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| That’s me in the picture: Hazel Whiskerd, protesting at Greenham Common, 1982 | That’s me in the picture: Hazel Whiskerd, protesting at Greenham Common, 1982 |
| (1 day later) | |
| I was a child during the second world war and a young adult during the cold war. I am 86 now, and I’ve never been able to live without the feeling that I might be annihilated at any minute. | |
| The blitz is romanticised now, but it was ghastly. Night after night we heard the bombs getting closer – after a while you became immune to it. When friends died, we’d know because they just weren’t at school the next day. Our home in the Cotswolds was bombed in the autumn and we had to go and live somewhere else while it was being shored up. My father stayed all winter, with only half of it standing, to protect it from looters. | The blitz is romanticised now, but it was ghastly. Night after night we heard the bombs getting closer – after a while you became immune to it. When friends died, we’d know because they just weren’t at school the next day. Our home in the Cotswolds was bombed in the autumn and we had to go and live somewhere else while it was being shored up. My father stayed all winter, with only half of it standing, to protect it from looters. |
| But it was the dropping of the Hiroshima bomb that changed me. I remember being devastated and feeling quite ill when I heard about it. I thought: “How could anyone think of doing that to other people? They don’t even know them.” | But it was the dropping of the Hiroshima bomb that changed me. I remember being devastated and feeling quite ill when I heard about it. I thought: “How could anyone think of doing that to other people? They don’t even know them.” |
| I met my husband John at university, St Martin’s. He was anti-war and we used to sit round and discuss things, as one does in college. Then our lecturer said: “Why are you all talking about it? Go and do something!” So when we left, in 1957, we formed our own branch of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. | I met my husband John at university, St Martin’s. He was anti-war and we used to sit round and discuss things, as one does in college. Then our lecturer said: “Why are you all talking about it? Go and do something!” So when we left, in 1957, we formed our own branch of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. |
| We needed members, so we showed a film at the local comprehensive school about a nuclear attack on England. We got 12 members straight away, and continued to grow. We used to sell books, garden produce and jam to raise money to go to demonstrations. Some people would be helpful, smile, take leaflets and buy badges; others were terribly against us and labelled us “Commies”. | We needed members, so we showed a film at the local comprehensive school about a nuclear attack on England. We got 12 members straight away, and continued to grow. We used to sell books, garden produce and jam to raise money to go to demonstrations. Some people would be helpful, smile, take leaflets and buy badges; others were terribly against us and labelled us “Commies”. |
| We went on a lot of demonstrations over the years. On 12 December 1982, a group of us decided to join the women’s peace camp at Greenham Common, protesting against the government allowing cruise missiles at the Royal Air Force base there. Over 30,000 women turned up that day. | We went on a lot of demonstrations over the years. On 12 December 1982, a group of us decided to join the women’s peace camp at Greenham Common, protesting against the government allowing cruise missiles at the Royal Air Force base there. Over 30,000 women turned up that day. |
| The moment the picture was taken was extraordinary. We were lining the wire fence around the base, singing Give Peace A Chance, and a helicopter was going over so we all happened to look up at the same time. Then a whistle went and we joined hands. It was terribly moving. That moment we held hands, we felt strong. | The moment the picture was taken was extraordinary. We were lining the wire fence around the base, singing Give Peace A Chance, and a helicopter was going over so we all happened to look up at the same time. Then a whistle went and we joined hands. It was terribly moving. That moment we held hands, we felt strong. |
| It was extremely cold and muddy. The lady next to me in the dark coat got arrested. She didn’t do anything – at that time, people would get arrested on purpose, just so they could have a few minutes in court. These were the lengths they would go to, to get their voices heard. Some of them would be manhandled and dragged off in the mud. | It was extremely cold and muddy. The lady next to me in the dark coat got arrested. She didn’t do anything – at that time, people would get arrested on purpose, just so they could have a few minutes in court. These were the lengths they would go to, to get their voices heard. Some of them would be manhandled and dragged off in the mud. |
| My son showed me the picture. His colleague had told him: “Your mum’s on the front of the Guardian!” I know it’s a famous photo, but I’m only one in a crowd. When I see it today, I remember the meetings we had, the demos we went on, and that feeling of not wanting to just stay home planting pansies. We knew we couldn’t do anything, but you feel better if you do something, even if it’s minuscule in the face of what goes on around you. | My son showed me the picture. His colleague had told him: “Your mum’s on the front of the Guardian!” I know it’s a famous photo, but I’m only one in a crowd. When I see it today, I remember the meetings we had, the demos we went on, and that feeling of not wanting to just stay home planting pansies. We knew we couldn’t do anything, but you feel better if you do something, even if it’s minuscule in the face of what goes on around you. |