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Our Unsung Heroes

For a short period my sister and I were evacuated. Mum was in the hospital, her nerves were shattered and Dad had been called up. This family of four would never be reunited again.
Dad got a spot of compassionate leave to come home and sort things out. I had gone down with blood poisoning and had to return to Hull but Ruth, my sister, had to stay where she was. I was asked ‘Who do you want to go home to Jack?’ Without a moments hesitation I replied ‘Aunt Em’s.’ ‘I hoped you would say that’ came the reply. We both knew the implications of such a choice.
On arrival I was taken to Dr. Houston, who gave me some foul smelling and tasting medicine. It was so bad it was sure to do me good! On the way to Aunt Em’s house in Churchill Street I asked her what had happened to the back of the surgery. ‘We are lucky we still have a Doctor’ she replied. ‘He was about to go out on a house-call when the sirens went off and as he was about to get into his car he heard a flapping sound overhead and there, lit up by firelight, suspended by the fire’s up-draught, was a landmine, directly over Stewart and Craig’s plating shop. The night shift were still inside working at the time. Without a thought for himself, Dr Houston ran round into the plating shop entrance nearby and grabbed the nearest man. He ordered everyone out and told them to leave everything, telling them all they were about to be hit by a mine.
On the way back to his car he shouted the same message as a warning to everyone in the area and then continued with his house-call as though nothing had happened. Incidentally, Dr. Houston lived to be 90 years of age. Had it not been for the up-draught from the burning stacks of timber this story may never have been told!
The raid strategy was very simple. Send in an advance force loaded with incendiary bombs, follow the course of the River Humber and set fire to the timber stocks lining the banks. Other targets would include wet docks, dry docks, repair works, storage sheds which were all lit up by the first wave. How did they know where to drop the bombs? That was easy. During 1936 we were treated to a preview of Count von Zeppelin’s latest product, the Graf Zeppelin, doing a courtesy fly-by following a similar ‘treat’ down south. As a six-year-old I remember seeing it fly over Woodhouse Street where we lived. There was a drawing lesson after lunch and those of us who could, would proceed to draw it. My contribution was a drawing of a yacht. I thought that Zeppelins only sounded like aeroplanes anyway!
After seeing this ‘demo’ by the Zepplin in ’36 and following a day time attack and four serious night alerts it was not a bit surprising Mam had to be moved to a safer place and we two were once more evacuated. Ruth stayed with various people until she married in 1951. Aunt Em was always there for anyone who need her and was always the first port of call if anyone got an unexpected leave pass. It was no surprise to find someone on the settee in the mornings, and the poor dog asleep at the foot of the stairs. The front door was never locked. The dog ‘Mick’ went out with Uncle Jim wildfowling, serving as a ‘retriever’ although there was nothing in his pedigree to suggest he could do the job! On returning from these expeditions the ‘game’ they bagged supplemented our diet very nicely. Rabbits, ducks, wood pigeons, they made excellent and very tasty meals. However, in 1942 Uncle Jim had to register for service. This was unthinkable at 40 years of age and it should not have happened. Unfortunately, he had some military service experience for the 1920’s and thus it was deemed proper to ignore his age. His three brothers were also called up. My father was sent to Cirencester, and John sent to North Africa where he was captured and interred in Stalag 12B. Charlie spent his entire service at Takokadi Ghana. After two bouts of malaria at the end of the war he came home as did the others. Uncle Jim said we didn’t know the half of it!

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