大象传媒

This story has been submitted to the People's War website by Judie Krebs for GMR Action Desk on behalf of Mrs Joan Harris, with her permission. The author is fully aware of the Terms and Conditions.

I was seven years old when I heard about the war starting. I was at my aunt's house in Rosamund Street, All Saints. My cousin Ray, also seven, and I were quite excited - we'd seen all the films with Errol Flynn! We were evacuated to Blackpool. Half a dozzen of us cousins were all together and we went to a school where the local kids resented us. We went mornings when they went afternoons and vice versa but we met at lunchtimes in the playground and another war broke out there. But we went mob-handed and we always won.

We lived at 175 Fleetwood Road, Thornton Cleveleys, with Mr and Mrs Law. All the cousins lived on the same block of Fleetwood Road and we were all treated very well. Mum came to live in Cleveleys, with my young brother but she only stayed a day because she missed Dad. He later volunteered for the Royal Engineeers.
I came home for a visit at Christmas and didn't want to go back, and the cousins followed shortly afterwards.

When the Manchester blitz came, we were bombed out of our house in Rosamund Street and given a council house at 1 Meachin Avenue, Chorlton-cum-Hardy. That was bombed as well, so we were moved out to 17 Melland Avaenue, Chorlton, until Meachin Avenue was rebuilt.

When Dad came home in 1946, our relationship had to be rebuilt as well, but it never quite was. The war did that to us. It also affected my relationship with my younger brother and sister because Mum had to go to work in Dad's absence, so I was more of a parent than a sister, but I also had more cameraderie with my cousins because of the war.

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