大象传媒

Soldiers training in Lancashire

Little Hulton, Lancashire, a village strung out along the A6 a few miles north west of Manchester was not the centre of much WW2 excitement though I remember spending several cold wet nights in the Anderson shelter in the back garden during air raids on Manchester. The man who lived behind us was the talk of the neighbourhood because he refused to take shelter during raids, but would stand at the kitchen door watching events. He was probably in more danger from the pieces of antiaircraft gun shrapnel than from German bombs. Shrapnel was a favourite 鈥渢rophy鈥� for us kids and we picked them up in streets and gardens.

In childhood it is always summer or winter, and it was warm summer (spring 1944?) when we kids found a new game. Soldiers started to train about a mile south of our homes - very exciting for seven year olds. The soldiers might have been American but older men all seem the same to kids, so I am unsure of their nationalities.

One group would start their excercise to the east of the A5082 on the edge of Madam鈥檚 Wood where there were a few trenches. Their objective was to advance west, keeping the railway on their left, and attack another force who started half a mile away. The first obstacle was the road which was elevated ten or twelve feet above the land - but we local kids showed these young soldiers how to 鈥渃ross鈥� the road by crawling through a stream鈥檚 culvert underneath. From here on it was a cinch - these soldiers - men? probably all of eighteen - took us on a guides and we had a great time showing them the 鈥渟ecret鈥� paths that we used in our games of Hide and Seek.

The only real problem was that other kids joined up with the 鈥渙ther side鈥� and they knew the lie of the land as well was we did!

I wonder if these guys found French kids to help them find the secret paths in Normandy after D-Day?

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