大象传媒

"THE MEMORIES" continued

The memories of Ernie Hulme
I was at school until 1944, and lived in a remote village in Cumberland. My first memory of the war was when I was travelling by bus from Cumberland to Oldham on the day following the big blitz on Manchester (December 1944). I was appalled by the devastation in the city centre. The following night, a V2 bomb fell 3 doors away from my cousin鈥檚 house, and he was trapped in a sash window while trying to leave the house. He couldn鈥檛 get out of the doors, because they had been destroyed. Fortunately, he escaped uninjured.

The memories of F.J. Coleman
Blackout, no petrol 鈥� only allowed a little to get me to work as I was in a reserved occupation. Joined L.D.V. after which was called Home Guard.
Duty at night and then worked half-a day.
In 1941 I got married then we had the get the ration books changed. If you were in with the little shops you could get a little bit on the side. We had to do Guard Duty at night in our local platoon in Warmington. I was on duty at Oundle Drill when the gliders went over; we used to have a shield over our headlamps on the car.
We used to pick blackberries to make jam and wine and other fruits.
I remember a Lancaster on its鈥� way home 鈥� caught fire and crashed near Bullock Road, all the crew died. At the works we got an extra ration of cheese and tea, and a pork pie from Melton Mowbray at half-price. Clothes were one of the worst things, we were very lucky, and we had a good family to help us out. I got my working boots from work 鈥� they were safety boots.
We were able to get a cricket match now and again. It was a job to get refreshments but we managed. Blackout was one thing the local wardens were very keen on. The local pubs used to run out of beer 鈥� with the Yanks in the area it was a job to keep the supply! Sweets were on ration and oranges and bananas.
One air crash happened one afternoon 鈥� there was about six of us when 3 Blenheim aircraft flew over when Brian Atkins said they were going to crash and lo and behold they did. Two did die, they were young pilots training. I never complained about working long hours for I knew I could go to bed sometime.

The memories of P. Murphy
On the Sunday when war was declared, mother couldn鈥檛 stop crying because her eldest son was already in the RAF. It was a very sad day and as a result we all went to mass to pray. I have happier memories of my sisters enjoying the dances and the parties at the military bases. I also have many solemn memories of military funerals in the local area鈥檚 graveyards. The saddest thing is that many young lives were lost.

The memories of Trevor Bowering
Joining the RAF, North Africa and Italy. BEF 1943. Trained at Blackpool. Service in Wales and Southend before going abroad.

The memories of Mrs H. M. Robson
The family lived in Huddersfield (Yorkshire). I was only 7 years old when the war started, and we had to have our gas masks at the ready. If there was an air raid we had to go into our cellar and wait for the all clear. No bomb was dropped in Huddersfield, but many were dropped in Sheffield. The railings at our house were taken away to be used for making ammunition. My mother and father had 5 children. My eldest sister was a nurse, my brother was in the army, and another sister was a warper making fabric. My other sister was a dressmaker, while I went to school.

The memories of Mr Reginald Weldon
I remember the rationing books. I also remember the bombs dropping on Peterborough. I also remember travelling on the train and bus.

The memories of Mrs. Violet Belson
I was only six years old, but remembered going under the stairs when the sirens sounded, later I remembered the gas masks we had to take them to school in the cardboard boxes. Then going out into the air shelters as they were ready, one of my sisters used to knit socks and scarves for the forces. I used to go with her to collect wool from the Elwes Hall.

The memories of Mrs. Crumpler
I remember because my fianc茅 was in the war for six years 鈥� later in 1945 my husband. We lived in a Public House and we saw a lot of the faces some that were stationed nearby, some Americans who wrote to us when they luckily went home, as they did not forget us.
I remember the German planes going over our house droning on to Coventry 鈥� one or two bombs were dropped nearby. We used to go down in the cellar until the all clear was sounded. Of course we were rationed and issued with coupons for clothes. I did not have any coupons for my Bridesmaids dresses so they were borrowed.

The memories of Sylvia Fillingham
I was just eleven years old in September 1939 so really spent the war years growing up. We lived in a public House so remember many Allied Service Men. The Blitz of course affected everyone although not much happened here, I remember being taken down our cellar every time the sirens sounded and rushed to the shelter in the middle of lessons at school. Our classes were suddenly doubled with evacuees who were obviously very nervous if there was noise during a raid.
The rationing and shortages I remember well as do we all, but the women of the day were wonderful and soon learned to make cakes etc without fat.
But years rolled on and people we knew were killed and injured, how often we said, 鈥淲hen will it end?鈥� After six long years it did but what a celebration was made. Never to be forgotten.

The memories of C.J. Harris
I remember these years as I was working in a factory, which was the Peterborough Die-casting Company for three years; then I was sent to the British 鈥� Thompson-Houston Company for the rest of the war years. I was blowing glass valves that were used to go in the submarines.

The memories of Mrs. Pauline Holmes
路 The groan of parents and neighbours talking about the announcement of the war starting.
路 How awful it was when evacuees arrived in hometown of Godmanchester.
路 Seeing the aircraft taking off from RAF Wyton and their formations, their return with lots missing and even engines missing on some planes.
路 American convoys parking opposite our houses and giving us rations 鈥� chocolates etc.
路 Sharing our house with adult evacuees from London.
路 Coming home from school each time a siren blasted 鈥� we could have stayed in school but I wanted to be with my mother if the Germans bombed us.
路 Father in the Home Guard.
路 Knitting socks and scarves for the troops.
路 Collecting paper and silver paper for the war effort and acorns and conkers for pet food.
路 Blackout wardens knocking on the door if they saw a chunk of light.

The memories of Geoff Smith
School in the early days was held in people鈥檚 houses 鈥� about ten in each house.
During the Blitz in Sheffield many people were killed in the city-centre.
My father was president of a motorcycle club, he was asked by an Army Colonel to form a motorcycle squad for the Home Guard. He went to the meeting as Mr. Smith and came out as Lieutenant Smith! Our house became the Armoury with rifles, ammunition and uniforms plus petrol in the garage. My Mother became the Quarter Master.

The memories of Beryl Porter
One Thursday afternoon, it was my half-day off from work, I was helping my mother fold the washing which we had just fetched in from the line in the garden, and all of a sudden we heard a plane going over and it was machine gunning down the street, we just put our arms around one-another it was so scary. A girl of Johnson who lived in the street was hit in the leg.

I also remember another time they tried to bomb the last station, but hit the swimming pool. We used to hear the German planes going over when the sirens went off, That鈥檚 when they were going to bomb Coventry, and on the news next we heard they had bombed there.

We were very lucky here in Peterborough. I met a girl who came to Peterborough to live, because they were bombed in London, lost everything. We became good friends and they never went back to London after the war.

It was hard being rationed, I often wonder how we managed when we think about it now 鈥� but we got through.

The memories of Michael Kettle
Although I wasn鈥檛 born until 1940, I can just remember the sirens going off and my mother would get me up and put me in my siren suit and carry me to the Shelter. This was lit by candles. My brother who was in the Air Force would come home on leave from time to time usually accompanied by other crewmembers from overseas. I can remember his 21st Birthday party 鈥� at home of course. Our Mum, Dad and Gran, also Aunts and Uncles and his young lady Peggy who is now his wife. I am pleased to say both of them still alive. He is 80 and Peggy now 79.

It is not generally known but on the road from the A47 to Newborough there is a long rectangular pond on the left hand side of the lane. This was actually dug before the war to bury the dead from the City of Peterborough. It was never used, as no major air raids were mounted against Peterborough despite most of the engineering factories being engaged in war work.

On the night I was born 鈥� 28th May 1940; the Swimming Pool (Lido) was bombed and part of the bus park, which in those days was situated in Bishops Road, where the Crown Court now stands. It was thought they were trying to cripple the Railway System. Very little damage actually occurred, two houses one in London Road just over the Peacock Bridge and one in Burghley Road.

The Cathedral had quite a few incendiary bombs dropped on the roof, which was served by American Airman from Alconbury. To this day an American flag hangs in the cathedral in recognition of their efforts.

LIME TREES by Will Todd

Having been born in 1931, people in our class would have been fourteen years old when the Second World War ended. Therefore we were unable to take an active part in it because we were only about eight years old when it started.

This lack of years however, did nothing to dampen our interest in it all. We were well able to read. We had fathers, Uncles, even Brothers out there playing their part in 鈥榯he War Effort,鈥� and we wanted to know all about it. We heard about the many famous ships by their triumphs or their disasters and we could name many of the famous battles. We knew in which part of the world the unit was with our relatives and how they were fairing, so we kept up to date with it all.

On the Home Front, we had air raids, heralded by the local siren, causing everyone to scramble to a place of safety, in a Shelter, under the stairs or even under a table. There were one or two enemy bombs nearby planes searching for the Rail marshalling Yards at March; this was one of the main places of strategic interest to the enemy in this area.

Many of us were good at plane spotting. We could pick out the various aeroplanes, both theirs, and ours by sight or sound, firmly convinced that we never; because of our position here in the Fens, could come remotely close to any of them. That is until 0200 hours on 5th March 1943 when war was brought uncomfortably close to us. A Wellington bomber was limping back to base, possibly somewhere in Lincolnshire and had reached the village of Coates. It was evidently loosing height fast and passing over the Village Green from east to West and was set to plough into the Carpenter鈥檚 Arms public house, the Post Office and at least one other house either side of these. Needless to say there would have been many lives lost.

Now on Coates Green there was, and still are, a number of very large Lime Tress dotted around the green and one of them stands by the main road and thirty yards short of the Pub and Post Office. The Wellington pancaked onto the top of this, causing it to twist and bounce over the buildings. Its next bounce was on top of a single house, two hundred yards farther on, on the left hand side of the main road. It then broke into pieces and finished up in the field beyond. This gives an idea of the momentum of the plane and what may have happened but for the tree.

Unfortunately it demolished the house and killed Sid and Phyllis Fletcher, their young son Donald and a family friend Margery King who were mercifully asleep at the time. And all the aircrew except one, Pilot Officer Arthur Jackson.

A young friend and I on hearing the reports about this incident decided to visit Coates and see it for ourselves. I was ten years old at the time and Brian was eight and we were certainly not supposed to be wandering this far from home but curiosity got the better of us and we began what we believed would be a short walk to Coates. After a while we approached Eastrea and were pleased to think we were getting to where we wanted to be. A quick look round we could find nothing that resembled a plane crash here, so we decide to press on a bit further.

Soon the next village came in sight and it was as if we had walked to the end of the earth, but we found what we were looking for, mainly due to the many sight seers gathered around the place 鈥� now a week after the crash. By this time most of the plane wreckage had been removed from the scene showing the extent of damage to the house. All that was left was the ground floor up to the bedroom floors. In fact it was some time before I was convinced it had been a house and not a bungalow. Everything above the bedroom floors was gone.

We saw for ourselves the tree that the plane had bounced upon to throw it over the buildings. But for this Lime Tree the Wellington Bomber would have demolished many more than the one building with the untold loss of life. Even Pilot Officer Jackson might not have escaped.

This was part of our war. Thankfully it was no worse.

The memory of my teenage years 鈥� Joy Gray
My husband and a friend鈥檚 boy friend both stationed at Lewes Sussex had on Thursday just returned there after ten days embarkation leave. The following Saturday we two na茂ve teenagers had the mad idea of going to see them one more time before they left England. We got it at Brighton
which at that time was a restricted area and when the air raid warning sounded we were promptly arrested and taken to the Police Station to be asked one hundred and one questions. I lied and said Les knew we were coming and had arranged digs for the night for us 鈥� they then rang
the barracks and luckily for us Les fell in with my story. He came with an Army pal in a Bedford truck with a big WD on the back to pick us up.

We were then told we would have to spend the night in the Army camp way out on the Sussex Downs 鈥� we girls would never have found it and would probably have had to spend the night under a blackberry bush! It was to me quite exciting getting past the guards at the gate. Both our men were sergeants at the time and were sleeping two to a small hut. We cautiously got inside while the men went to sleep in the Boiler house. We had strict orders not to open the door to anyone, as the Officers Huts were opposite. In the morning they would give three knocks.

We got into the men鈥檚 hard army beds and eventually fell asleep but half way through the night we both woke up desperately wanting the loo. Daren鈥檛 go outside and we were bursting. In the corner was a tall white enamel bucket half full of what appeared to be clean water. We took it in turns to use this as a loo squatting on the edge. I went back to bed.

In the morning the men came back 鈥� took off their shirts and promptly washed themselves in what was the bucket. We then were smuggled out of the camp, put on a train and arrived home very hungry.

Years afterwards I told Les what had happened, he said
鈥淚 wondered why I developed such a nice complexion.鈥�

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.