- Contributed by听
- Wolverhampton Libraries & Archives
- People in story:听
- Harry Ashworth
- Location of story:听
- Plymouth
- Background to story:听
- Civilian
- Article ID:听
- A3288558
- Contributed on:听
- 17 November 2004
I was 13 when the war started and I lived in Plymouth with my parents and sister. She was 8 years old on the day war broke out. I told her that she was responsible for the war and my mother gave me a good roasting.
The air raids started towards the end of 1940 and became quite heavy. By March 1941 they were terrible. I was an ARP messenger and it was both exciting and frightening.
We had to build our own air-raid shelters and it was a big job for just my mother and me (as my father was away in the Royal Navy). Our little dog was the first one into the shelter whenever the sirens went off.
At the height of the blitz, like many others I lost friends.
I remember one terrible explosion that knocked me into the gutter. When I got home my mother was more concerned that I鈥檇 lost my scarf!
[This story was submitted to the People's War site by Wolverhampton Libraries on behalf of Harry Ashworth and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions]
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