大象传媒

This story was submitted to the website by Karolina Kopiec from 大象传媒 GMR Action Desk on behalf of Mr William Ball and has been added to the site with his permission.

I was only eight when the war was declared, the week before we ere in Morecombe on holiday, however we came home on the 1st of September as war looked imminent, and my earliest memories were of coming through Preston on the Bus and seeing all the barrage balloons.
My parents had a greengrocers shop in Oxford Street Old Trafford, and I can remember going into the cellar shortly after was had been declared and there was an air raid warning, I remember sitting there and my mother saying 鈥渨ell if they get this far we may as well give up鈥�.
Shortly after this we were evacuated with the school Seymour Park Junior School to Hale situated close to Ringway airport and the Fairey鈥檚 factory. The first places the Germans tried to bomb were the air fields, which did not augur well for the evacuation plans, however after a few months I returned home. One night when there was an air raid on we had an incendiary bomb that came right through the roof of the house right through the house cellar where my Dad put it out with sandbag.
My other recollections of those days as a schoolboy were collecting shrapnel. One say we had a patriotic lecture at school and were asked to hand it all in to go toward the war effort.
Shortly after this my parents gave up the shop due to the difficulty in getting supplies, and we went to live in Cornbrook Street.
On the night of the Manchester Blitz my mum and I were in the brick air raid shelter which we had in the back yard with our dog. My Dad was out on duty with the Home Guard, He came in to see us to make sure we were all Ok, and he said we couldn鈥檛 have the dog in the air raid shelter so he put him in the house. A few minutes later the dog was back scratching the door, again my Father put him back in the house and again the dog came back. The front of the house had been blown away and the dog was just running round the block and back up the entry, so I was allowed to keep Ladie in the air raid shelter with us.
The next morning my Father took us to my aunties at Bury on the bus I can remember going through Manchester and seeing the Bomb damage everywhere.
Another time I can remember being with a pal in Wiles the shop next to Lewis鈥檚 when there was an air raid on we were down in the basement for hours as nobody had heard the all clear.
Once I was with my pal in the Trafford Cinema When the sirens had gone and you were expected to stay in for the all clear. We waited for hours and then decided we would go home. Walking home we were stopped by a police car that gave us a lift home.
Shortly after this I caught diphtheria and was in Ladywell hospital in a ward with all Canadian soldiers, I felt so grown up!
Not very much of a story. The was went on, after the bombing we moved back to Davyhulme, I went to work, joined the Air Training Corps and at 18 was called up in to the Royal Air Force.

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