Page 20 - link magazine

20 swindonlink.com • January 2009
Sending our boys into battle
Mansfield on tea and buns
Begbie They say that an army marches on its stomach, and Edith Glennie from

Associates Ltd Westlea went to meet Elsie Youngman, an 87 year old grandmother from
Freshbrook, who revealed to The Link her secret mission to keep the
troops fed before the D-Day landings in 1944.
Providing mortgage services for the community since 1987 Elsie Youngman was only 18 when experienced. I can see the faces of
war was declared in 1939, and with the young boys in tears, pleading.
COULD YOU her sister Edna, joined the NAAFI Any letters taken by the girls had to
(Navy, Army & Air Force Institute), be handed over to the commanding
They were sent for training at Bland- officer, and burnt.”
PAY LESS ford camp in Dorset. The huge base That night, a special service was
held 15,000 men, and Elsie, her sister held at the camp chapel which every
FOR YOUR and 16 other girls were responsible soldier and NAAFI girl attended
for providing food and drink for “We knew God was the only one to
turn to,” said Elsie. “And we prayed
3,000 of those.
Being twins, they would some-
MORTGAGE in 2009? times play tricks on the soldiers at so hard for the soldiers.”
The NAAFI girls had been told
mealtimes, serving tea and cakes to expect bombings after the troops
at opposite ends of a long line, and had left and the invasion soon
The earlier you carry out pretending to be the same person. started. Elsie described a terrifying
“We never let on that we were night of bombing, in the first wave
a review, the sooner twins,” she said. were the new the Flying Bombs
But it was
or Doodlebugs.
you might save not all laughs Some 22 bombs
and Elsie re-
fell on or near
calls glancing the camp and
We may be able to find you a lower interest rate. out of a win- though none of
You may have to pay an early repayment charge dow and re- the girls were
to your existing lender if you remortgage. marking, “look hurt, there were
at those sticks some casualties
Whether you’re planning to move to a new house in the sky.” among the few
or to remortgage your property, with over 21 years Hearing this, men left be-
hind.
the soldiers fell
experience providing mortgages in Swindon, to the floor just E l s i e a n d
Mansfield Begbie Associates aim to provide before bombs Edna stayed to
landed on the
clear up the base
an excellent and personal service. camp. before return-
There may be a fee payable at completion for placing Many of the ing to Blandford
men were badly hurt or killed, but camp now converted into a hospi-
your mortgage. The precise amount will depend on the girls, protected by the thick tal for wounded Americans, and
your circumstances but the maximum will be £300. serving counter, were uninjured. where they stayed until the end
Shaken they ran to their barracks, of the war.
However, no completion no fee. tore sheets from beds to bandage the At first they had difficulty under-
wounded as best they could before standing their patients because of
ambulances arrived. their accents and found them very
When, having worked at Bland- different to the British soldiers.
ford for four years, a senior staff of- “They were much more easy and
ficer addressed assembled NAAFI friendly,” said Elsie. “I received
girls to ask for volunteers for a several proposals of marriage but
secret assignment, Elsie and Edna I was never tempted to become
stepped forward. “We didn’t really a war bride and go off to live in
to all Link readers sense any danger, even though we America.”
didn’t know what it was about,” Despite the hardships she has
said Elsie. seen and experienced, Elsie said,
Mansfield Begbie Associates arranges mortgages with On a chilly night in February “looking back, I wouldn’t change
the majority of building societies and banks in the UK 1944, the girls were taken to Botley any of it. It was lovely to be able
For a free mortgage consultation and camp, near Southampton. The loca- to do something for the country.
further information, call us now. tion was top-secret. “We were al- People nowadays take prosper-
Your home may be repossessed if you lowed to send letters home, but they ity and affluence for granted and
do not keep up repayments on your mortgage were heavily censored,” said Elsie. don’t understand the privations of
“We were told only our instructions war and what civilians had to go
Swindon for work and ordered not to have through. But we were all in the same
any contact outside camp.
boat facing adversity then.
772779 preparations for something big. awareness by speaking to primary
Elsie has done her bit to raise
“You could tell there were
There were just so many soldiers pupils about her wartime experi-
e: [email protected] and equipment in the camp. On 4 ences. Even though she describes
June us NAAFI girls were gathered herself as ‘a nobody,’ and claims
www.mansfieldbegbie.co.uk together and told all the men would that what she’s done is nothing
be leaving for France. We were exceptional, it could be said that the
Mansfield Begbie Associates Limited is an appointed representative of H0096015 given strict orders not to accept war was won by a nation of brave,
Legal & General Partnership Services Limited which is authorised and regulated by the
Financial Services Authority for advising on and arranging mortgages and insurance any letters from soldiers. It was heroic nobodies, all doing their bit
one of the saddest things I’ve ever for their country.

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