Destined for England

Heroes Remember

Destined for England

Transcript

Well I was the flight sergeant in charge of 110 girls going over on the ship Mauretania, yeah... and, we had quite a voyage. It was fast. We weren’t in convoy because are ship was too fast, but we were zig-zagging every two minutes because there was a sub on our tail. So it was exciting. Never felt any fear. When you’re young, you don’t you know. Nothing could happen to you. It was December, it was dark and balckout and we landed in Liverpool which had, the docks had been bombed and that it was it was quite a, quite a welcome and then we got on a train there. We didn’t have barracks when we went over to London, England so we had to live out and we lived on British rations. They gave us a ration book and everything. And we got, the first place we were in, was Barkston Gardens, and we had, it was more like a bed and breakfast place and so it was very nice. And then, when a couple of girls, some of them married, they started sending the married women home in ‘44, and after the, after D-day and that you know. So then, I went with these three other ladies into an apartment at Earls Court. We had a lovely apartment there. The people had evacuated for the war so they rented out their apartment. Yeah so, I was there then until I was repatriated.

Description

Mrs. McCauley expresses her excitement while travelling overseas on the Mauretania and her accommodations upon arrival in Liverpool, England.

Isabelle McCauley

Mrs. Isabelle McCauley was born in Highland Creek, Ontario in 1923. Always looing for a source of adventure, Isabelle decided to join the service and become a member of the Women’s Division, Royal Canadian Air Force. After receiving training as a code and cypher clerk, Isabelle was given the opportunity to go overseas, an opportunity not all women got when joining the service. During her time in London, England, Mrs. McCauley was witness to many air raids and bomb blasts within the city. After years of service Isabelle was discharged on November 1945. She returned to Ontario and throughout her retirement years spent a great deal of time travelling.

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