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15 October 2014
WW2 - People's War

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Under the stairs

by Blackpool_Library

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Archive List > Childhood and Evacuation

Contributed by听
Blackpool_Library
People in story:听
Brian Maxwell, Winifred Maxwell (mum), Edmund and Mary Waddams (Uncle and Grandmother)
Location of story:听
Liverpool
Background to story:听
Civilian
Article ID:听
A6226814
Contributed on:听
20 October 2005

Under the Stairs

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War website by Peter Quinn of Lancashire Home Guard on behalf of Brian Maxwell, and was added to the site with his permission by the staff of Blackpool Central Library.

I was nine years old in 1940. The first time the sirens went in anger nothing happened. It was just a reconnaissance flight 鈥 we all went under the stairs for protection. Later in the year all hell broke lose 鈥 wave after wave of bombers attacked the docks. We were under the stairs again in the little cubbyhole with the gas and electric meters. I had a little bed. Our cat, Tim, used to hide under the bed - in fact he used to go there before the sirens went! Cat logic ??

We lived in Greenbank Road in Wavertree. A bomb landed a few yards away but failed to explode. The local kids and I collected shrapnel from a house that was destroyed two streets away.

I remember the garage turning into an inferno, tracer shells proved a background as my uncle and I watched the blaze. Then we ran back into the house as the bombs started to fall. Crump! Crump! Crump!

I became a dab hand with a stirrup, but never had to put out a fire. After a few months of raids I became quite brave and opted to stay in my own bed.

The day after a raid I would attend school late and tell everyone: 鈥淚鈥檝e been up all night with the raid!鈥 In fact, I鈥檇 stayed in bed the whole night!

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