大象传媒

This story has been contributed to the People鈥檚 War by the 大象传媒 Learning Centre on behalf of William Hannis, with his permission.

I was born on 20th February 1927 in Norton, Gloucestershire. When war broke out we were living at Apperley.

At the end of July 1939 my Mother was sent to a sanatorium in Weston-super-Mare to convalesce because of her failing health. When war broke out in September Mother sent a telegram home telling Father she was leaving Weston at 12 noon because the sanatorium was closing because it had been commandeered by the Royal Navy.

On Sept 2 sister Kathleen and I walked up to Deerhurst turn to catch the bus into Gloucester to meet mother at the Midland station. We arrived at 11.15am and watched every train in and out until 8.30pm . We had to leave then to make sure we caught the last bus homeat 9pm from Worcester Street. The bus came in in total darkness. The only light was on the conductor鈥檚 satchel pointing downwards. When he had collected all the fares he switched it off.

The journey home was very eerie. The bus was occasionally lit up by flashes of lightning from a fast-approaching thunderstorm. We got home cold, very wet and very hungry as we had not eaten since breakfast time. Mother was already home. The patients had been wakened early and put on a train for Bristol and had been on a bus leaving Gloucester at 11am as we passed on our way to the station.

On Sept 3 Chamberlain came on the radio telling us we were at war. Father said: 鈥淭his is it鈥� and he was very worried about his eldest son Harry who was a stoker serving in the Royal Navy. He had joined up in 1933.

The Government sent an expeditionary force to France comprising regular reservists and Territorials to be joined later by Commonwealth forces and British conscripts. Conscription meant that all males aged 18 to 41 had to register for military service thought the 18 to 23 age group was called up first unless they were in a reserved occupation - working in a factory, doing war work, the emergency services and drivers on public transport.

Sept 4th the first atrocity was announced. The liner Athenia packed with women and children was sunk by a German U-boat with a very heavy loss of life.

Christmas 1939 Mother, Father, sisters Alice, Kathleen and myself were having tea. I have Mother table mats for a Christmas present. Our dog Bruin, a big dog that was a great draught excluder and who had a bushy tail that was very handy for getting a fire going, was lying on the mat in front of the fire. Suddenly his ears pricked, he woofed and and he jumped up, clearing the table in a jump without disturbing anything. He hooked his claws in the sitting room door, which we thought was closed, opening the door with such force that he hit the doorstop. We heard keys in the door and in walked Harry 鈥� he was on 48 hours leave. The dog jumped up on his hind legs to lick his face, Harry fended him off and the dog scratched the door from top to bottom. Harry returned to his ship on New Year鈥檚 Eve loaded up with vegetables that father had given him out of our garden. Little did we know it was the last time the family would be together.

February 20th was my 13th birthday and on February 25th I woke up to find it had rained and frozen at the same time. Even the little twigs on the trees were thicker than your thumb. Mother asked me to go down to the local farm to collect two points of milk. I collected the milk and was walking up a slight incline when I slipped and fell on my face. After regaining my composure I discovered I was holding two handles 鈥� the jugs had smashed. But I did see two blocks of white ice and I carried them home to Mother. I cried bitterly as my hands started to thaw out.

On February 29th I heard father clumping up the stairs. He opened the door where I was sleeping and said: Mother鈥檚 dead. I was up like a shot and went into Mother鈥檚 room. Kathleen was sobbing bitterly in a chair and Mother was lying in bed looking like a young girl with all the lines associated with her illness gone.
Kathleen sent a telegram to the Admiralty and to our surprise Harry came home early afternoon. He had been given indefinite leave. I was not allowed to go to Mother鈥檚 funeral. Harry returned to his ship after four weeks.

We had a spare room and were asked to give a billet to an Army sergeant Reginald Moore and his wife we called Miriam. He was with an anti-aircraft unit based in Apperley Court. After the fall of France the anti-aircraft guns were moved to London. Sergeant Moore went with them and Mrs Moore went home to Newcastle. I hoped and prayed that they survived the war and after several fruitless attempts to trace them I wrote a letter addressed to 鈥淎ny local newspaper in Newcastle鈥� in October 2005 and the letter was published and seen by a friend of Mrs Moore. I had a letter from her youngest son telling me the news I wanted to hear. They did survive the war, they had two children, and were both still alive, though sadly Reginald Moore, aged 91, is in a nursing home as a result of his war experience. Mrs Moore whose name is Elsie was by then aged 87 and living at home though suffering rheumatism very badly, but I was able to make telephone contact with them.

In June 1940 most of the schoolchildren from Deerhurst School were hit by an epidemic of German measles. While we were in quarantine we were allowed to work on local farms pea-picking, hay-making and digging up potatoes. We also went blackberry picking and sold the fruit to the village shop which was an agent for the jam factory in Worcester Street, Gloucester. With the money I earned I was able to buy myself a pair of grey flannel trousers and a sports jacket, both of which survived for many years. During that time a lot of us were playing cricket in a field one day and my friend James Tarrant chased after a ball that was hit through a wasps鈥� nest. He was badly stung and died next day in Tewkesbury Hospital

In November 1940 my brother Harry married Winifred Holbrook at Twyning Church. It was a lovely wedding. Harry kept asking me if we had enough to eat. I gave them tablemats as a present. Next day Kathleen and I went to Gloucester Great Western station to see them off on theior honeymoon. As the large wheels of the engine started to turn over the Tannoy came the sounds of 鈥淲ish me luck as you wave me goodbye鈥�. Little did we know it was the last time we would see Harry.

I left school at Easter 1941 and went to work for a small-holder,. He made a good living buying up old orchards and dead trees and chopping them into blocvks for firewood.

In late May 1941 we heard that HMS Hood the pride of the Royal Navy had been sunk. Early in June I got home from work at 6pm and connected the accumulators to the radio. When it had warmed up the newsreader Frank Phillips was talking about the battle for Crete. He said the evacuation of Crete was carried out without loss and the Board of Admiralty announced with great regret that the destroyer Kashmir was among the ships that had been lost and next of kin had been informed. At the name Kashmir I froze 鈥� Kashmir was Harry鈥檚 ship. Kathleen鈥檚 employer immediately sent her to Twyning to my sister in law Winnie. She saw that Winnie was expecting a baby. Winnie told her that Harry was missing. There were 23 missing from Kashmir.

Kathleen immediately volunteered to join the Wrens and she was accepted as a cook. My middle brother Thomas, who was in a reserved occupation, immediately applied to the Royal Air Force but had to settle for the Army instead. On September 19th 1941 Winifred Hannis gave birth to Peter Henry, Harry鈥檚 son.

In April 1945 we heard from Winnie that the Admiralty had finally confirmed that my brother had been killed in action on May 23rd 1941.

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