Description
Object description
British civilian living in Leicester, GB, 1935-1941; secretary and officer served with Women's Royal Naval Service in GB, 1941-1944
Content description
REEL 1 Background in GB, 1919-1939: father's work with Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA); education; awareness of events in Nazi Germany; attitude towards prospect of war; Jewish refugees living at her parents' home in Leicester; attitude towards prospect of war; leaving school and attending Leicester University; attitude towards possibility of career; meeting future husband Raymond Venables. Recollections of civilian life in Leicester, GB, 1939-1941: attitude towards outbreak of war; blackout; brother's pacifist beliefs; attitude towards war; rationing; Red Cross training; brief period working in hospital.
REEL 2 Continues: conditions in hospital; attitude towards brother's activities as conscientious objector; decision to join Women's Royal Naval Service. Recollections of period as secretary and officer with Women's Royal Naval Service in GB, 1941-1944: reception on arrival; adapting to naval life; basic training; trades open to female recruits; drafting to HMS Europa, Lowestoft; clerical duties; living conditions; rations; air raids; officer training; question of compassionate leave; attitude towards becoming officer; appointment to Department of Naval Education in Liverpool; secretarial duties; accommodation; difficulties of having husband away at war; husband's involvement in Normandy Landings, 6/1944; pregnancy and leaving Women's Royal Naval Service, 1944.
REEL 3 Continues: Aspects of period as civilian in GB, 1945: VE Day celebrations, 8/5/1945; attitude towards end of war in Far East, 15/8/1945; attitude towards dropping of atomic bombs on Japan, 8/1945; attitude towards service with Women's Royal Naval Service. Aspects of brother's experiences as concienious objector during Second World War: agricultural work on Jersey; how he was sent to an internment camp in Germany; living conditions in camp; physical condition of brother post-war; brother's entry into civil service.