大象传媒

Hidden History

Fifteen years ago a neighbour asked me to clear out the garden shed of her recently deceased husband.
Going into the shed was like stepping through a time warp, my old neighbour (Eddie was 84 when he died) had left footprints of his character, his life, his interests and hobbies encased in a small green wooden hut.
Books, magazines and newspaper articles going back to the 1930鈥檚 conveyed his diverse preoccupations in early plastics, photography, art, wax and wood modelling, calligraphy, marquetry, carpentry and home electrics, and also an early curiosity with the new trend towards D.I.Y. I was 40 years old at the time but many of the tools and equipment were a mystery to me, yet I could see that they were well used and cared for, instruments of a bygone era.
At the back of the old shed under heavy canvas, thickened with the oils and dust of decades I unearthed a long metal box. Although covered in filth and dead bugs the trunk was easily recognisable as the 鈥渇etch me some more ammo鈥� box that countless soldiers screamed for in T.V and war movies.
On washing the ammunition box I read the code B.167 - 1942 stamped into its green lid. Flicking back the clasps opened a time capsule that was surprisingly well preserved. Apparently Eddie had been a draughtsman /engineer by profession but he had also been a leading member of the Home Guard during World War 2. Mrs L told me to take the tools, books etc, as she knew I鈥檇 use, and respect them. These lay the foundation for my own Fortress of Solitude and turned me into a 鈥淪hed Man,鈥� with tins, jars and boxes of 鈥渂its鈥� that could mend Ceasars chariot or a NASA rocket.
A couple of days later Mrs L called me in and asked me to take the ammo box and its contents. The couple did not have any children of their own but they were fond of my two young daughters and she thought that the box might interest them and their school-friends in the future. Sadly Mrs L also died about a year later.
I am ashamed to say that after a perfunctory glance the box lay unopened in my shed for the next decade and a half .The 大象传媒鈥檚 Peoples War project prompted me to reopen the box and study its contents more closely. Again to my surprise the following contents were in excellent condition:The ammunition box contained:
Various maps in waterproof cardboard pouches with headings such as:
Second War Revision 1940 Sheet 36, Bolton and Manchester.
War Office books and information:
First Aid For Fighting Men: which includes information on carrying wounded men under fire.
Codebooks:
Instructions for Intelligence Officers, including procedures for the questioning of prisoners.
Personal notebooks and diaries:
Re: unit, field operations, lines of command and meetings.
War Office:
Field Service Pocket Books 1943-45 marked Restricted with 鈥淭his must not book fall into enemy hands鈥� or 鈥淣ot to be taken into frontline trenches鈥�
Finally I found an assortment of negatives, one of which a friend developed for me last week. As you can see from the photograph it is of troops embarking from Liverpool Lime Street Station with cheering crowds lining the pavements. I am sure my old neighbours would be pleased to think that part of their history and life added to the knowledge of following generations.

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