大象传媒

My Dad, Leslie Redman, who was a young boy when war was declared, has some vivid memories: 'with food rationed as it was, meals were over quite quickly. We youngsters headed for the streets for as long a playtime as possible after tea, knowing that the sound of the warning sirens would almost certainly be heard before the night was through. this would mean disturbed sleep and a shattered feeling at school the next day, if we were able to go, after spending a freezing couple of hours in our Anderson. In fact this proved a lifesaver for us on the night of January 3, 1941, when the longest air raid involving Bristol took place. It was one of the coldest nights on record when wate from the firemen's hoses froze solid almost as it was directed on to the burning building within the city. As a typical night in January, it became dark very early and my younger sister June and I were soon tucked up in our beds in the hope of getting some sleep before the almost guaranteed trip to the shelter. soon the stomach churning sound of the siren was to be heard and we were once again heading for our Anderson, which was situated about ten feet from our kitchen door. Very soon we were to hear the distinctive intermittent engine sound of German aircraft overhead as they circled the city, dropping incendiary bombs which, having exploded, would illuminate the target. This particular night they were aiming for the whole area from Temple meads to High St. This part of our city was almost completely destroyed during the longest raid on Bristol. As the raid was at its height we were just sitting in the shelter huddled up together praying that the raid would soon be over. I recall the sound of the German aircraft seeming to become much louder. Previously the sound made by the fins of the dropping bombs seemed to tail off into the spasmodic ear-shattering noise going on at the time as they targeted on the city, but the awful shrieking noise made by the bomb heading for us was heart-stopping and I will never forget it. My mother just had time to say to my father, "Albert, come away from there!" when the sound made by the bomb increased. It was like that made by the shrieking whistle of a train as it thunders through a station with you stood on the edge of the platform unable to move. this was immediately followed by a deafening explosion in conjunction with a sun-bright yellow and purple flash of light. The shelter seemed to take off and there was the sound of breaking glass and falling masonry. My ears were singing with the sound of the explosio and I could faintly hear my father ask if we were okay, coupled with a few well chosen adjectives which aptly described the German race! the bomb landed close to a crossroads of houses, destroying three houses with a further five having to be pulled down due to structural damage. it killed six people (five in the same family who lived next door to us and directly opposite) one of whom was a firewatcher standing on the corner of the street. I thought that I could hear water dripping but it turned out to be blood from my father's head, where a piece of shrapnel was embedde, dropping on to a box. Soon after this the all clear sounded and my father walked to the garden gate to find that his Commer van with meat in it had disappeared. It was subsequently discovered about 300 yards away, still on its wheels, with shrapnel holes in the sides, but still workable!

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