大象传媒

A Schoolgirl鈥檚 Wartime Memories of Hull

Edited and typed by Louise Collier

When the war broke out I was 12 years old. I stayed with my grandparent鈥檚 in Hutton Cranswick and attended the village school. The 鈥淧honey War鈥� seemed to last so long, that I returned to my parent鈥檚 in Hull and went back to my own school. Eventually the action and bombing started and I give below, some of the memories I have of living in Hull, when the war really began for us.

We had an Anderson Shelter in our garden, which my Father erected with the help of the next door neighbour when war became a possibility. Many neighbours did not want to spoil their gardens but when the air raids began, we had to invite them into our shelter. The shelter was so full, that I was not allowed to take my budgerigar called Billie with me. Every-time a bomb dropped, all I could think about was Billie. The windows were often broken and the ceilings came down and soot came down every chimney. Billie was put under the table and covered with a damp towel in case of a gas attack.

We seemed to get used to the raids and often did not want to get out of bed when the sirens went, but once the bombs started dropping, we moved out quickly. If the raid lasted more than an hour, we were allowed to go to school the next morning, half an hour late.

One night my school, Thoresby Central School, was destroyed in an air raid. The raid had been heavy, but it was a shock to arrive at the school and find that it had been destroyed by incendiary bombs. The firemen were still working on it. My Mother was very cross with me, because I had left my Father鈥檚 bible in my desk. After that we had to go to a school on the city鈥檚 outskirts, for about three half-days鈥� a week. Many schools were damaged and my school had to move in with Newland High School, it was a squash! Eventually we were given the use of the Hull Training College, which was next to the University College, where I stayed until it was time to look for a job. I went sent with a friend through a hole in the hedge, to see the Registrar of the University College. Mr Meggitt was a charming man and gave us both jobs as Junior Clerks. I stayed working at the University College, which later became the University of Hull, for 16 years.

While the war lasted, the students were admitted from school for three months, then they did their national service. When the war ended, they came back to do their degrees.

Two of the worst air raids on Hull were in May, 1941. These raids lasted the whole night. Bombs dropped all over the city. When land-mines were used, they were dropped in pairs by parachute. I can still think in horror of the swishing noise they made, before they slowly reached the ground to explode.

On the second night, two land-mines came over our shelter, one exploded not far from us and several people were killed, the one which should have been for us failed to explode. The air-raid wardens were soon shouting for everyone to get out. I ran back into the house, the locks had been blow off and collected Billie鈥檚 cage from amongst the soot and glass. We had to run down the road to go to the church being used as a reception centre. I was still in my pyjamas and had rolled up the legs, half-way down the road the legs fell down to my ankles, Father was very cross with me for not dressing properly. The church was a pitiful sight, every space was covered with unwashed people trying to sleep, who had been there for days, after loosing their homes. We stayed at the church until the raid ended.

The demolition team worked on our unexploded land-mine. Mother, Father and my brother, sister and I set off to the city centre, to try to get transport to my grandparent鈥檚 in Cranswick. When the raid ended the buses started running. As we went along Spring Bank we could only get as far as the corner of Ferensway, to get to the bus station. The whole of the city centre along Prospect Street was on fire and what was left of many of the buildings, were being blown up for safety. When we arrived at Cranswick, all the family could talk about was what a dreadful night they had hearing the noise. We soon returned to Hull when our land-mine had been dealt with. As usual we were given lots of vegetables, eggs, butter, ham and a chicken to take with us.

Before joining the A.T.S, my sister was a hairdresser at a shop on Spring Bank. When the sirens went she was often perming a lady鈥檚 hair. The customer had to be taken from the machine, wrapped in a towel and taken to a shelter down the road.

If we were caught out in a day raid, we would dash from one shelter to another, along Spring Bank to Willerby Road where we lived. My sister was walking along a quiet road, when suddenly some motor-bikes came along, followed by a car carrying the King and Queen. No announcement had been made.

There was a caf茅 in Waterwork Street, which often served good cooked ham. My Mother took me there and I watched people then wrap the ham in paper to take home. Caf茅 food did not require food coupons.

Many Hull people learned ballroom dancing from Tommy Foster. A group of friends from the University went to his class at Hockney鈥檚 on Beverley Road.

One night the sirens went and I jumped on my bike and set off home down the Avenues. The bombs were dropping all around, even though we were used to that I peddled a bit faster. When I looked in my saddle bag, I had lost one of my new sandals, I was heartbroken as I hadn鈥檛 anymore clothing coupons. We often passed our clothes around for a change.

Buzz bombs were another hazard, there was often no warning so when the motor stopped, we had to dash to get under the nearest table. Another frightening experience we had was when my sister, brother, cousin and I went for a bike-ride to Wotten Carrs near Cranswick, the land was very flat and treeless. As we cycled in this bleak area, two very low flying aircraft came over, to our horror they were German and started machine gunning at us . We jumped rapidly into a ditch.

Eventually the war in Europe was won. We celebrated with a bonfire and fireworks on Queen鈥檚 Gardens. Later in August the war with Japan ended. My friend and I were staying in Blackpool with her grandmother. We were all given a holiday on V.J. day, but all the telephone exchanges closed and we couldn鈥檛 let our parent鈥檚 know. What fun we had on the train journey home. The train was full of soldiers celebrating the end of the war. That evening we had another bonfire and fireworks on Queen鈥檚 Gardens. At last the war had ended!

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