大象传媒

I was born in the city of Liverpool on the 18th of December, 1933 and was a little over five and a half years old when Great Britain declared war on Germany. There was no television in those days of course but we did have a radio (we used to call it the wireless) and it was great fun to listen to. That was until September 1939 when I was alone in the house with my mother. I remember that she was listening to the wireless and the Prime Minister, Mr. Chamberlain was making an announcement to the Nation and I had to keep very quiet. I vaguely remember hearing the now famous words 鈥淲e Are Now At War With Germany鈥� and I could not understand why my mother started to cry. I had never seen her cry before and it upset me a good deal.

Life seemed to carry on in the much the same way for a child but there was definitely an air of excitement. Pill boxes started to appear. Anderson air raid shelters were delivered to every house. My father, who served throughout the Great War (World War I), took the erection of our new air raid shelter very seriously. He dug out a huge trench at the bottom of our garden and erected the air raid shelter inside, with only the roof showing. This was then covered with the soil that he had dug out, then finally he placed sandbags all around it 鈥� it was just as well that he did! Some properties did not have gardens and so special brick-built public air raid shelters had to be erected in the streets. This type of shelter also had to be erected in school playgrounds. Provision had to be made for people living in flats and really large deep public underground shelters had to be built. People living in London eventually used the deep underground tube stations as shelters and used to sleep on the platforms overnight!!

Shortly after the declaration of war, gas masks were also issued to every man, woman and child. It was thought highly likely that the Germans would launch gas attacks against the civilian population, as it had been used as a weapon in the trenches towards the end of the Great War, often referred to as the war to end all wars, just 20 years earlier. In fact, during my childhood I was often to witness older men who suffered from those gas attacks over two decades later. Along with many men without limbs, many in their wheelchairs, many with black eye patches and of course not forgetting those that were shell shocked, who often were affected mentally.

It was the law of the land that you had to take your gas mask with you everywhere. At school, there were constant inspections to see that there were no leaks and we frequently had to wear them in class during mock gas attacks. This was to try and avoid panic if real gas attacks occurred. Very young children were issued with a gas mask that looked a little like a 鈥淢ickey Mouse鈥� face so that they would not be too frightened and it would appear to be a game, whenever they had to wear them. At this time 鈥楤lackout鈥� was enforced which meant that all street lights were turned off and householders were required to cover windows with thick dark (usually black) curtains, so that not the slightest chink of light could escape. The ARP (short for Air Raid Precautions) were street wardens who strictly made certain that the law was applied. The expression 鈥淧ut that light out!鈥� was introduced at this time and traffic, including public transport, had to conform to the rules. It was all slightly scary and a very puzzling time for a child, not quite yet six years old!!

Many young children from big cities, especially the London area, were evacuated to the countryside and so many families were split up. My parents decided we should all keep together, as many families did. There were mock Air Raid sirens pronouncing that an air attack was imminent which sounded like a highly pitched screaming effect which was recurring over and over again. This really was scary and everyone had to stream into their air raid shelters until the 鈥渁ll clear鈥� was signalled. This was one continuous long blare on the siren and never failed to bring a sigh of relief.

Schooling and education were badly affected during the early part of the war particularly, as men and women were mobilized into the Armed Services. During this time schooling was disrupted and I was often taken to someone else鈥檚 house to be taught in a small lounge with around 10 other children. Looking back however, I only think this was yet another exercise, in case the school was bombed.

The Blitzkrieg (or Blitz as it was abbreviated to) commenced in London in the early part of 1940 and then the war commenced in earnest for the civilian population 鈥� it was described as Total War. The air raids soon spread to the other major cities throughout the country including Liverpool but London remained the prime target for mass bombings.

I believe from memory that it was around the middle of 1940 that I was taken by my mother to the Anderson air raid shelter which had been so meticulously erected by my father, some six months earlier. We had used it for practice purposes before but this night 鈥� it was the real thing!! Fortunately, I was fast asleep but not for long. The screaming of the incendiary and explosive bombs, plus the returning anti-aircraft fire soon changed that. My father was working late nights at the time and when one bomb particularly sounded destined directly for us, my mother threw a mattress over us all. Everything suddenly went quiet and then we hear men鈥檚 voices approaching. Some ARP officers instructed us to abandon our shelter, as they feared there was an unexploded bomb close by. Our house, though not completely destroyed, was severely damaged and we were herded into the street. There were people running everywhere, with Ambulances and Fire Engines in our road. We were eventually taken into a neighbour鈥檚 house opposite ours 鈥� I will always remember her name 鈥� a Mrs. Alcock. There were a lot of people in her house and she made strong sweet tea for everyone.

When the 鈥渁ll clear鈥� siren was sounded, we were escorted to a local Community Centre and provided with blankets. That night we tried to sleep in the main hall on a hard wooden floor, with several other families. The following morning my mother鈥檚 sister came and took us to her home. My sisters were lodged with some other relatives. It probably took at least a week to rehouse us and we eventually moved to another house 3 miles nearer the city. We did have the option to return when our property was eventually repaired, but by then it was too big an upheaval.

Some weeks later, I remember feeling unwell and my mother took us to our family doctor. He took a very painful swab from up my nose and advised my mother to take me home and keep me indoors. Two days later the doctor drove up to our house and informed my mother that I had contracted diphtheria. This was a very prevalent contagious disease around this time and proved to be the death of hundreds of children. He arranged for me to be taken by ambulance to hospital and as I wasn鈥檛 too happy, informed me it would only be for 4 days. It was eventually nearly 4 months before I was fully recovered and allowed to return home!! I remember spending my 7th birthday and Christmas in hospital and only saw my parents twice, and that had to be from a distance.

It was now around February 1941 and the city of Liverpool was being attacked by air on a daily basis. There were hundreds of Barrage Balloon sites around the city, there was one very close to our new home. These balloons were launched high into the sky on wire and were supposed to hinder low flying aircraft, especially on dark nights, but I don鈥檛 know how effective they proved to be. Around this time, all iron railings around public parks, churches etc. were removed and taken away to be re-melted and re-used in the 鈥淲ar Effort鈥�.

This was the commencement of public Day Nurseries being built all over the entire country, as more and more women were needed to work in the factories and they were encouraged to leave their young children in safety while they were there. Thousands of women had already volunteered to join the A.T.S., the W.A.A.F. and the W.R.N.S. 鈥� the ladies鈥� equivalents of the Army, the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy. The Home Guard had already been formed soon after the declaration of War. This mainly consisted of older men not required for active service. However, they were mobilized to perform essential work and would have been utilized in the 鈥淔ront Line鈥� in an emergency.

Everything at this particular time was directed on concentration to the 鈥淲ar Effort鈥� and there was a distinct feeling that we are all in this together. Regardless of one鈥檚 political view (there was now a Coalition Government of all major parties), Sir Winston Churchill as leader rallied the people and nobody thought about losing the war. Everyone listened to his speeches on the radio, children alike, and even in the darkest moments we all knew that we would eventually win through, but there were to be a lot of sacrifices.

All food and clothing was now strictly rationed and every member of the family had their own Ration Book. From memory, I believe it was something like 2 ounces of butter and/or margarine (as butter was particularly scarce), 2 ounces of cheese, 2 ounces of tea, 4 ounces of sugar, etc. and this was per person. There was a Points system for tinned food and a clothing coupon scheme. To a child, the most important thing was all sweets were rationed!! Initially, I believe, the ration was half a pound of sweets per month per person but towards the end of the war, this rose to a pound per month per person. There was also a big 鈥淚F鈥� availability on these commodities. For a child, ice cream did not exist any more and bananas, coconuts and various other imported fruits disappeared from the market place for many years. I remember distinctly that sweets remained strictly rationed until around 1948 and I believe it was 1953 when we were allowed to throw away our Ration Books completely!! Due to the foregoing, my generation managed to hang on to their natural teeth well into retirement!!

During the regular 鈥渂ombing鈥� of Liverpool, as a family we used to utilize a local public air raid shelter which was situated a couple of hundred yards away, as the Anderson air raid shelter in our new home was flooded and unusable. Everybody used to have their own particular family 鈥渟pot鈥� in this public shelter and we used to have at least one bed situated there permanently, as we were automatically there on a nightly basis for around two years. I remember there was no mattress on this bed but you could at least try to sleep with a blanket around you. With at least four to a bed sharing, it could be a little difficult, to say the least. This was apart from the noise of the Sirens and sounds of distant explosions but fortunately some nights the Germans did not even visit us.

Being adjacent to a pub we had our share of 鈥渕erry makers鈥� in our air raid shelter but they were always good humoured in those days. Until everyone settled down for the night there was always plenty of singing and people playing accordions, etc. It all helped to keep spirits up but it did not take away the smell of stale tobacco smoke and beer, plus the other smells. After the 鈥渁ll clear鈥� had sounded or if there had not been a raid on the city that night, around two to three o鈥檆lock in the morning we would make our short trek back to our home. After our previous experience it was always nice to see it in one piece!! We would then all go to bed downstairs in our living room, where our beds were permanently situated 鈥� a bid double bed and two single beds. There was one particular lady who used to stay with her young son till first light, sleeping on the floor. Her husband was away on active duty and she did not wish to be alone. This situation carried on for some time but life carried on 鈥� children going to school and adults to work.

With the war involvement of the United States of America, the American Air Force came over to the U.K. in their thousands, together with their equipment 鈥� the 鈥淔lying Fortresses鈥� we used to call them. The Americans seemed very free and easy. They were soon very popular, especially when they started to fraternise with some of the local female population. They appeared to have plenty of money and they could also obtain nylon stockings!! They were also quite generous with their chewing gum and they had some great flavours, as in those days all we were used to was peppermint and that was rationed. Once they commenced their daylight bombing raids over German Occupied countries, we knew that the tide was starting to turn.

The rest is history 鈥� in 1944 the Allies invaded Europe on D-Day and in May 1945 Germany surrendered unconditionally. I remember as a schoolboy how joyous everyone was on what was to be called VE Day. As a family we went down to the centre of Liverpool and there was a huge congregation of people including service men and women outside St. George鈥檚 Hall. There wasn鈥檛 any public transport that night and I can remember walking back home 鈥� it was about 5 miles.

In August 1945 Japan also surrendered unconditionally, after the dropping of the second atomic bomb on the port of Nagasaki. This was referred to as VJ Day and duly celebrated.

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