Betty was a very loving (and leggy – look at the photo) sister. One evening, they were walking in the woods near their home and some older boys scared them and then chased them out of the woods. In her panic, Sheila dropped her bag of prized glass marbles and was still crying about losing them when she went to bed. Even though it was now dark outside and after her bedtime, Betty went back to the woods and searched high and low until she eventually found the bag and brought the marbles back home. Sheila was over the moon and slept with them under her pillow.

World War II broke out when Sheila was 5 years old and she remembered the air raid sirens and having to go to the bomb shelter in the garden. She talked about seeing the ‘dog fights’ over London as the British and German planes fought overhead. Along with so many other children from London, Sheila was evacuated with Betty. They ended up in Leicestershire.

Sheila left school at fifteen and a half and went to work at British Iron and Steel Trade Union and was quickly promoted during her time there.