War Sirens and Carbolic Soap - Gillian Woodward's Earliest Memories

Born in the midst of the Second World War, 66 year-old Gillian Woodward’s earliest memories are of the Blitz.
“I remember sirens going off,” she said, “and I was frightened because I think I thought they were going to drop bombs. Someone was saying, ‘don’t worry it’s just the war sirens’.I was born in forty-two, in the middle of the war, so I must have only been three or four.”
One of five children, Mrs Woodward grew up in Leamington Spa, where her father worked in a factory.
After the war she attended her local school.
Teaching methods were strict, with any child caught swearing being made to stand in the corner and wash their mouth out with carbolic soap.
Unable to afford further education, Mrs Woodward left school at the age of fifteen.
“You went to work at fifteen then, I was a librarian. In those times you were just glad to get a job,” she said, “it’s getting like that again now.”
In 1996 she retired from her work in a plant hire company in Milton Keynes and retired to Poole along with her husband, whom she has known since she was 9.
Much of their time is now devoted to fishing, sailing and travelling, particularly to Italy, where they have visited such cultural sites as Sorrento, Venice and Pisa.
The couple have one daughter, who lives in Warwick, and three grandchildren, one of whom has recently gone to Kingston University to study fashion design.

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