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Title INTERVIEW WITH MISS PATRICIA DANIELS

Description

I came to the school in 1935 and stayed until 1940. By the time I came they had just reached two forms of entry up to the 5^th Year (Year 11). It was still fairly new but by then we had 4 Houses instead of 2 so it was growing. I was a scholarship girl. I think 3 pupils came to HHGS from my primary school – 2 boys and me. There wasn’t a rigid division between scholarship and fee-payers or between Class 1 and Class 1A but most of the scholarship pupils were in one form. There was no real streaming but you got the impression that one class was rather more intellectual than the other. It was just a feeling one got. We were the only mixed grammar school in the area – Berkhamsted, Watford and St Albans were all single sex. We drew people from a wide area. I knew people from Oxhey, Tring and Harpenden. Things were quite, quite different. There was just one building (the main block). The only room that is in the same place today is the Head’s study. The main assembly hall is now PA1 (dance studio), Domestic Science (Home Economics) was at the corner of the back corridor and the boys’ woodwork room was in the corresponding place at the other end. The art room is now full of computers! That’s where we did exams. The library was half of the front lower corridor. The fiction library was at the top of the stairs.

We all had to write for the Magpie (the school magazine) – for one homework every term you had to produce something. Then they were scrutinised and vetted and one per form was printed. On dear! What am I going to do? What am I going to write about? If you had done something special or been anywhere special you had something you could write about but otherwise it was not something we looked forward to. But it was done and everybody produced something.

At first the war had little effect on us except that we had to bring our gas masks. We had to practise going down to the air raid shelter. It was only later that they went down there for hours on end having lessons. We had one or two evacuees whilst I was there. In 1938 we had two Jewish boys who had managed to get out of Austria but they didn’t stay very long.

At home we had two young teachers billeted on us – 2 young Welsh girls. But some of the children they looked after went back after a couple of months and they went back with them. That was the Phoney War. I had no sense of fear because of the war, just maybe a bit worried on the day war was actually declared. My father was in the Territorial Army and he had been called up before war was declared. They’d been at their annual fortnight camp and he came home and had about 3 days to sort out his business and then he was off. That was the last we saw of him for 6 years. He went out to the Middle East in 1941. He came back on leave but by then I was away in the air force.

I left school at 16. There was virtually no Sixth form then. I had been destined for the Civil Service and the war was my saving grace as there were no exams for entry. I worked in the post office for a little while as I wasn’t quite old enough to join up and then joined the WAAF.

Most of the boys in my year joined up. By 1942 we were all 18. You saw them drifting around town in uniform. Three of the boys whose names are on the war memorial were in my year. Bob Duke and Con McGarry were in my form and Brian Slade was in the parallel form. He left school at the same time as me and within weeks I saw him walking round town in uniform. I thought how did he manage that? The story is that he got his father to sign the form (and thus was able to join up though under age). I met him in 1942 when we were both stationed in Norfolk. He was a serving pilot by then and half way through his tour of duty so he must have done 15-20 tours already. He was flying Wellingtons then.

Interview by Katie Towse

April 2012

Keywords Houses; gas masks; the Magpie; air raid shelter

Collection Hemel Hempstead School

Place Hemel Hempstead

Year 1935 - 1940

Conflict World War Two

File type html

Record ID number 217

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Title	INTERVIEW WITH MISS PATRICIA DANIELS
Description	I came to the school in 1935 and stayed until 1940. By the time I came they had just reached two forms of entry up to the 5^th Year (Year 11). It was still fairly new but by then we had 4 Houses instead of 2 so it was growing. I was a scholarship girl. I think 3 pupils came to HHGS from my primary school – 2 boys and me. There wasn’t a rigid division between scholarship and fee-payers or between Class 1 and Class 1A but most of the scholarship pupils were in one form. There was no real streaming but you got the impression that one class was rather more intellectual than the other. It was just a feeling one got. We were the only mixed grammar school in the area – Berkhamsted, Watford and St Albans were all single sex. We drew people from a wide area. I knew people from Oxhey, Tring and Harpenden. Things were quite, quite different. There was just one building (the main block). The only room that is in the same place today is the Head’s study. The main assembly hall is now PA1 (dance studio), Domestic Science (Home Economics) was at the corner of the back corridor and the boys’ woodwork room was in the corresponding place at the other end. The art room is now full of computers! That’s where we did exams. The library was half of the front lower corridor. The fiction library was at the top of the stairs. We all had to write for the Magpie (the school magazine) – for one homework every term you had to produce something. Then they were scrutinised and vetted and one per form was printed. On dear! What am I going to do? What am I going to write about? If you had done something special or been anywhere special you had something you could write about but otherwise it was not something we looked forward to. But it was done and everybody produced something. At first the war had little effect on us except that we had to bring our gas masks. We had to practise going down to the air raid shelter. It was only later that they went down there for hours on end having lessons. We had one or two evacuees whilst I was there. In 1938 we had two Jewish boys who had managed to get out of Austria but they didn’t stay very long. At home we had two young teachers billeted on us – 2 young Welsh girls. But some of the children they looked after went back after a couple of months and they went back with them. That was the Phoney War. I had no sense of fear because of the war, just maybe a bit worried on the day war was actually declared. My father was in the Territorial Army and he had been called up before war was declared. They’d been at their annual fortnight camp and he came home and had about 3 days to sort out his business and then he was off. That was the last we saw of him for 6 years. He went out to the Middle East in 1941. He came back on leave but by then I was away in the air force. I left school at 16. There was virtually no Sixth form then. I had been destined for the Civil Service and the war was my saving grace as there were no exams for entry. I worked in the post office for a little while as I wasn’t quite old enough to join up and then joined the WAAF. Most of the boys in my year joined up. By 1942 we were all 18. You saw them drifting around town in uniform. Three of the boys whose names are on the war memorial were in my year. Bob Duke and Con McGarry were in my form and Brian Slade was in the parallel form. He left school at the same time as me and within weeks I saw him walking round town in uniform. I thought how did he manage that? The story is that he got his father to sign the form (and thus was able to join up though under age). I met him in 1942 when we were both stationed in Norfolk. He was a serving pilot by then and half way through his tour of duty so he must have done 15-20 tours already. He was flying Wellingtons then. Interview by Katie Towse April 2012
Keywords	Houses; gas masks; the Magpie; air raid shelter
Collection	Hemel Hempstead School
Place	Hemel Hempstead
Year	1935 - 1940
Conflict	World War Two
File type	html
Record ID number	217