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This story is transcribed by me , Graham Shepherd , from discussions with Lois Morris , and will be added to the site with her permission . She understands the sites terms and conditions .

I was born at Longdon Common near Shrewsbury , Shropshire and was 12 1/2 when war broke out . My first memory of the war was when a lady came to the school and asked if we would like to go and help to pick potatoes as part of the “ Digging for Victory “ scheme . I was pleased to go , and we all had our own buckets . We were surprised to be joined by a busload of beautiful looking young soldiers . The lady brought out a very large bag of sweets for us all to share .

We were on the flight path for the German bombers on their way to bomb Liverpool , and despite the blackout , I used to go upstairs and peep through my bedroom windows to see the planes go over and then see and hear the bombs being dropped on Liverpool . When the planes returned we always had to go into the cupboard under the stairs just in case the bombers dropped any surplus bombs .

I recall that late one Saturday evening the vicar arrived with two evacuees from Merseyside who had been bombed out twice . They were two brothers , Douglas — aged 12 and Gordon — aged 10 Hamilton . My parents said that they had no room for them , our house only having one main bedroom and a landing room . The vicar said that all the other children had been taken in by other villagers , but no one would take both brothers , but it was required that they should be kept together . My mum and dad said they would take them in until Tuesday to see if we could cope . They went to the market to buy two beds and other things they needed , since they arrived with just a small parcel and the cloths they stood up in . I had to move into my parents bedroom and the boys had the landing room .

They stayed with us for 2 years and were no trouble . Their parents visited them about every 6 weeks . I recall them receiving parcels of dried salted fish wrapped in cardboard — the smell was terrible , and was probably responsible for putting me off fish , but mother was a cook and could always make a meal out of nothing .

When Douglas was 15 he had a job locally and was earning good money and on one occasion when his father came to visit and learnt that he was earning money he decided to take him back home , but did not want to take Gordon . My father said that when they arrived they could not be split up , so either both went or both stayed . They left us and I think there was only limited contact with them after that .

I remember that there was a searchlight in the field opposite and also about 20 anti-aircraft guns . Every night the searchlight would pick out the German bombers and the guns and our fighters would attack them . They would occasionally bring their shirts to my mother to be ironed and she also cooked Sunday lunch for them once a month and in return they would play football , cricket , rounders and lots of other games with me and my friends . The soldiers frequented the Red Lion pub , leaving one man on guard by the road to check if the Sergeant Major was coming to inspect . If this happened they had time to get back to their positions . However the presence of the soldiers always made you feel safe .

My father was in the Home Guard , and I was always terrified of his rifle . He always went off on Patrols every Tuesday .

In 1942 I started work at Southams and Tanners in Shrewsbury — beer and wine merchants — my job was usually filling the rum bottles . I used to cycle in and started going in for 06-30 in order to earn an extra 2/- so that I could go to an other dance .

It was on one of these early mornings that I experience the most terrifying moment of the war . There was a POW camp at nearby Habberley , and down the lane a POW came out in front of me and in broken English asked where the nearest village was . To this day I still freeze when I pass that spot .

I also recall standing in the garden one day when a glider came over and landed in a field near by . It was probably one of the Horsas that were operating out of the north Shropshire airfields of Sleap and Tilstock in preparation for D-Day and Arnhem .

There were regular dances in the local village halls of Longdon , Stapleton , Dorrington , Condover and also at Morris’s in Shrewsbury . With the RAF based at nearby Condover , there was always lots of young men at the dances , but since Condover was a training camp they only stayed for about 6 weeks . There were many Nationalities based there as well as the British , including men from Australia , New Zealand , India , Poland and Canada .

The sky’s were always full of planes , since there was also a USA airfield at nearby Atcham . On one occasion in 1943 I remember watching an aircraft taking off from Condover and then saw a plane coming from Atcham towards it , and was horrified to see them collide in mid air and explode . At a dance in Stapleton a few days later I talked to some Condover RAF men who told me that the pilot was only 19 years old .

Life at this time was like a rollercoaster , with much pleasure from dances , but the despair from the loss of life and the taking of POW’s .

One very warm memory was that at the monthly dances at Longdon , a coach load of troops from St. Dunstans in nearby Church Stretton always attended . Their spirits were wonderful .

When working , soldiers from the nearby Nestcliffe camp used to come frequently for a beer supply and always brought POW’s with them . One young POW always spoke to me , and on one occasion I gave him a sandwich which I didn’t want . When they had gone , Mr Tanner called me over and told me not to fraternise with the enemy .

With very little war activity in the area , life was very enjoyable and going on the boats on the River Severn in Shrewsbury was great fun .
Later in the war the local villages formed ladies football teams and I played as left — half for Longdon Common . We played regular matches against Hanwood , Longdon , and Pontesbury . With so many troops in the area we always had good attendances , and raised sufficient money to give all the local boys returning from the war £ 45 each .

I spent VE Day dancing in the square in Shrewsbury , which was an experience on its own .

Life seemed quite dead now in comparison , with the skies empty of aircraft after all those years .

I had three uncles in the war , all of whom survived , although one of them died young as a result of his war service , and my grandfather threw a party to welcome them home and also invited all the other local men who were on leave . One of them was Tony Morris who was having to use a small brown jug for his beer since there were not enough glasses to go around and he called me over to have a drink from his jug — it just went on from there — he became my husband .

I had known Tony from before the war , having met him during 1942 when he and my Uncle were home on leave awaiting embarkation . I had just had my photograph taken and gave a copy to my Uncle and Tony said he would also like one .

He carried it throughout the war and I still have that picture .

Unfortunately Tony died last year , but I am submitting his wartime experiences as a member of the Royal Artillery , in a separate document — The actions of a Royal Artillery soldier during the Italy campaign .

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