大象传媒

In 1939 I was about 10 years old and living in the town of Bathgate (17 miles from Edinburgh and 21 miles from Glasgow). I was lucky enough to have a kind of 'enjoyable' war and it was the same for many of my childhood friends.
* 11.05am 3 SEPTEMBER, 1939: straight after Chamberlain's announcement of war the sirens wernt off in Bathgate as a solo German plane (an Heinkel 111) was flying low over the Firth of Forth estuary. This was extremely exciting and there were huge crowds.
* GLASGOW, 1940: My younger brother, Fraser, and I (aged respectively 10 and 11) used to go and stay with my Granny Marshall in Glasgow. That year on of our visits coincided with her son, Uncle Johnny Marshall, being home on leave from the merchant navy. He was Chief Engineer for Ellerman's Shipping Line. He'd jsut been torpedoed for the second time - which was very exciting to us boys but obviously not for the adults. After that leave, Uncle Johnny's next convoy was up to Murmansk and he was torpedoed for the third time. Most of the crew drowned but Uncle Johnny's luck held out and he was one of a few survivors rescued by a destroyer. The merchant navy should have had much more recognition and acknowledgemetn for their wartime service and contribution - they were often just sitting ducks in their cargo boats. Uncle Johnny's adventures made him a very heroic figure to us. (We also remember him fondly as he bought Fraser and I the biggest bar of chocolate we'd ever seen when he took us to The New Cinerama in Glasgow in 1939 to see Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler in 'The Singing Marine'! I've never met anyone else who remembers The New Cinerama. Was it bombed?)
* JARVEY STREET, BATHGATE 1939-40: My father, Thomas Marshall, had Marshalls Fish & Chip restaurant here until 1940. His profession meant we never had to stand in a queue at The Regal Cinema. Big Davey Benzie was the commissionaire in charge of queues - Fraser and I used to bring a package of fresh fish from my father's shop for Big Davey and he'd let us skip the often huge queue. Wee Pimmy Stuart's father also had a fish shop locally - but Wee Pimmy was older and used fish to get girls to go to the pictures with him! The power of fish! Everything was barter and you were very lucky if your family was in a food related profession. There was so much inventive 'making-do': my older brother, Jack, was in the RAF and brought a parachute home once. At least 3 or 4 wedding dresses were made out of it for local girls and it was also, apparently, used for making ladies' underwear.
* NEWHAVEN FISH MARKET, EDINBURGH 1939/40: at the beginning of the war, Italisans weren't allowed into the Fish Market to buy for their shops and restuarants. My father used to buy fish on behalf of the local Italisans in Bathgate so they could continue to make a living. He used to buy for Peter 'Black Peter' Borgia, Giacondi Ugolini, Davey Benassi and Big Julius Caesar, amongst others. The Italian community in Bathgate had been there for many years and we never regarded them as a wartime enemy.
* EDINBURGH, 1943: I was 15 now and our gang used to travel through to Edinburgh on a Saturday to the large forces recruiting office in The Assembly Rooms on George Street to pretend we were older and try to enlist. There were about six of us in this gang: George 'Podge' Marr, Bill Harvey, Jock Blair, John Bryce, Nathaniel 'Nat' Muir and James 'Dimps' Forbes. We were all still at school. Our routine was that we'd travel from Bathgate by bus in the morning and go straight to The Assembly Rooms. There were always crowds there trying to join up, including underage boys like us. The Assembly Rooms were divided into sections for army, navy and airforce - and we tried them all. We knew really that we weren't going to be accepted because of our age but, occasionally, one of us would get through to the medical examination stage. I managed to get through once but didn't get far: "you bloody liar, you haven't even started shaving yet!"
After we'd all been rejected, we'd go to The Brown Derby (on Hanover Street, I think) and have fish and chips. We'd then go off to The Palais du Danse up at Fountain Bridge to dance until 5pm. They had excellent dance bands there, the stage used to turn round and the most popular drink was milkshake (sometimes with icecream in). There were no serious romances but we had a good laugh with the girls there. My favourite dance was the tango. When it was over, we'd get the bus back to Bathgate. Everyone went home, had their tea and then met up again to go to the pictures - either The Regal, The cinema or The Pavilion (prices 2d, 4d at the back). Our parents never knew that we were trying to join up on a weekly basis.
* The only bomb damage in Bathgate that I can remember was at Laidlaw Dahling's farm. A leftover bomb had created a crater which filled with rain and two cows slipped into it and drowned.
* I cannot overestimate the power and importance of Churchill's leadership during this period. His speeches were thrilling, moving and inspiring - and they still have the same effect on me today.
* The horror of war, however, sometimes touched even us boys, especially after Dunkirk. We saw the wounded and distressed men returning and often saw the terribly burned soldiers from the nearby hospital being taken out for the day by bus for an icecream. I think we knew how lucky we were to be young teenagers during the war and that we should be so very grateful to those whose bravery and suffering protected us.

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