大象传媒

I lived at home in Coventry all through the war and lived with my parents, sister Enid and foster brother Stan at 43 Villiers St. Bob my other brother was called up in 1939 on his 21st birthday. He started in the Beds and Herts regiment and then the Royal Warwickshire Regiment.He got his commission and became a Major at 23 and was the youngest major at that time. They were sent on loan to the Royal Indian Army Service Corps in Saugor in India. They were there for four years and was very lucky not to see any fighting. He finished the war in Deolali and said that he was going dolally in Deolali but quite rightly when the war in the far east came to an end they shipped the prisoners of war home first. When he finally got home he was stationed at Budbrooke where he was the Welfare Officer until he was demobbed. He married the girl he got engaged to before the war and they are about to celebrate their Diamond Wedding this year.
I was not called up as I had taken a man's job and was the first lady on the auditing staff of a Chartered accountants. I was in the ARP in the gas squadron but fortunately no gas was dropped and I was not needed.
During the Coventry blitz on November 14th I was in an air raid shelter at the house next door to me. My parents and Stan were across the road and the ARP would not let me come out of the shelter to join the rest of my family until the all clear sounded.After the all clear I went across to join my family who were all o.k. but everyone in the shelter next to them were dead and all the houses flattened on that side of the road.There was a terrific noise from the bombs and the anti aircraft guns and you felt relieved if you could hear the bombs whistling because they came in threes and if the second one was further away than the first one you'd be o.k. but if it sounded closer then you had too keep your fingers crossed that the next one wouldn't land on you. They say you never hear the one that hit you. One lighter point was that one of the ladies in the shelter with my parents had a bottle of whiskey that she had been keeping for Christmas but they were all so relieved to be alive that she passed it round. That was the first time that I had ever had neat whiskey! That kept us going for the rest of the day.Everybody helped each other and those that had not lost everything gave things to those that had. My house was not flattened but damaged so we went to stay with relatives in Kenilworth.
We used to hitch rides on lorries into the centre of Coventry where the sight of the smoking ruins and the destroyed Cathedral was absolutely devastating. We went home to check our house and collect things and then went to where we worked to see if it was o.k. My boss and his family and his wife's parents were evacuated to the Globe Hotel in Kenilworth. They were going to give me a lift into Coventry but they never turned up as a land mine hit the hotel and killed them all.
Someone said the reason that we had so many bombs drop on our street was because there was a train running along the line in Brighton St. with an anti aircraft gun on it - we never found out if that was true.
The city was ringed with barrage balloons and there were the sounds of gunfire as well as bombs. We got to recognize the sound of the German planes which used to come over every day for reconnaisance and once a pilot dived and machine gunned civilians in the Tile Hill area
Sometimes when the water was cut off we would hear of a cart in the neighbourhood and I would dash off on my bike with anything that would hold water. We were lucky that we had a rain water butt in the yard but you had to boil it before drinking. Lucky we also had our old black grate in the living room with an oven on the side and always a kettle singing on the hob. Coal was rationed but we were allowed some "nutty slack" extra to back up the fire and damp down. Dad made brickettes of it which was very slow burning and of course scrounged anything lying around for burning.
I remember after one raid sleeping on the floor with my sister and the old man opposite. he stayed and shared our dinner - steak and kidney casserole and dumplings. Mum managed to do everything in short supply - nothing was ever wasted. there were pig bins outside British restaurants, newspapers were only one sheet, we blessed the Yanks for sending us food under "Lease Land" agreement - spam etc. Once on points Mum managed to get a tin of suasage meat when Bob was home on leave. We used the fat to make some pastry and made sausage rolls - what a luxury! Bob's friend Alfie Binks called round and of course Mum asked him to stay to tea. Before anyone noticed and could stop him he'd wolfed half the sausage rolls - there was only enough for one each so he was not popular!
I'll always remember the film "Gone with the Wind" - it was unusually long so the cinema decided to have two showings. My friend Vera, myself and her mother booked at "The Rex" but it was bombed before we saw it so we booked again when it came to "The Savoy",in Radford which was right over the other side of town to where I was living. We got there o.k. on the bus but an air raid warning went during the film. The manager said he would run it to the end if anyone wanted to stay - we did. The raid was still on when we came out so there were no buses. My friends mother insisted they walk with me as far as the town centre - had we known it we were walking into the heart of the raid. That night they fire bombed the Radford Daimler and there were incendiaries coming down all around us. The fire warden made us crouch down on the pavement in the shadow of the garden wall then go into the public shelter at the top of Bishop's Street. They wouldn't let us out until the All Clear sounded. My friend's mother wouldn't let me carry on home alone so i said I'd go back with them and borrow Vera's bike to get home. Whilst I was saying goodnight to her parents she hopped on the bike and dashed off. We were worried until she got back o.k. and so were my family as I had to stay the night at Vera's.
I hated going into the shelters and became very claustrophobic when Mum and Dad made Enid and I sleep under the stairwell when the raids started. I still and can't bear to be shut in places, caves etc where I can't see daylight and be able to walk out. I'm very frightened of being buried alive and not found!
The wardens did a good job they were very brave and conscientious. We had to do as they said - no chinks in the curtains in the blackout and when opening the door to go out we were only allowed to shine the torch down and we had to take our gas masks. Thank goodness no gas dropped(I was in the Gas Squad of the ARP). That having got my eyes used to the dark I once walked slap-bang into a man coming the other way- a shock for both of us. One night I went to get in the house- very dark night- put the key in the door- couldn't understand why doorstep was so high- some other house nearby had same lock and key! It was the warden's! The street lighting- cars has slits on headlamps, very few cars- petrol rationed.
Then had to do fire watching at place of work- if Mum had been lucky and got some dried egg on points Stan would use half the packet to make an omelette when he came home. The bosses "old fashioned" - wouldn't let the ladies firewatch.
Stan fed all the stray cats- lots left homeless after the raids, or owners evacuated. We adopted one, Tibby. Also had a goldfish who lived to be 13, when he died after jumping out of the bowl,we had him off the Rag and Bone man- fed him ant's eggs and fish food, became very knowing - lived all the raids, his bowl was put in the larder with the pastry board for protection when the raid was on.
If a stick of 3 Whistling Bombs fell and the wnd further away breathed a sigh of relief as 3rd would be further away stiil- not so good if 2nd was near.
Bob allowed to come home morning after big Blitz. Apprehensive when he turned corner into road but very relieved to see our house still standing, though damaged, and us all there. We were very lucky, as a family we suffered no casualties. Very distressing to see all the damaged to houses, Cathedral etc morning after raid when we waled through city centre after getting a lift from Kenilworth on a lorry. Very upset to see houses destroyed and coal in cellars still burning.
Used to go to Banacks Square Market to see if anything for Mum off coupons- flour sacks could have the printing washed off and used as table clothes etc- formica and wipe clean surfaces not yet invented so everybody had a tablecloth. Once there was coloured darning wool-only allowed to sell it if it was cut into short lengths so we tied it together again to make gloves etc-some people kept rabbits for food and used fur to sell as gloves. Only "utility" plain goods allowed on home market-lucky we has a sweet shop opposite office- if there was a queue my Boss let us go and get our rations. Chocolate not always available. Foreign fruit e.g.bananas available. Chicken was off ration if you could get it- our milkman obliged sometimes! Make do and mend was the rule of the day- lawns dug up to grow vegetables.
"Railway weed" - willow herb grew up and covered the bomb sites to remind us of nature's beautiful flowers- also London Pride to cheer the folk in London who had worse than us with the flying bombs afterwards.
Stan was allowed to finish his apprenticeship but had to do National Service after 21- he trained as a "red beret", parachutist in the Medical Corps and sent to Palestine to help settle troubles there.
We were all greatly moved by the sight of the devastion when we first saw the city centre, the Cathedral and so much else just a smoking ruin, but grateful that we were still alive. Anyone with a vehicle picked up anyone else they saw in need of a lift, we all shared what we had left with those who had lost more than us and helped anyone we could in any way possible-just human nature, I suppose - had to get on with life and sort things out best we could. Sticky tape had been put across windows to stop glass splinters flying but it still broke and had to be cleared up and replaced, if possible- so much clearing up for those who were able to do. Talk about recycling! Even saucepans and anything made of aluminiun, was collected and melted down to make aeroplanes and park railings were cut down to be melted and went into other articles of war.
Ate whale meat for the first time- sent over from the USA.
All nationalities stationed locally- Free Forces who had escaped- Poles, Czech etc. French= many at local small airbases - would hear planes stiing off on missions and hoped they would all come back.
Very few people had telephones, we relied on the radio and "word of mouth" for news. Very few had cars.
Mended socks and knitted for Forces.

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