大象传媒

This is one of the stories collected on the 25th October 2003 at the CSV's Make a Difference Day held at 大象传媒 Manchester. The story was typed and entered on to the site by a CSV volunteer with kind permission of Ken Cockshott.

Born in Salford 1927. My first recollection of war was 1st September 1939 when I evacuated for only a couple of months. I returned to Salford in time for 22nd December 1941 blitz.
At 7pm sirens went, 12 hour raid Christmas blitz. Lower Broughton was heavily bombed, they hit everything on each side of the Irrwell.

Dropped land mines by parachute; they came down in the adjoining street and blew out all the windows and doors. The back entry had been slabbed over to create a shelter we were in there. The raid ended at 7am. Our house was the corner shop Off licence Street at the corner of Pearson Street and Valley Street. My Mother told me to go to groves and Whitnall Brewery at Regents Bridge. Manchester was burning, Victoria Hotel was demolished. I got to Piccadilly, they gave me some polythene to sheet up the doors and windows. Got back and the raids continued. Soldiers on leave had to leave their rifles in vestibules of pubs. Joined the boy messengers when I was 15, we were based at St Boniface鈥檚 in Lower Broughton. I can remember we out on bikes.

I later became an apprentice joiner, I pushed a handcart all around Manchester. If I was in Piccadilly and a raid started, I would run the hand cart in a bombsite and go to the shelter. The boss only cared about the handcart!

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