大象传媒

As I said in 'The Beginning' Part One, I was six when World war Two broke out and I was living in Saddleworth, and I have many fleeting memories of this time. Just above a hill where the Soap works was situated, there was a slight plateau, and a small Bedford truck used to position itself at the top of this rise. There were generally in the cab, and sometimes equipment in the back of the truck.

One particular day it was raining 'Cats and Dogs', and we trudged up the hill and approached the truck. The soldiers, although looking old to us, were round about eighteen years old, and were really 'kids'themselves, but were about to age rapidly as the war progressed. When we got to the truck we jumped on the running board and spoke to them. They were quite happy and amiable, but still the rain poured down and all of a sudden one of the soldiers hit the canvas roof of the vehicle on the inside with his arm, and we got soaked as the rain water gathered there catapulted over us. But it was worth it, for they gave us some of their chocolate.

These soldiers were part of a searchlight unit close by, and at night we used to go hunting for disused carbon rods that they used on the light. My brother told me I would be shot if I got caught. As I never was, it is impossible to say whether they would have shot me or not. I was always being threatened with summary execution.

As the days turned into months and the war started to gain momentum, the searchlight battery was moved on to more dangerous areas of the country. the rumour was that they were to be moved on to France, but my Father doubted it, and he was usually in the know.

The Land Defence Volunteers had started up, and it was a salutary sight to see a group of local who we all knew, marching up and down the roads in their 'mufti' with planks of wood over their shoulders. A fat chance they would have had against the 'Hun' who had the weapons we'd seen at the 'Pathe News at the local cinema. Their 'Arm Bands' and 'Chunks' of wood would have done little to save them, but they were defiant.

Our mothers were more circumspect and their worry showed. It was a frightening thing to hear ones mother talk of fighting the Germans with pitch forks and garden forks.

A few months after the formation of the LDV, my father became responsible for weapons being gathered from the populace. These included 'Knobkerries', 'Assegais', railings with points on the end, air rifles and the occasional 0.22 rifle. These weapons were brought to our house and then moved on.

Eventually, with the movement of the LVD to the 'Homeguard', and the addition of uniforms and eventually 0.303 rifles, this unit took on a whole new look and slowly formed into the 'People's Army of Defence'.

By this time, my father was a Weapons Training Officer with the rank of Captain, and now the war began to really excite me and elder brother. The Army brought new weapons to the house, one was a Thompson Sub-machine gun, the kind used by the underworld in America. 'What Excitement!' There were Boody Traps, Pistols, and my father had his own revolver, a 0.38 Colt. I could just about hold it and I tended to cut my fingers on the sharp ridges on the outside of the barrel.

One night my father came home, and had the shock of his life as he entered the lounge, to see me playing with a bottle. Nobody had told me it was a Molotov Cocktail Bomb.

The war began to gather pace and fathers and brothers disappeared to later appear in uniform. the young sisters went into the Land Army or, if already in a job, migrated into the ARP. It was here they met the older men who were either too old, in a reserved occupation, or were unfit for the Army and hadn't joined the 'Homeguard'. There was also the 'Observer Corps'. My brother, who was too young for the Forces was allowd to join the 'Homeguard as a messenger'.

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