大象传媒

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During World War Two I experienced many changes. I remember the rationing and evacuation, the start and end of the war. However some of my most vivid memories from living in Newcastle Upon-Tyne are of bombs dropping. After the war I also married a Polish man. Benny told me stories of the war.
Although Newcastle was not a primary target there were many bombs dropped. When German planes had finished shooting targets and causing terrible destruction they would drop all of their remaining bombs before crossing back over to Germany. This reduced their weight and gave them a quicker journey home. As a result bombs would shower down randomly. I remember one being dropped on Manors鈥here the old Warner Brothers cinema is now. If Newcastle was ever bombed purposefully the main target was the quayside where there was major ship building companies at the time.
I can remember one particular night whilst staying with my grandparents in the village of Blucher. I had been evacuated there as a child. Suddenly the air raid sirens began to wail. Instead of running for cover most people rushed outside at stared up at the night sky to see what was happening. The spotlights shone high into the sky. A German plane was spotted and followed. It was soon shot down. I could clearly see the pilot ejecting and parachuting down to earth. It was very exciting. Everyone began to run to the next village, towards where the plane had come down. We got to a field where a plane was on fire. It soon exploded! No one seemed to realise the element of danger, the pilot would have been captured and taken to a Prisoner of War camp.
Another of my memories from the village of Blucher happened after I had moved back to Newcastle. I was visiting my grandparents again to say thank-you. There was an elderly man sitting outside the house. He was a POW who worked on nearby farms and who was made to deliver farm produce to people such as my grandparents. My grandmother had 3 sons in WW1 and understood the POW鈥檚 troubles. She was kind to him, and he often received a cup of tea. I sat next to him, he told me of his wife and family back at home. He was friendly.
I returned another day to find him sitting there again. He gave me a gift. He had made me slippers as I reminded him of his daughter. The slippers were terrible. I think they were made of some sort of straw. I remember them being heavy and clumsy but I appreciated them a lot. They were a lovely gift.
Later on after the war my 1st Husband, Benny spoke of his war experiences. We married in around 1948. As a Polish man he was a prisoner of war in a concentration camp. He spoke of how terrible the Nazis were. In fact the woman were worse. But there was a big contrast when it came to German citizens. Benny had escaped into Denmark where he had family. He had to get through Germany to get into Denmark, on his way many German farmers were helpful. They would feed and hide him for short amounts of time.
After some happy experiences and exciting things during the war, there are some memories that remind us of how much the war devastated people across the world.

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