大象传媒

I was 13years old when WWII ended and can remember when the school Headmaster announced that the war was over. We all ran out of school cheering and shouting.
Later we painted the pavements R.W and B, got out all the bunting and flags ready for the street party to be organised by our parents.
In the early parts of the war are still vivid in our minds, in fact we thought it fun and games for a while, but can imagine the thoughts of our parents in those fearful days.
The Manchester blitz is remembered as the main raids came over Christmas, and whilst we were lucky not to receive much of the bombing we did get a lot of damage from our own AA guns, one of my hobbies was to collect the shrapnel which at times was still warm.
Ironically, like many others of our age, the time came when on National Service I went to Germany with the British Army of Occupation, and there I met a German chap, who was a navigator in the Luftwaffe. He was shot down in a raid over Manchester, and finished the war at the POW camp in Altrincham. Perhaps he may have flown over our house.
The attached letter, sent to schoolchildren from the King, is a reminder of those days and the vivid recollections that still remain.

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