大象传媒

Having lived in Kent my family started moving at the beginning of the war and finally settled in Wakefield in the West Riding.
The war seemed a long way away. We listened to the wireless, read the newspapers and stuck flags into our map of Europe to mark progress. We also got second hand stories of the horrors of war because my mother was a physiotherapist rehabilitating solders, sailors and airmen. Those who were fit enough were out and about in their blue suits, white shirts and red ties!
Action eventually came to Wakefield when a stick of bombs fell in the Thornes Park area. Daylight showed a large crater near the park gates and a lot of houses damaged. Luckily no one was killed.
As ever a hole in the ground had a magnetic attraction. An observant member of the gathering crowd noticed a smooth round object almost buried in the crater. Good Heavens an un-eploded bomb!
We had seen the procedure on the Pathe News. Tired workers were dragged from their bed, roads were closed, rows of houses evacuated and the bomb disposal squad sent for from Hull.
Tension mounted. Was it the same observant onlooker or another who, looking towards the crater and the park gates, noticed that the stone ball was missing from one of the gatesposts. Where was it I wonder!!

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