大象传媒

This story has been submitted to the People's War website by Liz Andrew of the Lancshomeguard on behalf of Alice Seed and added to the site with her permission.

I was twenty one when War broke out and I lived at my mum and dad's farm. Because he was producing food, my father was in a Reserved occupaton and didn't need to go to war. I used to work on the farm too - doing everything including the milking.from age of eleven I had to do it before I went to school in the morning and after I came back from school at night. I had a brother, John Hoyle, who was in the Forces and two sisters.

We had an evacuee - a little boy who wet the bed - but he didn't stay long and then we had two evacuees a boy and a girl. The boy had a problem with his ears and I used to clean them every day - he wouldn't let anyone else do it. The girl was trouble but I liked the boy. I remember once at the table he made some comment on the way my father drank with his moustache - but he got away with it!

My husband-to-be was a farmer and the only male in his family so he was exempt from service too. We had a wartime wedding - all we got for presents were tablecloths, towels and bedlinen! But I did have a proper wedding dress. We got the unfinished material, which was court satin, soaked it in water, washed it and then made it into the dress. We were married at Grindleton.

we lived at little dudlands, rimington. I remember seeing the bombs drop at Chatburn opposite. It was a Tuesday afternoon and my father was home from market and we saw a plane coming so low you could actually see the German pilot. If I'd had a gun, I could have shot him.

The plane circled round but he was too low for his target which was the mill. Lots of mills made munitions - although Chatburn Mill just made parachute material. He had to gain height before he dropped the bombs. I saw them dropping - just like two milk churns. They didn't hit the mill. They hit a house on Grindleton Road - on the other side from the mill. We were standing in front of our house and the blast made our windows shake. A lady and her dog were killed and the Post Office was damaged - the air was full of papers.

It was frightening at the time. Our men went over to see if there was anything they could do to help. Lord Haw Haw mentioned it on the Radio - boasting that the Germans had hit the mill - but they hadn't - they missed it.

We had Italian prisoners of war who lived with us. They slept in a hut in front of the house. When they went to bed they used to say "They're going to roost." They were called Alfredo and Pedro. Pedro had beautiful hair and when Dennis cut it, he wouldn't go out again until it had grown. They were beautiful dancers and they were allowed to go local dances. Alfredo had been a sailor and he could tell the weather by looking at the stars and the clouds. I remember him telling Dennis' uncle at haytiming that it was going to rain for the next three weeks!

They were part of the family. We never saw them after the war but I learnt a little Italian - " Me verdo in lette per dormire."

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