大象传媒

My name is Normal Harold Adams and I was born in Birmingham, Great Britain, on 27th September 1916, where I still live with Betty, my wife of over 60 years. I have one daughter, Toni, two grandchildren and a great-grandson, William.

Special Constable
On the outbreak of war I was a Special Constable, previously called out on high days and holidays and ceremonial occasions. With the outbreak of war, things changed and I did a four-hour shift three times a week, usually from 8pm until midnight. In addition I took a number of courses on the different types of bombs; explosive, incendiary and gas which might be used.

The courses were very hands on, we were taught to jump down safely from the top of a twelve -foot wall (simulating an upper window), which we did repeatedly, then crawling through a three-foot high smoke filled tunnel to extinguish an incendiary bomb in a tiny chamber at the end. Then there was the mustard gas bomb; a ten-gallon oil drum with an explosive charge at the bottom filled with an oily brown liquid to represent mustard gas. We stood upwind and the charge was fired sending the liquid to the top of a high tree and a wide area of ground, so that we could understand the problems in decontamination. We had been taught the principles of decontamination but we were told we were to experience the real thing.

The scene was an old quarry, a model road had been laid out along side the quarry floor, complete with curbs, pavements, lampposts, garden walls, all most convincing. We stood at the top of the quarry on the upwind side and donned respirators and a real mustard gas bomb was detonated, scattering the liquid mustard gas over a wide area. After a short interval we were told to take off our respirators and watched the decontamination squad at work. The squad, heavily protected spread chloride of lime (bleaching powder) over the gas, which burst into flame. After the flames and smoke had subsided we went down to the road and without respirators walked along the road over the decontaminated area to give us confidence.

The Blackout
Shortly after the outbreak of war a total blackout was ordered 鈥� no lights to be seen outside after dark, windows were screened, car lights were hooded. Blackout paper was on sale in rolls about six feet wide, black on one side pale green on the other. I made wooden frames to fit the windows and stretched the paper over these. The frames had to be fitted at dusk and taken down next morning, later we were able to buy black curtain material and my wife Betty made fitted curtains, which made life a little easier.

The first night of blackout, on patrol there were people all along Pershore Road in Stirchley, looking at nothing, bemused at the darkness and quiet. As time passed we had to keep a lookout for chinks of light showing from badly screened windows and had to knock up the householders to warn them. We were not popular, in some bad cases we could have prosecuted, but never did. On one occasion on a very dark night a light shone like a beacon from an ill drawn curtain. In total blackness I felt my way along the garden path towards the light and promptly fell down a pit across the path (the pit was three or four feet deep for a bomb shelter), I had some difficulty in clambering out in the dark. After I got to the house and warned the householder she told me to 鈥漷ake care there is a big hole in the path鈥�, I told her that I had found it by falling in.

Gas Masks
Early on, gas masks (respirators) were issued to the civilian population. Police, including Special Constables were issued with service respirators and steel helmets and were called in to supply and fit the gas masks. I think that it was in a church or school hall, I sat behind a trestle table with a pile of cardboard boxes containing gas masks of various sizes beside me, the people queuing in front. I then assessed the appropriate size, fitted it on, adjusted it and handed the new owner the box to carry it and advised them on its use, answering their often-panicky questions. When Toni, my daughter was born, she had a Baby Helmet 鈥� a big aluminium, Perspex and canvas cylinder with a bellows at the side. The baby was totally enclosed, the mother could watch the baby through the Perspex top but had to pump the bellows to provide the baby with filtered air. I am glad to say that Toni鈥檚 never had to be used.

Shelters
When the bombing started and the wailing sirens sent everyone hurrying to shelter, the searchlights and AA guns started up their bursting shells adding to the din. A few public shelters had been excavated in grass verges for those caught in the streets during a raid. The shelters were simply reinforced trenches with corrugated steel sides and top, covered with earth and in some a plank seat along each side, dark, damp and unpleasant.

There were domestic shelters Anderson and Morrison. The Morrison was a heavy steel table in sections bolted together which was erected in a ground floor of the house, which the occupants used as a dining table and crawled under it when the sirens sounded.

We shared an Anderson shelter with our next-door neighbours. First we had to dig a trench in the garden, some three feet or so deep. The ironwork was delivered with an RSJ to go along the ground as each side of the excavation. Heavy corrugated metal panels, curved at one end were slotted into the RSJ at the bottom and bolted together at the top to form a roof. The end panels were fitted leaving a small aperture to act as a door- way; finally the whole structure was covered with earth. Later, as many shelters were troubled with water seeping in, workmen concreted the shelter floor, leaving a sump hole to collect the water, which could then be bailed out.

We spent only one night in the shelter, Betty found it too cold, damp, and uncomfortable and after that we took our chances. We were rather fortunate in Northfield, no bombs fell near to us but of course we never knew where the next one would fall. At night the horizon would glow red from the fires with white flashes from the bursting bombs and we could hear the continual wumps of the distant explosions. Although we did not suffer a hit, the wail of the sirens sent a shiver down the spine. All to often we heard bombs bursting nearby before the sirens sounded and occasionally the bombs were falling after the all clear had sounded. After a time we could recognise the sound of the aircraft engines 鈥� theirs or ours, sometimes we were right.

Trains at the end of the garden
During the war, long trains of munitions, tanks, guns etc passed on the line behind our house. Although the line was on an embankment several hundreds of yards away the trains were so long and heavy the vibrations passed down through the embankment and the intervening ground could be felt in the house. The locomotion鈥檚 of course were all steam, sometimes helped by the giant Burrel Banking Engine, which was like two big loco鈥檚 in one with driving gear at both ends. All the loco鈥檚 had tarpaulins extended from the cab roof to the tender so that the firebox glow could not be seen by aircraft overhead.

On one occasion Betty and her mother witnessed a plane machine-gunning Northfield Station, it must have used up its bomb. That was a dangerous thing to do. On occasions, a railway mounted naval gun was trundled up the line and when it fired the noise was ear splitting and the house shook. As part of the air defence, a multiple rocket battery was installed near to the Austin works. When that fired it was noisy indeed, whole patches of sky filled with bursting rockets and of course shrapnel from rockets and shells fell lethally to the ground.

The Auxiliary Fire Service
The A.F.S (Auxiliary Fire Service) was formed to help the Fire Service deal with the mounting number of blazing buildings due in part to the large number of incendiary bombs being dropped. The local A.F.S were stationed at a garage in Stirchley, their van with a trailer pump attached parked on the forecourt and the watch on standby in the garage.

Bombs
The bombs were in several types, the early type consisting of a magnesium cylinder filled with Thermite or similar, which could not be extinguished but the surrounding fires could be controlled if they were accessible. The nasty one was the separating Nose Bomb, which looked like the other but had an explosive charge in the base. The base, which had a delayed action timer fell away on impact and could be overlooked by anyone dealing with the bomb, with fatal result. The other main type was the Oil Bomb, which spread blazing oil around on impact.

Much has been written about the different types of high explosive bombs which could flatten whole buildings, but probably the worst were the delayed action bombs which could paralyse a whole district until they exploded or could be defused, however they were booby trapped and many lost their lives in trying to make them safe.

Rationing
Rationing was a big issue, practically everything was rationed or controlled; meat, fats, sugar, sweets, bacon, clothing, petrol. Many items just disappeared from the shops, wartime bread was nothing like what it was before, and even beer was weak and watery to conserve sugar supplies. Spirits when available were under-the-counter and clothing coupons had to be hoarded for new clothing.

Tailors were not allowed to make trousers with turn ups at the bottom but a friendly Taylor would make them with longer legs and show you how to turn them up, in any event the material was of poor quality.

This was the time of austerity and nothing was made in the way it was made before. Furniture was now 鈥楿tility Furniture鈥� and could only be purchased by holders of coupons called 鈥榙ockets鈥� which were hard to get, real need had to be proved before they were issued. There of course was a black market for many things and even for none rationed items, always many things in short supply went under the counter if a rumour spread that a butcher had some offal, a queue soon formed as it did at any shop reported to have scarce items. On one occasion Betty needed a line prop and I went to the timber yard for a piece of wood where I was told 鈥淲e cannot sell wood for that, I will put it down as repair to a fowl pen 鈥�, I took the wood home and made the prop.

A result of rationing was the establishment of 鈥楤ritish Restaurants industrial areas鈥�. They were very basic, situated in church halls and so on. There an un-rationed mid day meal could be obtained 鈥� very lean on meat, just a token, but a meal nonetheless. With rationing we had enough to eat but often unappetising and with unusual foods and substitutes for the real things.

Fire Watch
When things got hot, Fire Watch parties were formed from local residents, untrained, to deal with incendiary bombs with stirrup pumps, buckets, long handled scoops and rakes. As part of the air raid precautions, Static Water Tanks were sited at some street corners, filled from iron pipes along the pavements. The tanks were intended to supply a reserve of water if the mains was fractured by the bombing, in the meantime they were full of stagnating water.

Forming a Decontamination Squad
Factories took their own air raid precautions. At Wards, where I worked, a concrete roofed structure with thick brick walls was built over the electric sub station and ball race store (ball races were precious, in very short supply but essential for building machinery). In the yard outside another structure was built with double doors gas proofed to form an air lock. In it were several showers, a changing area to remove contaminated protective clothing and a space for the Air Raid Controller. This building became my headquarters during day- time raids.

A fire service was organised from volunteer workers and I was asked to form Decontamination Squads. I passed the news around the factory and briefed the volunteers on what was involved. Finally I selected enough workers to form two squads of eight, one for the day shift and one for nights. I took charge of the day shift and after discussion with the night workers appointed a foreman for nights, it was important to appoint someone that they could work with.

These men, although willing, had no knowledge of gas warfare and it was my job to teach them.
The firm provided me with a case of gas samples鈥� the real thing. We had overalls with the Ward logo on the pockets for practise uniforms, oilskin jackets and trousers for gas protection, steel helmets, and C.D Respirators for the teams. To deal with gas we had a drum of bleaching powder, another of sodium silicate (waterglass), shovels, pickets and ropes to rope off contaminated areas.

On Saturday mornings the training sessions began. First I had to teach the types of poison gas, their effects and how to recognise them and then how to make them safe, next how to put on protective clothing and how to remove it when it had been contaminated with gas. Most people thought gas was an airy vapour, which would blow away in the wind. Actually many gases, mustard in particular are oily liquids, which would persist for many days, dangerous all the time until treated. After the theory came practise, kitted out in full protective gear we dealt with simulated bombs in different situations, on the canal bank behind the factory, on the factory floor, on the flat office roof and on factory roof. Most of the glass had been painted out and the rest covered by sliding shutters. On the roof we had a guide from Wards firemen, this was important for walking on the sloping roofs of the bays which had many dangerous places, the painted out glass in particular. Another problem were the long ladders giving access to the roof, these were shaky and bounced as we climbed.

I had a few dummy Gas Bombs (canisters filled with a smelly liquid plus an explosive charge and a fuse). I would place one of these without warning and light the fuse then remain out of sight until one of the team shouted 鈥済as鈥� and sprang into action. I Also used part of the air raid shelter as a gas chamber, filling it with tear gas so that we could test the effectiveness of our gas masks and also those of other employees who came along when the gas chamber was due to operate.

Dig for Victory
鈥楧ig For Victory鈥� was a universal cry as shortages bit hard. People were encouraged to grow their food, lawns and flowerbeds were dug up planted with vegetables. People who had never kept hens now started keeping them, (A limited ration of fowl food could be obtained). A friend of mine turned his garage into a fowl pen. Another issue of rationing was the importation of bananas, which were only available to small children, also a limited issue of orange juice for them.

Make do and mend
The war was a time of make do and mend, replacements could not be obtained, if something wore out it had to be patched up or repaired if possible. Clothing coupons did not go far enough so we had to make do with what we had. Betty made her own wedding dress when we were married at the Cotteridge Methodist Church. No honeymoon of course, we went straight back to our house with our friends.

Iron for Spitfires
A lorry driving round the streets with a bunch of old pots and pans dragging behind, their clattering drawing attention to their purpose which was to collect unwanted aluminium kitchen ware to build Spitfires. At about the same time the iron railings around public buildings and parks disappeared to provide metal for the war effort.

Going to work and seeing bombed buildings was depressing, but we were lucky in Northfield and Selly Oak, the nearest to us was a house in Wychall Lane and some damage to the Woodlands Hospital (some said that it was caused by a faulty AA shell) although a parachute land mine hung up in a tree near Bournville halted all traffic on Bristol Rd until it could be defused and removed. Earlier I mentioned the air raid sirens, which made a banshee wail which sent a shiver down the spine. In recent years, watching a war film on television, the sirens had the same effect on me.

No bombs hit Wards, the only casualty was one of my night shift men who was hit on the head by a piece of shrapnel which dented his helmet but he was unhurt. This freedom from bombing is surprising for in later years I was shown a book compiled from captured Luftwaffer documents, which listed bombing targets, and amongst them a picture of Wards, which I recognised as being taken from the front piece of one of our catalogues.

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