大象传媒

JOHN F PARSONS
EVACUATION AND THE BLITZ.

SEPT 1939 17 NILE ST LIVERPOOL 1 AGE 8 YRS

THE AIR RAID SIRENS START WE ALL TROOP DOWN INTO THE LARGE DAMP CELLAR,
SLEPT ON A MATTRESS, NOTHING HAPPENED.

OCT 1939

EVACUATED TO ANGLESEY A BLACKSMITHS FARM ON A CROSS ROADS SOUTH WEST OF
GWALCHMAI, THEY ONLY SPOKE WELSH AND DRANK BUTTERMILK.EVENTUALLY MOVED
TO BODFFORD NR LLANGEFNI, ANGLESEY

SEPT 1940

RESCUED BY MY MOTHER, A TEACHER WHO HAD ALSO BEEN EVACUATED TO LOOK AFTER
SIX GIRLS, FROM TWO FAMILIES. I JOINED THEM AT LORD CLWYD鈥橲 CASTLE BRYNGWENALLT ABERGELE. A FABULOUS HOUSE AND GROUNDS IN NORTH WALES. DURING HOLIDAY PERIODS I WOULD TRAVEL TO LIVERPOOL TO BE WITH MY FATHER WHO
SUFFERED WITH ANGINA AND COULD ONLY WALK SHORT DISTANCES. NILE STREET WAS
VERY STEEP, ONE OF THE FIVE STREETS THAT RAN DOWN FROM THE CATHEDRAL MOUNT
TO ST GEORGES STREET.

MAY 1941

SPRING HOLIDAYS TOOK ME BACK TO LIVERPOOL A MORRISON SHELTER ( STEEL TABLE) WAS INSTALLED IN THE KITCHEN LIVING ROOM, MY FATHER SLEPT IN THE CORNER OF THE
ROOM HAD THE SHELTER. THE MAY BLITZ WAS THE MOST TERRIFYING AND EXCITING TIME
OF MY LIFE, NIGHT AFTER NIGHT 鈥�.WE WOULD LISTEN FOR THE TELL TALE PAUSE IN THE
MIDDLE OF A PROGRAMME ON THE WIRELESS, WITHIN A FEW MINUTES THE SOUND OF DISTANT SIRENS WOULD START, THEN THE NEARER ONES UNTIL THE WAILING SOUND FILLED
YOUR HEAD, AS THEY DIED DOWN THE SILENCE THAT FOLLOWED WAS EERIE鈥�..WE WOULD STRAIN OUR EARS FOR THE NEXT SOUND 鈥� SOMETIMES QUITE A WHILE, THEN IN THE
DISTANCE, THE THUD AND BOOM OF ACK ACK THEN THE DRONING OF HEAVY AIRCRAFT
LIKE A HEARTBEAT THROBBING LOUD THEN SOFT THEN LOUD AGAIN GETTING CLOSER THEN
EVERYTHING STARTED, ACK ACK AT THE TOP OF THE STREET, BOMBS DROPPING, WHISTLING
DOWN, CRUMP, CRASHING MASONRY AND SHRAPNEL ON THE LARGE TIN ROOF NEXT TO THE BACK GARDEN. THROUGHOUT IT ALL MY FATHER AND I NEVER SPOKE, EXCEPT THE ODD WORD 鈥淭HAT WAS A BIT CLOSE鈥濃��..AND THE WIRELESS PLAYED ON WITH CLASSICAL MUSIC.

DURING ONE RAID MY OLDER BROTHER AND I SET OFF BEFORE THE ALL CLEAR, TO SEE THE
BURNING CUSTOMS HOUSE JUST HALF A MILE AWAY DOWN PARK LANE, WE HAD GONE A SHORT DISTANCE WHEN AN AIRCRAFT FLEW LOW OVERHEAD AND WE HEARD MACHINEGUN
FIRE, THEY WERE FIREING AT THE RESCUERS. WE WENT HOME.
NEXT MORNING WE SAW THE BULLET HOLES IN VEHICLES AND BUILDINGS ADJACENT TO
NOW BURNT OUT SHELL OF THE MAGNIFICENT CUSTOMS HOUSE.

AS THE BOMBING GOT HEAVIER WE WOULD SLEEP IN THE SHELTER UNDER ST JAMES SCHOOL OR THE CATHEDRAL CRYPT.

1940 - 1943

APART FROM HAVING MY MOTHER AS MY TEACHER IN SCHOOL MY LIFE AT BRYNGWENALLT
WAS WONDERFUL. GOING TO THE BEACH AT PENSARN WATCHING LOW FLYING AIRCRAFT鈥�.
ANSONS, OXFORDS, HAMPDENS, WELLINGTONS, WHITLEYS, LYSANDERS, BOMBAYS, BOTHAS
MUSTANGS SO MANY DAY AFTER DAY.VISITS TO LIVERPOOL BECAME LESS EXCITING AS RAIDS EASED OFF AFTER 1941 I STOPPED COLLECTING SHRAPNEL.

SEPT - 1943

I LEFT ABERGELE TO GO TO THE ROYAL HOSPITAL SCHOOL HOLBROOK NR IPSWICH.
I WAS 12 YEARS OLD, HAVING TRAVELLED FROM NORTH WALES TO LIVERPOOL REGULARLY
SINCE I WAS AGED 8 IWAS NOW GOING MUCH FURTHER VIA LONDON TO SCHOOL.
THE SCHOOL ON THE RIVER STOUR WAS THE BEST PLACE TO BE TO WATCH THE MIGHTY EIGHT AIR FORCE FORMING INTO GROUPS BEFORE SETTING OFF TO BOMB GERMANY LATER IN THE DAY WE WOULD WATCH THEM RETURN .- SMOKE TRAILING FROM SOME, OTHERS WITH BITS MISSING.THE LANCSTERS WOULD SET OFF IN THE EVENINGS THEIR RETURN WAS ONLY HEARD FROM A WARM BED.

JUNE - 1944

D DAY WAS GREAT NEWS WE ALL TALKED ABOUT IT, A FEW DAYS LATER ON A WALK OUT FROM SCHOOL THROUGH THE COUNTRY LANES , WE HEARD A DEEP THROBBING SOUND 鈥�
SUDDENLY OUT FROM THE HIGH OVERCAST WE SAW A SMALL AIRCRAFT DIVE STRAIGHT INTO A FIELD HALF A MILE AWAY WITH AN ENORMOUS EXPLOSION鈥︹��..IT WAS THE FIRST OF THE V1 DOODLEBUGS. FOR THE NEXT NINE MONTHS LIFE AGAIN BECAME VERY EXCITING.
I SAW MANY V1S DAY AND NIGHT鈥︹�︹�T NIGHT THE TAIL FLAME MARKED THEIR PASSAGE THROUGH THE SKY WITH SHELLS EXPLODING ALL ABOUT THEM. IF THEY GOT HIT THEY WOULD BLOW UP鈥�..THE NOW VANISHED V1 STILL THROBBED IN THE SKY鈥HEN THE BANG
CAME, QUITE A TIME AFTER THE EVENT.

ONE MORNING LOOKING TO THE EAST JUST BEFORE SUNRISE I SAW A VAPOUR TRAIL CLIMBING AT A FANTASTIC SPEED THEN IT STOPPED THE WHITE CONTRAIL TWISTED AND SPREAD BY UPPER WINDS RESEMBLED A WIGGLING SNAKE鈥�.A SHORT TIME LATER ANOTHER ONE APPEARED, THEY WERE V2S BEING LAUNCHED FROM HOLLAND.

THERE WAS SADNESS WHEN I SAW THE BOMBED HOUSE WITH PEOPLE STILL TRAPPED BENEATH THE RUBBLE - CORNER HOUSE TOP OF WASHINGTON STREET DIRECTLY IN
FRONT OF THE CATHEDRALS MAIN ENTRANCE, ALSO A LARGE UNEXPLODED BOMB HALFWAY DOWN WASHINGTON ST ..I TRIED TO CLIMB ON IT , THE POLICEMAN TOLD ME
TO 鈥淐LEAR OFF鈥�!

I NEVER MET A CHILD THAT WAS AFRAID. THEY ALL HAD EXCITING TALES TO TELL.
WE TALKED T0 EVERYONE鈥�..NOBODY WAS A STRANGER. IT WAS A TIME OF GREAT ADVENTURE AND CHILDREN THRIVE ON ADVENTURE, FEAR, EXCITEMENT AND PALS TO SHARE IT - ONLY GROWN UPS AND PARENTS WERE AFRAID.

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