大象传媒

I was twelve years old when war broke out and lived throughout the war in Ellesmere in Shropshire. I remember that more than 600 evacuees came to Ellesmere and some, when they arrived, slept for a full three days as they were so worn out. The 51st regiment was billeted in Ellesmere and if anynone had a spare room, they had to take a soldier in. Later in the war, we had American soldiers, first at Penley and then later at Oteley, which was set up as a military hospital. It was a terrible sight to see ambulances coming from the station, driving so slowly that they barely moved so that you knew they were carrying badly injured soldiers. Often, during film showings, all medical personnel were called out to go back to camp to help with emergencies. I was working at the Co-Op and it was very busy there with so many people in Ellesmere. Most of the staff were women, apart from one elderly man. We had to work from 8am until 6pm for 12-and-a-half pence but I enjoyed every minute of it, even though I could never see the shop door as there were always so many customers. [I stayed there for thirty years!] As the war was ending, General Montgomery and his entourage called briefly in Ellesmere on his way from Park Hall Camp and he spoke to some of the ex-servicemen. He shook my hand and thanked me for doing my bit. One other memory I have is of my mother starting up the Red Cross in Ellesmere and we used to go with collecting boxes for 'Penny a Week' which went towards parcels for prisoners of war. At that time, we were unaware that my brother had died as a POW in Burma, where he'd been serving as an army doctor. We were only informed of his death when his commanding officer was released and able to let us know.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.