Brian Woolley

Interviewed by Sandra Blamey on 16 May 2001
Subject: Second World War

Brian Woolley. During the war-times when a lot of volunteers went into the city to do the camouflage nets, I had about 50 or so of these big Huntsmen spiders, and I used to keep them in little jars, and periodically I’d let one out into my mother’s cooking bowl and I’d grab the web and wind it on to a cotton reel. When I’d got a number of these cotton reels, and when mother was going into the place with the netting, we’d take that in, and that was my effort for the war, because they used that spider web for putting across the lenses, because it was very fine, strong and sticky, and they could put it across the lenses for the weapons and all the rest of it. So that was my war effort.

Sandra Blamey. Is that right?

Brian Woolley. One time, for some reason or other half a dozen of these spiders got out of their jars, and she said that for the next month, every time she’d get up in morning and walk down, she’d hold her hand in front of her, because across the doors and the stairs were these spider webs, and these Huntsmen would be all building their webs all around the house. I don’t think I was very popular for that reason.