大象传媒

I remember very little of the war - I was only 2 when it started, but more importantlymost of my memories were wiped out by being "bomb blasted" when I was about 4 years old. We were in the cellar - the safest place to be when the bombings started - when my uncle decided he wanted a drink. Unbeknownst to the family I followed him to the kitchen, where I was completely exposed when a bomb dropped close by. The blast went through the house, with me in its path. I am told (I don't remember it myself) that I was deeply shocked at the time, and that it affected me for upwards of a year afterwards.
Another time, Grandad, who was a Special Constable, came home from work where the family always had a pot of tea ready for him. A bomb dropped nearby, blasting the house again, and splitting the back door from top to bottom. Grandad had been standing right in its path until just a few seconds before the bomb went off. The teapot was in the blast of the bomb, and we never did find it!
I remember standing at the front door of our house with my grandfather one day, watching a "dog fight" between a German and a British plane. I must have been about 5 years old, and Grandad was over the moon when our boy managed to hit the German plane. He exclaimed "Gotcha, right up the a**e", and was promptly and roundly told off by Nan for swearing in front of me! I was fascinated and excited by what was going on, but also very frightened since they seemed very close. Had either of them been shot down, they would have landed very nearby!
We went through a stage where Birmingham has a real hammering - bombing night after night after night, and we got to the stage where we were exhausted. You didn't sleep much when there were houses being destroyed all around you. One night my mother and I knelt in the lounge and prayed like we have never prayed before. We weren't an actively religious family - we didn't go to church - but we always had beliefs. For the first time in many, many days, we were not bombed that night. Maybe coincidence, but I like to think not.
On a lighter note, I remember a story told to me by Nan. The Army were on training manoeuvres close by,and had parked up their vehicles and tanks at the end of the street. All of the local housewives decided to give our boys a bit of a boost, and went out on the street bearing cups of tea aplenty. Nan found out (I don't know how) that the boys outside were actually "playing the enemy" in the training exercise, so she promptly went out and demanded all the cups of tea back! No way was she going to support the bad guys! Typically Nan!!

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.