大象传媒

This story was added to the People's War website by a volunteer from 大象传媒 Radio Newcastle on behalf of Anne Duncan. Mrs Duncan fully understands the site's terms and conditions and the story has been added to the website with her permission.

My story is about experiences that happened to my mother during World War Two, and told to me years after the war by my mother and other members of the family.

My mother and father James and Catherine Cauley were married in June 1938 and lived at 3 Berkley Street, South Shields. In January 1940 my eldest brother James was born, followed by my other brother Francis in May 1941. My father was employed at Harton Dye Works in South Shields, and when he was called up joined the Merchant Navy as an engineer, serving fisrt on the S.S. Danby, then on the S.S Harpagon.

Air raids during the war were commonplace in South Shields as it sits on the mouth of the River Tyne, where shipbuilders and ship repairers were working flat out for the war effort. So, when the air raid sirens screamed out yet again on the 2nd October 1941 at 10.25pm signalling another air raid, my mother went through her normal routine of making sure my brothers and herself were safe by sheltering underneath the kitchen table. She could hear the planes flying over the house, and also the bombs exploding in the distance, then suddenly there was a very loud explosion, followed by a terrific wind blowing right through the house, causing walls and wondows to collapse all around her and her brothers. They were eventually pulled out of hte rubble safely, and that was when my mother saw the carnage that had taken place across the road.

The house directly opposite had taken a direct hit and was completely demolished. All the occupants of the house including young children were killed, and all around the immediate area other properties were blitzed beyond recognition. My parents' house was badly damaged and unsafe to live in for quite a long time. Although my family suffered no obvious injuries, my mother did notice that Frank developed a cast in his left eye, resulting in him having to wear glasses for life, and it was said by the professionals at the time that the damage to his eye was caused by the blast of that night.

By April 1942 my father was serving as a 3rd engineer aboard the SS Harpagon which was part of an Atlantic convoy. The ship had been loaded with cargo in New York and was North West of Bermuda, on route to India when sometime on the 19th April 1942 the ship blew up.

There were a few survivors, but unfortunately my father was not one of them. It was said at the time that the ship could have been sabotaged, because Italians had loaded the ship, although this was never confirmed as the preferred option was sinking by a U-boat.

My mother heard about the sinking of the ship from a broadcast on the radio, and about the same time found out for definite she was pregnant with me.

I was born in August 1942 four weeks early, and four months after my father's ship sunk. It took another two months for my father's financial affairs to be settled, so for six months my mother lived on nothing, trying to bring up one baby and two toddlers aged one and a half and two and a half, she managed only because family and friends helped her out.

My mother lived out the remainder of the war and spent the rest of her life working hard to provide a good life for us. She supplemented her meagre pension by buying and selling second hand clothes and ant other work that she could fit around looking after, and caring for us. She died peacefully in 1975, aged seventy, and was survived by her sons, four grandchildren and myself.

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