“Bomb Girls” is a book which tells the intimate and unforgettable personal stories of a group of women whose hard work and quiet courage helped Britain win WW2. They are the unsung heroines of WW2, the wives, mothers and teenage girls who worked in munitions factories to make explosives, shells, bullets and bombs. One such woman was Mrs Margaret Reid Williams, later Curtis, who was born and lived in Blantyre. Her story is told in the book.
One chapter in the book is Margaret’s story told in her own words. Margaret, her mother Christina and best friend Mary Paterson (Cordite Mary) worked in a munitions factory at Bishopton. Their interesting story tells a great deal about what was going on in this area during WW2.
As a girl Margaret lived in High Blantyre near the bings, at the bottom of a hill with a railway above and country side further up. The 1935 valuation roll has the family living at 13 Sydes Brae. She married Jack Curtis in 1945 and was living at 34 Burnside Crescent at that time. Her friend Mary Paterson lived at no. 32.
I haven’t transcribed this book, but instead but up some photos and some of the pages (which are numbered) in case you want to grab a coffee and read her interesting story.
With thanks to Alex Rochead and to Gillian Cunningham for making me aware of the book.
