大象传媒

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I was working in Birmingham in 1940 and was staying in digs with a friend. One night we decided to stay in the front bedroom instead of going to the shelter as it was so damp in there. So myself and George slept in the front bedroom and the landlady and her daughter slept downstairs. Halfway through the night I suddenly woke up, and looking up, could see the stars - a bomb had been dropped on the back half of the house, also on the house next door and also on the shelter. It had blown the stairs away so me and my friend had to jump down onto the rubble. It was very lucky for us as we survived by not going into the shelter but unforunate for two young lads next door as they had been killed in the shelter. We were all taken to a local school but I didn't feel comfortable as I was still in my pyjamas!! So I went back to the house to find some clothes. When I got back to the house, the police were already there. But they weren't there because of the bomb - they were investigating the theft of the electric meter which had occurred in that short space of time! I then came home to Chesterton for a short while. Then I went back down to Birmingham but there was no accommodation. Eventually I found a place sharing an attic with six other men. It had no electricity. We each had a candle. I then moved on to my Auntie's friend's house who said I could stay there but I found myself sleeping between two men I had never met before. I then found other digs but the landlady had our ration books off us. I was on the noon shift so the lads who were on the day shift had most of the food and what was left was paltry.
I then returned to the milehouse and began work at what we know as Rists factory but then it was called BSA Guns. I worked on the 20mm cannon for the Spitfire.
I was then offered another job in Stoke at a converted garage and it was all very secret. It turned out I was working on the 40mm cannon because the 20mm cannon could not penetrate German tanks wereas a 40mm cannon could. This had to be carried by the Hurricane as it was too heavy fo the Spitfire. This was only short term as an experiment and then we went back to making the 20mm cannon. In about 1943, the factory was taken over by Rolls Royce to make components for the jet engine but at this time my eyes deteriorated so I went on to build the jet engine. It would take three full shifts to make one engine. Then, in about 1947, my brother who lives in Toronto, said he'd seen a picture of me building a jet engine in a periodical but I never saw this. However, many years later, in about 1986, there was an article in our local paper, the Sentinel, about Rolls Royce and the picture it showed was the one of me with the jet engine.

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