During the war, a soldiers' hospital was set up near the Vicarage,
and Noel did voluntary work preparing vegetables in the kitchen.
In 1915, Noel and Ruth produced two more children's plays to
raise funds for the war effort: Vingt-en-Un by Lucy and
Virginia Wintle, and When Daydreams End, which Noel wrote
herself. Because they were in aid of the war effort, the plays
were performed in Eastbourne's Winter Gardens Theatre, rather
than the parish hall. Noel played leading parts in each one, as
well as being involved in the production.
The other major Streatfeild family event of 1915 was when Janet,
much to the embarassment of her children, gave birth to another
daughter, Richenda.
After the production of When Daydreams End, Ruth took
a job as an art teacher. Barbara was working in London, and Bill
had joined the army. Noel decided to give up working in the kitchen,
and instead took a paid job making munitions in Woolwich Arsenal,
London. Although the work was much harder than she had imagined,
she stuck with it until she became ill with colitis. By the time
she had fully recovered, the war was over.
