大象传媒

My parents owned a Commercial Hotel in Leicester called the Belgravia. When the war started I was only 4. The night of the Leicester blitz I remember being in the cellar of the hotel along with several of the customers and bombs dropping all around shaking the walls. When the all clear sounded half the road had gone and several of our neighbours had been killed. That night the town centre was devastated and still burning. Close to us on the Humberstone Road a bomb had dropped on a flour factory and all the houses were white. The public bar part of the hotel was always full of servicemen on leave. My parents befriended two paratroopers of the 1st Battallion, Geoff and Mac. They became friends for life, but since my parents have died I've lost touch.

They used to phone at all times of the night and say to mother "Maud we are at the station put the pan on". She would get up and cook them a large fry up (mainly chips). She mothered many a serviceman as my brother was in the air force, so they all became her sons and even their mothers used to write to us.

When the Americans arrived we were never short of tinned fruit, jam or spam, it all arrived in 7lb tins and I had an endless supply of chewing gum and "Oh Henry" bars also Batman Comics which I wish I had now. Mac was captured at Arnhem and when he was liberated he climbed the flag pole and brought the German Swastika flag down. We had it in our smoke room at the hotel and charged 6d for customers to wipe their feet on it - all proceeds to the Red Cross. My war was fun being so young, to me it was all a game.

Janet Hutt (nee Taelis)

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