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15 October 2014
WW2 - People's War

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When my Grandad was a Lad

by crillfish

Contributed by听
crillfish
People in story:听
Grandad
Location of story:听
Liverpool
Background to story:听
Civilian
Article ID:听
A2838260
Contributed on:听
15 July 2004

My granddad was born in 1937 and he lived in Liverpool with his parents, brother and sister.
My granddad wasn鈥檛 evacuated because his parents refused because they felt the family should stay together. Many people felt the same but the others sent their children to Wales.
He remembers the Liverpool blitz (he was 4 years old at the time). He had a mickey mouse gas mask and when he blew out it blew a raspberry noise. He also had to carry his gas mask in a card board box on a string around his neck.His sister had a gasmask which was like a tent, his brother had an adult gas mask although he was only 9, but he used to take his sandwiches to school in the gasmask box and left his gas mask at home.
After the bombing ended in Liverpool very few people bothered to carry their gasmasks even though it was still the law.
During the bombing in 1941 which everyone called 鈥渢he blitz鈥 when the air raid sirens went he and his family had to leave the house and go into an air raid shelter,which was called an Anderson shelter, in their back garden. If you were away from your house you had to go in a public air raid shelter and remain there until the all clear sirens were let off.
At night it was forbidden to show any light from your house and everyone had black out curtains. If an air raid warden saw a light from your house he would blow his whistle and shout 鈥減ut that b****y light out.鈥
When the family was in the air raid shelter he could remember hearing the bombs fall, although he was lucky because none fell were he lived.
The main target was the docks but most the damage was to the near by houses and most off the city centre was destroyed. His brother and his friends used to go to the bombed areas and collect shrapnel and other souvenirs of the bombing.

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