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I would like to tell you about my family when we were in the blitz on 17th and 18th May, 1942. The sirens blew and my Mam and five of my sisters went into the shelter in the garden. Our Dad was away in the Army and it was very hard for Mam to cope as she was three months pregnant. However, she never complained.
Normally our Grandma came across to us, but this particular night was so bad she stayed at home. She possibly had a very lucky escape.
We could hear the planes overhead and all of a sudden there was a terrific BANG. The sensation in the shelter was one which we would never forget. We were thrown up into the air and then back down again.
The Air Raid Wardens had to dig us all out of the shelter. They were marvellous. When they got us out our house was just a pile of rubble — everything was gone!
We were all injured. Mam had 8 stitches in her ankle. My sister Lily had three broken bones in her foot and I had my body in plaster and my arm in a cage as I had a broken humorous. All of my other sisters were taken to hospital with shock and shrapnel injuries. My youngest sister was only 3 years old but we all still remember that night — standing looking at where our house had once been, dressed only in our nighties.
We lived down Lee Smith Street in Hull and had only lived there for a few weeks. It was a very bad night and a lot of people were injured or lost their lives. Mind you, we had a lot of nights like that. Sometimes you went home and all the windows had been blown out but we kept on smiling and carried on as best we could.
I think what they call stress and trauma nowadays, we all experienced to some extent during the war years. I am 80 years old now, but I still remember that awful night.
Mrs. A. Beales

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