大象传媒

A near miss on 2nd July 1940

At the outbreak of World War II I was 9 years old and lived in The Avenue, Sheriff Hill, Gateshead and attended Carr Hill School.
Due to the expected bombing of the heavily industrialised Tyneside area, I was evacuated together with my sister to St Helens near Bishop Auckland, But as the bombing didn鈥檛 happen, after about 8 weeks we returned home, as did the vast majority of the evacuees.
While we were away Carr Hill School, which was a fairly modern building, and two stories high, had the lower floor level classrooms converted into an emergency hospital, first aid station and the area headquarters of the Street Fire Wardens.
Having a bicycle (lucky lad) I became a runner for the Street Fire Wardens for the Avenue and Millway which were adjoining streets. Very few people had a telephone in those days and it was assumed that the telephone system would be knocked out by the bombing when it started anyway.
My father was a long distance lorry driver and used to transport dangerous chemicals from ICI at Billingham and was regularly issued with an Armed Services type gas mask. As a consequence when I was on duty as a runner during an air raid, I was the envy of most and even had a 鈥渢in hat鈥� supplied by ICI, but back to the plot 鈥�
As a result of half of our school being requisitioned, the 鈥淐arr Hill Boys鈥� had to share a school with Shipcote School, which resulted in each doing half a day, mornings one week, afternoons the next 鈥� which suited us fine!
One lunch time (we must have been on mornings that week) Fred Brown and I were making our way home, on Old Durham Road, when we arrived at the Avenue, where I lived, and stopped and got talking about whatever young boys talked about 鈥� most probably the latest war stories and there were plenty. I recall when we heard about Spitfires on the Wireless that Fred and I drew an aerial combat scene in our art lesson the next week. The British Spitfires were belching flames at the German aircraft, who were naturally being shot down and slaughtered in large numbers by our hitherto secret weapon! Such was the imagination of two 10 year old boys.
As Fred and I stood at the junction of the Avenue and Old Durham Road our attention was drawn to an aircraft. It was a type we hadn鈥檛 seen before, and we knew all our own planes. As we watched it circled around then dived down to the north end of the High Level Bridge, about twice, then on the third circuit we saw a small object drop from the plane, followed by a loud explosion. The plane then headed towards South Shields and the coast. We headed for home quick!
Tyneside being the industrial area it was with numerous shipyards and ammunition factories (my mother worked at Vickers Armstrong on the TVTE 4th Avenue Shell making factory) situated mainly along the riverbank. Many of them had their own anti-aircraft guns manned by the workers.
These anti-aircraft defences, were operative within a very short period of time after the explosion, firing at the plane as it made its way to the coast. At the top of Lobley Hill Road, somewhere near the West end of Oakfield Road, was an anti-aircraft gun manned by the Army, and I recall that whenever it was fired, the doors and windows despite being 3-4 miles away always rattled in our house.
Soon 鈥淏ig Bertha鈥� as this gun was known locally, opened up and after only a few shots got the plane just as it was passing over the coast at South Shields. It crashed into the sea 鈥� not bad marksmanship for a target 12-13 miles away!
Had the pilot been on target with his bomb, and hit what at the time was the biggest railway crossing in the world, at the north end of the High Level Bridge, just to the East of Newcastle Central Station, he would have caused mayhem as everything heading for Scotland would have had to be rerouted up the West coast line. As it was all that he damaged was Spillers Flour Mill, immediately West of the bridge. I believe the site is still levelled off and unused except as a car park.
The reason the pilot got so far without being challenged was that the plane was French with French insignia on the wings and fusilage it being just after Dunkirk. However he paid the price.
I don鈥檛 recall any other aircraft raids during daylight hours but there were quite a number of night raids and in one of those Gateshead East Cemetery got a direct hit, as did a house off Sunderland Road, where I believe a family was killed.
Memories!

Eric Dyke

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