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This story was submitted to the People’s War site by Bernie Hawkins and has been added to the website on behalf of John Atkinson with his permission and he fully understands the site’s terms and conditions.

Between serving on HMS Resolution and HMS Illustrious, I was up at Woodvale Airfield, near Southport and at RAF Speke (now John Lennon Airport) for about three months. Whilst at Speke, one day a large 4 engined aircraft landed, which I believe was a prototype of the Flying Fortress. The Germans dropped flares and incendiaries all around it, but luckily missed. At Woodvale there was a Squadron of Rocs and Skuas stationed to escort merchant ships in and out of Liverpool. They also towed targets for the merchant ships to practice on.

I was the only one who lived in the Sergeant’s Mess, all the other lads were billeted around Penny Lane. There was an old Flight Sergeant whose job was to go around town finding accommodation for the lads. Also stationed there was a Sergeant Hooper. This was the first time I had seen a white medal. He had been to the South Pole with Scott. He left the Navy in 1912 and joined the Army for World War 1. When I met him he was in the RAF, so he had served in all three services.

On the 5th of May 1941, I was on a train from Southport to Liverpool, about 8 o’clock in the evening. We had just left Seaforth Station when the first two carriages were hit by a bomb. (I was in the middle of the train.) Some girls sitting opposite were very frightened and tried to hide under the seat I was on — they were like chicks getting under the mother hen. They knew there was an air raid shelter around the back of the Town Hall, so I followed them there. Just as I got to the entrance, another bomb landed and I was blown in by the blast. My feet didn’t touch the ground! I landed on top of the girls. When I came out there were fires everywhere and the Town Hall had gone.

A policeman gave me a lift into Liverpool and dropped me off in Lime Street. There was a big crater in the middle of the road and at the bottom you could see gas pipes burning away. I popped into The Legs of Man pub where the landlord gave me a pint. This was the night Lewis’s department store was bombed. I remember seeing their huge windows completely red with flames.

John Atkinson's account of his service with HMS Resolution Air Division can be read at A7589794 and his account of serving on HMS Illustrious at 7619510.

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