Name:
Frank Trigg
Transcript: 2
On being a Rivet Boy (‘Dolly Boy’) and the disability it left him with.
So did you do any riveting or things like that?

Yes as a boy you are called a ‘dolly boy’ and you are inside these sections of fuselage while the fitter himself is on the outside with a rivet gun and you were taking all the noise on the inside of the section.

Right OK, now could you explain what a ‘dolly boy’ is for the people who don’t understand?

Yes the ‘dolly boy held a piece of steel of various shapes to turn the stem of the rivet over on the inside of the sections.

And that clamped two pieces of – yep.

Yes, yes, yes. And the sections were put together using a – sort of – yellow paint which it said in the war evidently that if the Hurricane was shot to pieces it still kept together because of the paint between the joints.

I understand and that paint was called ‘Durolac’ I believe.

‘Durolac’ that is correct. Yeah, yeah.  And unfortunately that was the beginning of years later having the illness Menière’s disease, which people are horrified …

Sorry, that was the result of all the riveting inside these confined spaces?

Yes, yes. I used to come home of a night completely deaf and people are horrified now to think that we had no ear protection in them days. But I’ve had Menière’s disease now for 45 years at least.

Could you explain a little bit about Menière’s disease for me please.

Yes, Menière’s disease it’s a very – disability – dis-abilitating and you become violently giddy. In fact I’ve had to hold myself down on the bed at times to stop being thrown out the bed. And it comes and goes – I’ve had breaks with it – but I still have it and do feel giddy periods from time to time.