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A FEW WARTIME MEMORIES OF A 5/6 YEAR OLD SCHOOLBOY

As I was just over 6 years old when World War Two came to an end, and living in a rural area, my wartime recollections are not that many, except for a few situations that have remained in my memory ever since.

I remember that when my Father came to the end of his leave he always had to catch the 4 p.m. bus from Droitwich to arrive at New Street Station in Birmingham in time to catch the train to Crewe, where he would then change trains and travel on to Rhyl in North Wales where he was stationed.

Another recollection was the number of Military Convoys that used to pass along the A38 going South. At the time I had no idea where they were going, but thinking about it now I suppose they were heading for the South coast in readiness for D-Day. Many of the convoys were American with all the vehicles having a big white star on their sides.

Having started school in April 1944, if during playtime an American Convoy came passed the school, we used to stand at the front of the school and give a two finger victory wave to the troops. This was not the way round that Winston Churchill did it, but with the palm of the hand facing you, and then moving the hand upwards. At the time we did not realise it was a rude gesture. As far as I can remember the only reaction from the troops was to laugh and wave back.

Another thing I can remember, although I am not sure of the date, was being in the garden one day and looking up and seeing lots of aircraft flying overhead with some of them being attached to one another with what appeared, to a small boy, to be a piece of string. Obviously they were powered aircraft towing gliders. Where they came from or where they were going to I had no idea at the time. Now many years later one assumes that they were on their way, either to Arnhem, or to take part in the D-Day landings. Some years ago I met a man who, as a boy lived in Wychbold, (which is only about a mile from where I lived at the time), and he remembers seeing the aircraft as well.

I can also recall, although not the date, when the Chateau Impney, or the Impney Hotel as it was called at the time, was a prisoner of war camp. The thing that sticks in my mind most of all, was the coiled barbed wire that had been put around the building. I can see, even after all this time, one of the posts that the wire was attached to, being positioned in the middle of the drive just a few yards from the front door, and at the time thinking what a funny place to stick a post, right in the middle of the roadway. I believe the time it was a prisoner of war camp, was when the Americans were based there, and was a prison camp for German Officers. Later when the Americans left, the Civil Defence were based there and stayed until the end of the war.

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by June Woodhouse (volunteer) of the CSV Action Desk at 大象传媒 Hereford and Worcester on behalf of Chris Lovell (author) and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.

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