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Robert was born on 24 May 1935. He was over 4 when war broke out. He was living in Chester St, Swinton. There were 4 in the family. He had a sister and parents. His first memories were at school. He had moved to Moorside Road to live with his grandma with his mother and sister. His father was in the army. His first memories were of his father going into the army and when he came home on leave with his uniform on and his rifle. When he started school he had to carry his gasmask. They had gasmask exercises at school. At the sound of a whistle they had to put them on. There were gas masks for babies. The gas mask made you warm when on. They always had to carry them. When he went to the pictures with his grandma she took a torch which she shone on the ground. All the windows were blacked out with black blinds.

During an air raid they went down to the air raid shelter. When he moved to his grandma’s in Moorside Road, it was opposite Holyrood Church and they would go into the basement of the church, into the cellars. Sat-Sun they moved back to Chester St to air the house. In the garden there was a brick built shelter. Going to the shelter in the Church you could hear the bombs dropping. They made a screaming noise. He was too young to be frightened. There were many bombs in the surrounding area of Manchester. In Moorside Road there is a Methodist Chapel and a street called Chapel Road. There were little cottages 50 yards from the Chapel. He had a friend in the cottages who had moved up from London to Swinton to be safe from the bombing. One night a bomb fell into the cemetery of the Church 50 yards from his house. That was ironic. Bob was not in the shelter that night because his aunt had just had a baby and they were sheltering under the table and under the stairs. Bob was sat on the end of the bed and the bomb made such a screeching noise, Bob passed out. They were 6-7 miles from Manchester. No-one was hurt. It was the nearest bomb. But in Chester St where they returned each weekend, there was a row of 4-5 terraced houses which got a direct hit but they were with their grandma at Moorside Road. When they returned at the weekend they saw the destruction. A bomb dropped also in Partington Lane. Several bombs dropped on Swinton during the war.

His father was a printer in Egypt stationed near Cairo. He printed ordinance and survey maps which almost daily became out of date since the advancement boundaries were changing all the time. They had cancelled all over. Mother received and sent letters. Every 6 weeks he used to send a box of sweets. He never came home on leave. He would go to Cairo and go shopping. One lot never arrived. It must have been sunk. He would give sweets to his friends. He would run errands in the hope of getting sweet coupons. The food was not bad. Would get slab fruit cake and a plain cake they called sawdust cake. His mother would make chocolate out of cocoa, sugar and milk. Got vegetables and a bit of meat. They used to buy fades from the greengrocers. They were apples which were just going off. They also used to chew liquorice root. They did not get oranges or bananas. They got everything in season. He had a vegetarian friend who got bananas. It was not like the banana shape but tasted like it. His friend got an extra cheese ration because they got no meat. They got eggs. It was meant to be a good diet. That people were on during the war. Miners got more meat because they used more energy. He remembers going to Skegness holiday camp in 1952-3 with friends and there were still rations. Certain things were still rationed. Mother would get extra shoe coupons because he qualified for men’s shoes. He didn’t wear long trousers to senior school. That was the fashion.

He would play in the woods with bows and arrows and played cricket, football and marbles. Listened to Tommy Handley on radio. Went bird nesting. Took birds eggs and blew out the middle. He an amateur ornithologist. Didn’t have many toys. Grandma took them to the pictures once a week.

Remembers the election after the war and he helped Mr Jones delivering leaflets for the Labour Party. He has been in contact with the Labour Party ever since. His wife is a councillor and he is a ward secretary. Remembers everyone being happy at the end of war. They had a big bonfire on the croft at the end of their house in Chester St. They lived Moorside Road during the week because his father thought it safer there. They moved back to Chester St c 5 months before end of war because things had quietened down. They had a big bonfire with pop and parkin, homemade treacle toffee, baked potatoes, chestnuts etc. They made an effigy of Hitler and sat him on a chair on top of the bonfire.

Not evacuated with the school — Moorside High School. There were Infants, Juniors and Senior School. Left school at 15. People were evacuated to Swinton, although there were 3 pits in Swinton.

Remembers the day his father came home. It was strange because they had not seen him for 5 years. They were more interested in what he brought back. He went back to his printers job. His mother worked at Cussons soap works down Agecroft. During the war she worked at Turners Asbestos for a while. And then elsewhere. She could work because her mother looked after the children. Her wages came in useful. He went into printing after school. His dad worked at the Co-op.

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