Telephone operator - (in case of attack) : Betty Roper

Transcript

When there seemed to be a threat of invasion we were issued with a pepper pot. When we asked what this was for, it was to throw in the eyes of the invaders if they ever got into the exchange. We had to work with this little pepper pot sat beside us. Also we had training with gas masks on and we had to have a tin hat (and) a gas mask on and work like that for half an hour, I think it was about every week. We were still sitting at the switchboard on the top of the post office. Part of it at the back was a glass roof and for some unknown reason there was a lull and we got up and walked away from the switchboard. About two minutes afterwards a tracer bullet came through the back, through the window and lodged itself in the back of the chair. If someone had been sitting in that chair they would not be alive today. We used to bail out and go down into the basement and we had one lady that was expecting a baby and so when the siren went and we got busy we used to send her down to the basement. This particular night was a pretty bad night and we'd forgotten all about her, and about eight o'clock next morning her mother rang up to find out where she was and we'd forgotten to tell her the all clear had gone and she was still there.