大象传媒

This story has been added personally to the People's War website by Don Tempest of the Lancshomeguard and added to the site with his permission.

At the outbreak of war I was four years old and lived with my mother and father, Ida and Harold Tempest in Dalton-in-Furness.

My father, although deaf, received his call up papers and had to go to the Doctor for a physical examination.

Dad, although very deaf, could lip-read and desperately wanted to join the Army.

At his medical he managed to answer the Doctor's questions by reading his lips, and was doing fine until the Doctor turned away from him saying something which sounded to my father like, 'get on the bed'. Dad jumped on the bed and lay down. The Doctor turned round, bewildered, and asked him what he was doing. Dad said, 'You told me to get up on the bed'. The Doctor replied, 'No I didn't, are you deaf?' Dad reluctantly admitted he was. He was therefore rejected from Army Service.

Not to be discouraged, he joined the Auxillary Fire Brigade and during the heavy bombing of Barrow, went out fighting fires.

One fire in particular was a chicken farm that was hit by Incendary Bombs and was well ablaze. So much so that it was almost like daylight and the German planes flew overhead machine gunning the area, and the fireman. Fortunately Dad was not hit, but although deaf, there was nothing wrong with his sense of smell and commented on the 'lovely' aroma of roast chicken.

So, even though he was unable to serve in the Forces, he still had his share of danger.

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