大象传媒

I was nine when the war started and I can remember the day war was declared I was in the church choir and at eleven o鈥檆lock the vicar said war would be declared and he was right. I remember we were all geared up for it and as a child I enjoyed war time. There were soldiers everywhere and me and my friends in Birmingham thought it was all very exciting. Even the bombing seemed exciting and we all used to collect bits of shrapnel. We used to see who could collect the biggest bits of shrapnel. I used to deliver papers in 1943 and I remember there was a raid but no bombs were dropped so I didn鈥檛 expect to see any shrapnel. But I found a piece about eighteen inches long and everyone in school was jealous. I went to the school on Slade road in Erdington and part of it was turned into a centre for people who got gassed. We had to start sharing with the girls on Fentham Road.

The war did change for me. Every time a bomb dropped we were all as kids going to see what we could find. I saw a civil defence man putting things into a basket and was desperate to know what it was as I thought I might be able to get some good bits of shrapnel. So I sneaked up to the basket for a peek inside and when I saw it I realised he鈥檇 been clearing up bits of people and body parts and putting them in the basket and that鈥檚 when it hit me that war is not a game.

The other thing I want to say is where I lived children didn鈥檛 vandalise empty houses which had been bombed. In the film Hope and Glory you see the kids kicking the houses and vandalising them when they鈥檝e been left empty but we never did that or would have done.

this story was submitted to the People's war website by Liz Goddard on behalf of Mr Woodward who fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

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