Page 122 - KBHA BULLETIN 6

Food: Certain foods were scarce but there was enough to get by on. Crayfish could be

bought at the Outspan for 3d (a tickey) and 6d each, cigarettes were 2 for a penny, and a

pint of beer 7d.

Audrey Read

With the outbreak of war in 1939 Simon’s Town became a very crowded and busy port.

Ships kept arriving to be converted for war purposes and the numbers of men employed in

the dockyard kept on rising till a figure of 6,000 was reached.

My father, who was Captain of the Admiralty Tug St. Dogmael, had been on standby for a

couple of years as he was still in the RNVR. He had expected to be called up because of
the Abyssinian Campaign so our household was very aware that war was a possibility. My

mother took up employment up-the-line in order to supplement the family income. Many
women did this as vacancies had arisen due to the men going to war. This was a great time

for women as the war opened up undreamed opportunities for them.

In the evenings my mother was variously busy with the local Red Cross detachment,

Civilian Protective Service, and canteen duty at the Soldiers and Sailors Rest Room in
Main Road Simon’s Town. This meant that although we had a maid to look after the house

and to cook, this was no place for a nine-year old girl, so I was packed off to be a weekly
boarder at Star of the Sea. I didn’t relish the thought of this but there was no option. As

well as being too near home I felt I was missing out on all the excitement in Simon’s
Town. Although one knew what a serious time it was there was so much going on in the

town and one wanted to be part of it. People were knitting and making things for the

servicemen, from long sea-boot stockings to balaclavas, and even a nine-year old could
knit a pair of socks although it took ages to learn how “to turn a heel”. Every article had a

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