大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Maggie Smith from WM CSV Action Desk on behalf of Barbara Trentham and has been added to the site with her permission. Barbara Trentham fully understands the sites terms and conditions.

I was born in Catshill, Bromsgrove on 5th January, 1941. My parents had moved out of Ladywood with my two sisters because of the bombing but my Nan, Amy Turner, stayed and lived at 5/80 Coplow Street, Ladywood, on her own all through the war. She was even trapped down her own cellar, the houses all round in Coplow Street and Marroway Street were being bombed to the ground but she refused to move.

My uncle, Roland Woodcock, lived at Catshill and had an orchard and kept pigs. He used to bring boxes of apples to my Nan's for her to give to the neighbours in exchange for stale crusts and bits of scrap food to feed his pigs.

My father, Edward Langford, worked in Balsall Heath in the day and did fire watch at night. He used to travel backwards and forwards from Birmingham to Catshill on his push bike every day.

When I was three years old, we went to live in Oldbury. I remember the sirens going off every night. We used to get up, I was wrapped in a big coat, and we went to the lady's house next door because she was on her own, and stayed until the all clear went. One night we stood at the front of the house, the sky was red, lit up by the fires and a poor horse had got loose and was galloping round the streets terrified.

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