大象传媒

I lived in Risca (South Wales) during the war. I remember walking home from school one day with this black aeroplane above me; it was flying up the valley, we thought it was a German because we knew the sounds, the Germans would sound different to ours.

My mother had a bucket-shaped fawn leather handbag with all the papers; birth certificates and all of that.

We sheltered under the stairs, my mother had a big mattress and pillows under the stairs and we had a blackout 鈥� but you went everywhere, just the same as normal, during the blackout; we were very lucky, we never had any bombs. Later, we were given an Morrison Shelter, they were out in the garden; now we were given a Morrison Shelter, it was like a big metal table, mum fixed it up with a mattress and blankets and so on.

My brother Cliff was in the Navy, sister Bett worked in munitions (it was in Rogerstone, Alcan鈥檚 factory I think it was), dad was on the railways and I was 11 years old and still at school.

We would hear the aeroplanes, they used to turn above Risca, you鈥檇 hear their engines changing as they turned, and then they鈥檇 go back; back to drop their bombs on Cardiff. You got so that you鈥檇 know the sound of the engines, you could tell when they were turning and straightening out again. Sometimes they鈥檇 go round and round and fly over Cardiff several times trying to find their targets. You could hear the bombs and would have been able to see the fires from here, be we stayed under the tables. You could really hear the bombs; we were so very lucky being in Risca. A couple of times when they were leaving, they went onto the mountain, Twm Barlwm, 鈥楾he Tump鈥� as we call it, and empty their bombs. We used to go up there, of course we used to play on the mountain all day and take our lunch; a packet of sandwiches, one of those little fizzy square things and we鈥檇 have the water out of the mountain streams; when we鈥檇 had a drink and our sandwiches, we鈥檇 come back.

I don鈥檛 remember being short of anything, I don鈥檛 remember ever being hungry and I don鈥檛 remember ever being cold. Dad was on the railways so we didn鈥檛 have the free coal like the miners, we had our coal from the coalman, it came in sacks. If you were working in the mines or if you were retired from the mines you would have your coal just dumped out on the pavement (no sacks), nobody would touch it,

With dad being on the railway we used to have privileges; we used to go up and down to Newport every Saturday to see the family, I don鈥檛 think it cost very much, if anything, then when you started work you used to get the train every day. You鈥檇 run down the hill and the train would be waiting there and you鈥檇 run over the bridge, then come the next stop there鈥檇 be somebody else running down. The train would always wait for the regulars, the Guard would be yelling; 鈥淐ome on, come on鈥�, but he鈥檇 always wait for you. It must have been annoying to the people who were further up, up the valleys, but they knew that everyone was going to go on the train. There were busses, but we went on the trains because dad was on the trains; it was like if you were chapel or church; if you were church you was church, if you was chapel you were chapel. If your father worked on the busses you went on the busses, if he worked on the trains you went on the train.

I don鈥檛 remember experiencing anything bad in the way, we were lucky. I remember the evacuees coming; mum was on one of the committees and used to sort it out, where they all stated and so on.

We were so lucky really.

G.W.Webber (Nee Williams)

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Cliff Willians later went on to be awarded the M.B.E. for for saving a valley in India from flooding during 1947 and was also involved in the Yangtze Incident of 1949.
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Added by: Alan Brigham - www.hullwebs.co.uk

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