and rather too partial to a pretty frock or a new pair of shoes. I think I've come to realise how little 'things' really matter. I am happier than I have ever been in my whole life, and I'm making do with not a lot. Perhaps living, and working in constant danger makes one feel terribly alive. Thinking about it, perhaps that slogan means mending a broken heart as darning socks to me ... Still, chin up. Mustn't wallow.

As for the boys, you get the odd rotter but you do everywhere. I must say the ATA is a model example of how men and women can work together side by side. Did you know we are the first women to receive equal pay and terms? I think we Spitfire Girls, and the women engineers have proven we can do any job just as well as a chap. I do love the look on the faces of the RAF chaps when some slip of a girl jumps out of the cockpit of a big old Lanc ..!

Perhaps that is the best slogan to get us through this War. Whatever Jerry throws at us, however hard it gets - smile.

Yours ever,

Evie x

Ps if you have any wartime memories, do share them with us.