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[Page 58]
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to these men would add touches of colour, or to turn in the neck of their uniform, to add adornment that was not allowed by military regulation.
But to return to Campbell. I told her she must take her transfer, and that I hoped her lesson would be well learned.
The last I heard of her was from my forewoman, who said that Campbell had told her that if the U.A. did not have her back, there would be a court martial or a suicide.
Besides the worry and anxiety of nightly air-raids, the stress of work, owing to the great push, April was the most comfortless month of the year, for being officially Summer we were without coal. So tardily did the Authorities recognise our predicament, that by the time the order filtered through to supply us, the time had expired, so we went through it with considerable discomfort. When coal was available our central heating, one of the improvements effected, was from a fire in the cellar, so that after it died out there had been a degree of heat that tempered the discomfort, but now it was like a vault, and not unusual to have to spend several hours at least five times a week. It was wonderful that serious illness did not result. Colds were naturally a frequent occurrence.
When at last May came it brought some really beautiful spring days, and the joy of once more feeling the warmth of the sun I can well remember.
One morning I was tempted to take a rest and remembered in the women's letters that I had censored, that they had often written of the beauties of Happy Valley, and it proved a delightful walk of two and a half miles. After leaving the main terminus I prepared to settle down with my magazine and eat my sandwiches, when there broke in on the quietude of that beautiful spot a terrific bombardment. So loud it sounded that I thought surely the Germans have broken through, and here was I out of touch with my unit. When leaving to return I saw two or three women working in the