大象传媒

This account was recorded by Denis Price of the 大象传媒 People's war team, the 大象传媒 Open Centre, Hull.

In 1940 I was only four years old but very keen on going to school which all my older friends did. When my best friend Mavis Whiteley eventually went I kicked up such a fuss at home that my mother finally gave in and took me to Paisley Street school. She told me later that the formalities seemed quite minimal, she wasn't even asked to produce my Birth Certificate, perhaps it was a sign of the times as there were many other things to worry about, certainly for my mother as dad was away in the Merchant Navy. He was eventually torpedoed and lost on the 'City of Benares'.
I was in the Infant Department until I was about six, then I was moved to a small private school on Anlaby Road on the corner of Glencoe Street opposite the Carlton Cinema. It was called Eversleigh House. I don't know why but my stay there wasn't for very long as I was soon moved back to Paisley Street.
Throughout this period the war was going on all around us schoolchildren with its only obvious intrusion being the erection of long concrete roofed air raid shelters in our schoolyard. As soon as the air raid warning sirens went we would all be shepherded into them by our teachers. On one occasion just as this was happening and bombing felt to be imminent, my anxious mother turned up at the shelter demanding that I left this place of safety and came home with her to our house in Albert Avenue. In spite of the threat of bombing we walked home and hid in our own shelter. She probably thought I'd be safer there!
I spent a lot of time in air raid shelters at that time both at home and at Paisley Infant school, the Senior school was closed.
From inside the shelters I can remember to this day the noise of explosions outside in Hull. There was a distinct difference between the sound of bombs exploding and the heavy boom boom of our anti aircraft guns going off not far away, I think they were based on the Costello Playing Fields.
Paisley Street school was never hit and as far as I know Albert Avenue was pretty much unscathed although we did get our windows blown in. Houses down Astley Street were damaged and others down De La Pole Avenue were hit particularly badly with some fatalities and serious injuries. As kids, the seriousness of it all meant nothing which was probably a good thing. All we were concerned with was collecting and swopping bits of shrapnel which was all over the place.
I do recall one incident which scared my usually stoic mother almost to death. After one heavy night bombing raid we'd gone back into the house before the 'all clear' had sounded and looking out of the back bedroom window into the garden she'd seen this large white fabric like material float gently down and settle on the lawn. To her it could only be one thing....a German parachutist! There were no phones and we daren't be seen outside so we all sat huddled together in blankets staring at this object waiting to have our throats cut. Needless to say when daylight came it turned out to be a large piece of somebody's wallpaper, no doubt from a destroyed house.
I have to admit that I wasn't old enough to understand the events going on around me, even the personal tragedy, but thank goodness there was some humour.

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