大象传媒

My Home Town
I was born in 1931 so when war was declared I was only eight years old, living with my family in Alexandra Crescent, Blyth. I recall that my brothers, my sister and I felt both excited and afraid at the same time.

Soon after war was declared the military presence in the area was stepped up with the emergence of local defence groups such as the Local Defence Volunteers, the Home Guard and the Women鈥檚 Volunteer Service, set up to help the local people defend the Home Front in the event of an invasion.

The sights and sounds of warfare were evident throughout Blyth; barrage balloons on Broadway Field, barricades and fortifications on the street and on the beach; even the emergence of a prisoner of war camp. The face of school changed too as evacuees were sent to Blyth from all over England and, as the war continued we were encouraged to 鈥淒ig for victory鈥� by growing different kinds of vegetables in the push for food, as more and merchant ships were sunk.

Because of Blyth鈥檚 industrial heritage, with its pits, railways and shipyards there was a strong military presence. The RAF, the Navy and the Army all had an interest in Blyth and by the 1940鈥檚 the port was once again used as a submarine base, resulting in an influx of different nationalities in and around the town.

Everyone seemed to 鈥榩ull together鈥� during the war; all with their own roles to play. My father, who was too old to join the Army, became an Air Raid Warden. He was responsible for the safety of those who lived on our street during the raids and, even as a young lad I was involved in the war effort. My friends and I were in the Scouts and we would go to the beach to watch the anti-aircraft guns manoeuvres and to help the army personnel by carrying messages from one station to the next.

Air Raids:
As soon as war was declared my mother insisted that we wore our gas masks whenever the air raid siren went off. At first, apart from having to get up out of our beds two or three times each night to sleep in the air raid shelter in our back garden, our street was unaffected by the raids. However, an increase in activity by the German planes affected us badly. When a bomb exploded at the railway station in Blyth, just a few streets away from us, the blast caused the front of our house to fall away. Luckily, no one was hurt, either when the wall collapsed or when a train wheel landed in our garden. We had to be evacuated for four nights until repairs could be made. During this time we were grateful for the kind generosity of the miner鈥檚 welfare, which provided temporary accommodation for us, including mattresses for us to sleep on.

Memories of War:
I have many memories but the ones which remain most vivid are those which seemed exciting at the time. Food and clothing rationing obviously affected us greatly but as a child I was affected more by the captured German soldiers I saw paraded through the town centre, to be stared and shouted at as they were taken to the police station. I saw one such German soldier shot down when my friends and I, along with other children in the area, witnessed a 鈥榙og fight鈥� between a Spitfire and a German Messerschmitt 109. We hoped that our plane would win, not just as a victory for Britain, but also so that we could all have the chance to collect shrapnel.

Whenever bombs were dropped or planes brought down we always went to see the damage and to collect any 鈥榮ouvenirs鈥� we could find. I remember the time when a dropped bomb resulted in the formation of a crater near to Plessey road. Although this was like a game to us there were times when warfare didn鈥檛 seem like fun. For example, when the front of my house was blown off, or when three families who lived near to us were evacuated when their homes were destroyed, or when a local man who worked for the railways died when a wall collapsed on him.

It wasn鈥檛 only the events at home that we heard about or witnessed. I remember hearing news from the Front about one of our neighbours, Norman Simpson. The community was shocked to hear of his capture in 1940. He was not released until the end of the war.

Once the Germans surrendered we held mass street parties on VE Day. Eventually we were able to start trying to return to normal, learning to enjoy life without worrying about blackout blinds and air raids. Just being able to go out to the Roxy ballroom for a night out without the fear of air raids hanging over your head was wonderful鈥︹��..

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