大象传媒

I was five years old at the onset of WW2. At that time, we lived in the industrial part of Liverpool, straddled between the main power station and the Automatic Telephone Co - both prime targets for the Luftwaffe bombers.

My father was serving with the Royal Air Force, stationed at Padgate during these early days of the war, and at Speke servicing Spitfires. This meant he was able to come home regularly and spend time with my mother and myself. Later he was posted to Hendon and his visits became far less regular. He was not around at the time of the great Blitz on Liverpool. His letters, which are still preserved, show the worry and fear that lay in his heart for us and the rest of the family.

My recollections from this time are of being taken down into the Anderson shelter in our backyard with my friend Eric, and us sitting there reading comics while the adults waited for the all clear to sound.

One night sticks in my mind more than any other. Mr Hayes, our air raid warden, had just poked his head in and told us, 'It's a big one tonight.' Suddenly there was a rushing sound, and he said, 'Oh my God!' - this I will never forget. A landmine had almost dropped right on top of us, but a gust of wind caught it and carried it away. It dropped some 200 yards away and destroyed a whole road, Grampian Road in fact, killing all who lived there.

I remember later we used to play on this bomb site, never realising the magnitude of what had happened that night. Long after the war it was used as a cycle speedway track by the local youths, but it's now a normal road with families living there.

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