大象传媒

This story was submitted by Helen Hughes of the People's War Team in Wales on behalf of Trevor Lewis and is added with his permission.

I was a kitchen porter at the Dorothy caf茅 in High Street, Cardiff at the start of 1941鈥�
At about six o鈥檆lock I was just finishing work and it was my job to lock up everything, turn the gases off, electrics and shut the door and out. As I get out into the street, someone shouts to me 鈥� 鈥渞un for your life.!鈥� I couldn鈥檛 figure out what the devil he was on about. But you could hear incendiary bombs dropping 鈥hey were dropping just like rain鈥ap tap tap鈥ll the way down the street. So I run across the road under the Castle Arcade鈥t was open then for that purpose as an air raid shelter and I went underneath and then came up to go home. I鈥檓 going across Canton bridge and there were incendiaries dropping on the bridge. In those times they had sandbags tied around the lamposts鈥o I went to put a sandbag to put it ontop of this incendiary 鈥� but it was solid it was frozen solid. I couldn鈥檛 even move it. So I left it and carried on going home. So I鈥檓 going up Market Road by the secondary school in Canton and a chap shouts out 鈥淵ou cant go by here鈥� and I shouts 鈥淥h yes, I can鈥鈥檓 going home鈥�. That was going up in flames鈥n oil bomb had dropped on that school and it was ..鈥漁h gosh鈥� anyway鈥 runs home and somebody says to me 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 go in your house鈥濃�e was a firewatcher. He says 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 go in your house, there鈥檚 been a fire there鈥�. So I thought 鈥淥h gosh鈥濃�ent in the house 鈥 could smell burning and things. So I went upstairs, and it was my bedroom. The bed was destroyed鈥ut what had happened the firewatchers and things had thrown the bed out of the window into the back鈥�.and there was my suit. The only suit I鈥檇 ever had hanging on the back of the bedroom door on a hanger, burnt in half. It was like as though they鈥檇 cut it right across鈥�.and there was a hole in the roof where the incendiary bomb had come through. Some 16th birthday鈥anuary 2nd 1941 - I read my birthday cards by the light of the wireless鈥�

The next time I had any problems was when a bomb dropped around the corner from us in Carmarthen Street, and it destroyed around four or five houses. My neighbour Mr. Williams and I were standing talking in the street 鈥� we were firewatching that particular night. He said to me 鈥済et down鈥� and pushed me to the floor鈥nd the next thing you could see this flash, and there was a bomb and paving stones flying about and bits of rubble and stuff and four or five houses were just brought down鈥o we stuck there and then went around as soon as it settled down to see if there was anyone injured or anything鈥�.we were lucky and there was no-one injured or anything like that. But about ten minutes later the police came up from Canton police station, which was about 100 yards away鈥hey were a long time behind us.

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