大象传媒

A Caulkhead鈥檚 War Part 1

In 1939 I was 13 years of age living in East Cowes on the Isle of Wight. At that time there was a general awareness of an impending war. The Spanish civil war, the Italian invasion of Ethiopia, the crises over the Rhineland and Czeckoslovakia, and the Sino-Japanese war were reported by word and picture in newsreels and in the press.
One afternoon the giant form of the German airship Graf Zeppelin appeared over the Medina valley flying towards Southampton at very low altitude, the black swastika emblem in a white circle framed in a red square showing boldly. It's pretext for being in the locality was that it had suffered a navigational error. My father muttered "More likely taking photographs ".
The previous year air raid trenches were dug in the recreation ground adjoining Grange Road school. At about the same time I helped a classmate collect a board of stout plywood from the Folly works. With this his father intended to block the main fireplace as an anti-gas defence. In this he was following advice given by his daily newspaper.
Onthe outbreak of war a blackout was immediately imposed and caused early casualties. One man smoking a pipe collided with another and lost two teeth in the encounter. Even less fortunate was a man crossing Osborne Road who was knocked down and killed by a cyclist .
The first bombs which fell in the vicinity landed in a field near Wootton. This was early in 1940 and many of the townsfolk made the trip to see the two craters. They would see a lot more ere long.
Nothing of importance was happening in the war when, at the age of fourteen in 1940 I left school and became an apprentice sheet metal worker at the Saunders Roe Columbine factory. By May of that year the Germans had invaded and conquered Denmark and Norway. Then it was the turn of the Low Countries and France to be attacked. In a short space of time the news grew increasingly grave and defeat was imminent. One day I noticed that men in the metal workshop, including my father were gathered and were being addressed by a stranger. After a while my father detached himself from the group and came to towards me "They are asking anyone who can handle a boat to volunteer to go to Dunkirk to help rescue our soldiers" he said "I have voluntered and I have put your name forward as well". This came as a complete shock and the prospect filled me with dread. Fortunately, in the event we were not required. Shortly thereafter we had news of the total French surrender. Several French submarine chasers were in Cowes when France fell and they spent the remainder of the war there as part of the Free French forces. Two destroyers which were in the final stages of construction at J S Whites in September 1939 were taken over and formed part of the Free Polish Navy. Early in the war one of these named Grom was sunk by air attack off Norway but the Blyskawica survived and did sterling work during the Cowes air raid in May 1942.
1940 was a time of "Backs to the Wall" and even as a fourteen year old I was inspired by Chuchill's rallying call and felt a deep resolve in the certainty that despite the odds against us we would prevail and win through.
The short lull in the war which followed Dunkirk was followed in turn by the Battle of Britain. For the first two weeks of fighting, aerial combat took place at low altitude and Saro workers were frequently sent to the shelters. These were situated on the south side of Old Road close to the factory. Each shelter was like a semi-basement with a single entrance and a downward sloping ramp providing access. Above ground the roof was covered with earth. We sat in the shelters and heard the sounds of aircraft diving, machine guns firing, anti-aircraft fire and the distant rumble of bombs exploding. Sometimes we would be there for hours. Some of the men were veterans of the first world war and they would interpret the various sounds, distinguishing between the short bang of the A.A. fire and the longer rumble of bombs. In a short time I learned to do the same.
One beautiful summer's day when we had been in the shelter for a long time and the noises were at their height, curiosity led a 19 year old apprentice to stand in the shelter entrance to see what was happening. "What can you see George?" asked one of the veterans. "Nothing but butterflies and smoking ruins" came the reply.
Victorious RAF fighter pilots would give notice of their success by rolling their aircraft in a manoeuvre known as 'the victory roll' and right before my eyes a northward flying Hawker Hurricane performed this act a few feet above the factory
As the battle progressed it was fought at ever increasing heights until in a short time the combatant aircraft were virtually out of sight leaving only vapour trails to mark their passage.
The first bomb to fall nearby must have been the smallest bomb in the German armoury. The crater was smaller than a domestic bucket and was situated a few feet from a road. Some days we could hear the sounds of battle but cloud cover hid the combat from view. One day as the sounds of fighting receded we saw, in the direction of Newport, an aircraft leaving a trail of grey smoke, drop in lazy fashion through the cloud ceiling. As it fell it performed a slow loop before continuing its descent. It was my fervent hope that it was an enemy aircraft but sadly it was a Hawker Hurricane.
On two occasions I saw inward bound German aircraft flying in perfect formation. The first occurred on August 12 when I was cycling through Wootton with two friends. We were on the main road and descending towards the bridge when we heard the steady sound of aircraft engines. No warning of an air raid had been given when suddenly we saw a mass of aircraft in tight formation, appear from behind cloud cover about two miles away to the south east. Almost simultaneously anti-aircraft guns opened fire and we saw the shells exploding, some just ahead and others just behind the formation. Whereupon the leading aircraft waggled its wings and the formation broke up with sections flying off in different directions.
RAF fighters soon arrived and the sounds of battle brought householders out on to the streets and it is to my lasting regret that a well meaning lady ushered us in to her air raid shelter where we could hear the combat taking place immediately overhead and the excited shouts of the watching men but we could not see a thing.
From what I have learned since, one of the major incidents of the Battle of Britain was taking place. It resulted in a defeat for the Luftwaffe, especially for the stuka dive bombers (Junkers 87s). On the breakup of the formation one section of Junkers 88s of KG 51 Edelweissgeschwader had detached itself and turned south west to bomb the radar station at Ventnor. Although they were successful in putting a temporary stop to the station's activities they also suffered grievous losses including that of their Kommodore, Oberst (Colonel) Dr Fisser who was shot down and killed.
On the second occasion the aircraft were Messerscmitt 109 fighter- bombers. This was at a later stage in the battle. My father and I were returning from our midday meal and had just reached the factory when we heard the sounds of massed aircraft. By coincidence once again there was no prior warning. The Solent and the Mainland were in bright sunlight, while extending southward the land was covered by low cloud. Emerging from the cloud and in perfect formation the German aircraft headed for Southampton where their target was the Supermarine factory at Woolston. In mid Solent five of the planes detached from the others and at slow speed and low level played a curious little game of follow-my-leader, climbing, rolling and weaving in such a manner that overall they remained in the same small piece of airspace. Bombs were already falling on Southampton when the air raid siren sounded.
At first sighting the aircraft, pavements surrounding the Columbine works were crowded with workers, and it was to be the only time that I witnessed a man in a state of panic. He was shouting "We'll all be killed, we'll all be killed." Since the Germans were obviously intent on passing overhead towards a different target he was the only one to be thus affected.
Two other separate incidents come to mind and both cases involved single, low flying enemy aircraft which were intercepted by our fighters over Cowes. As each of the fights moved into the distance the diminishing sounds of machine gun fire could be heard. I never learned the outcomes of either combat.
All of the bullets fired in aerial combat are bound to return to earth and I wonder how many are yet waiting to be discovered. During the B of B I did find one in the pathway immediately outside the rear of our house.
"Thats right where I usually stand" said Father.

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