大象传媒

11 November 2005

Mr. Broadley told me that he was ten years old when war was declared, and he lived in Hull with his parents and stepbrothers. He was evacuated to, and he was the only child not claimed at the end of the allocation process. The WVS lady took him to a large house on the outskirts of Homcastle. The lady of the house was not best pleased, but her husband was very kind. When the couple sat for meals, they ate in a large dining room with a long table. The couple sat at one end with their children and the evacuee was allowed to sit at the other end. At breakfast the family had toast with jam or marmalade served in little dishes. The evacuee got the empty jars so he had to scrape them out.

Being of a musical turn, he was caught playing the piano one day. However, much to his surprise the man of the house was so impressed he told him he would arrange for him to have organ lessons from the church organist.

However, Mr Broadley was not at all happy with the family, but he did learn a lot of swear words from the privately educated children of the house!

One day he managed to escape to the post office and tried to send a telegram to his parents to come and reclaim him. However, the kindly postmistress suggested he went back to the house where he was billeted. He stayed three to four weeks and then was allowed to go home. His father collected him in his car, a Ford 8, which had the spare wheel fastened to the back. He was allowed to use this as he installed Gun Emplacements, so was on war work. On the way home, at Louth, they were stopped by a policeman. To Mr. Broadley Senior's relief, this was because another evacuee had managed to cling on to the spare wheel unknown to Mr. Broadley. He was rescued by the policeman and returned to his billet.

On his return to his home, Mr. Broadley returned to Endyke Lane School.. He joined the Air Raid Wardens' Messenger Boy Service. (At the age of about 12, the official age was 16). This meant he ran messages for the Air Raid Wardens, if help was needed after a raid.

At about 15 to 16 years of age, by now working at Harland's Printers, he became a Fire Watchman. At this time the Germans began to change the design of the Magnesium Bombs (Incendiary) by putting on an extra piece containing explosive. This was more dangerous and also made the fire spread further.

Mr. Broadley's home was bombed three times, and during the second raid he was injured in the head and taken to hospital. He needed surgery and lost the hearing in his right ear. During his stay in Hull Royal Infirmary, he met up with an old school chum, who worked as a porter. In later years, this friend joined the Army and was killed in Korea. His sister was in the WRAF and was decapitated by an aeroplane propeller. Following surgery Mr. Broadley was transferred to Driffield Hospital where he spent the next two and a half years. He remains deaf in his right ear.

On his return to Hull he was involved in a Scheme called Bin in Eight, this meant every eighth house had a bin to collect waste, separate bins for different types of waste. Mr. Broadley was detailed to go around with stencils and paint to identify the type of waste to be put in each by stencilling on the bin. Some ladies were not too happy to have their dustbins used for this scheme. Only Mr Broadley and his pal from Endyke Lane School volunteered for this task. The school was also the headquarters of the A.R.P. and did receive an Incendiary bomb through the roof, but fortunately this was before the explosives were used in the bombs.

Mr. Broadley was also involved in a savings scheme set up, he thinks, through the National Savings Movement, but may have been linked to The Yorkshire Penny Bank, he received a medal for this, it was made of cardboard but he still treasures it.

Mr. Broadley told me about the carnage caused when the Prudential Building was bombed. The staff were sheltering in the basement cafeteria. There were no survivors and the basement was sealed off with all the causalities remaining there. Apparently a public shelter on Holderness Road also received a direct hit and there were no survivors, again the shelter was sealed off.

Towards the end of the war Mr. Broadley was working for Ellam's Duplicating Company. He was taught to repair duplicating machines and typewriters. He would travel as far as Saltbum in North Yorkshire, by train. He stayed with a council worker and his family overnight. The work was for the Council. However, the Youth Employment Agency heard of this, and he was forbidden to go again, as he was considered too young. He also went to RAF Watton, and the young servicewomen teased him. In the end the teasing was so bad, his boss had to go with him to protect him!

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Reorded by R. Berriman
Transcribed by Alan Brigham, Hullwebs.co.uk

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