大象传媒

It was the beginning of the war and the Blitz on Birmingham had started.

We had an Anderson Shelter in the garden where all the family and some friends went when there was an air raid.

My eldest brother wanted to stay in bed one night and only came into the shelter to stop my mother from worrying.

A huge bomb dropped on the houses opposite, lots of the railings, bricks, slates from the roofs, landed on top of the shelter.

One of the large blocks of concrete landed on my brothers pillow just where his head would have been if he had not gone into the shelter.

All the windows in the house and the shop my father kept were blown out.

The firemen were called and jumped over the garage wall and my mother in shock thought the enemy had arrived.

The people who lived in the houses where the bomb made a direct hit, were down the cellar and still alive but the water mains were broken.

For many hours the firemen worked to get them out and just couldn't, the water flooded the cellar with them in and they were drowned. So sad and never forgotten. What made it worse was the fact the house was on the top of a hill and the water should have been able to run away.

My father who was on his way home from working nights was stopped at the end of his road and told he couldn't go any farther as the Edward's shop was hit. As this was his shop he went frantic and said nothing was going to stop him.

The devistation was bad enough but at least his family was safe.

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