大象传媒

This story is submitted by a volunteer on behalf of Radio Bristol Action Desk at City of Bristol College.

Harry's experience of the war started when he was 15. He went into armaments at the old cotton factory at Barton Hill, which they turned into a munitions factory. They were making Spitfire petrol tanks.

Still at 15, Harry went into the Home Guard a few nights a week as well as doing the armanents work. Used to man the rocket launchers against the German bombers. Harry's brother was in Burma doing his bit, and this was Harry's way of helping.

Harry had a narrow squeak with a bomb. It was the first type to be in Bristol. Walking along St Johns Lane on a Sunday on the Bristol Blitz. There was a gentleman beside me, who jumped on me and flattened me on the pavement. A piece of shrapnel went by me making sparks. When I got up I looked over at the Bedminster gasworks and it was blazing. I ran to a concrete air raid shelter. I was there all night during the blitz. Everyone was in the same position, for example going to the pub. So you had to run for shelter where you could. The only protection was a sheet of rubber on the door. There was raid after raid after that.

Harry's sister was visiting a market when the blitz happened. She had to navigate from Old Market to Bedminster on foot.

It was hard times. Food was very short. We were a big family. My mother had various ration books and it all had to be shared.

Later Harry was a Paratrooper in the war and did service in Palestine. There wasn't much leave to come back to visit Bristol.

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