A character-building period in her life because the family lived shoulder to shoulder with hardship and conflict. Winnifred was a gentle lady and took Margarite to the local Catholic church service every week.

As an only child but with an extended family, Margarite's Mother's maiden name is Boudville. The family today are in touch with distant relatives.

Mum met her lifelong friend Marina, as young girls they spent a lot of time together. Also later on in their lives Margarite and Marina lived close to each other in Plymouth Devon, England. When Mum was about 17, she joined the Singapore Women’s Auxiliary Service. They met every Thursday and there she met lifelong friend's Rebecca and Helen. Margarite briefly worked as a school teacher, but one of the stories involving an overactive schoolboy and a sharp pencil served to remind her that this was not her vocation in life.

Later on when Margarite worked for The Telephone exchange she met another lifelong friend Shirley and there they both worked alongside Marina. There are some good stories to be told from this period in Margarites life, no doubt.