大象传媒

As the bombs fell during the Nottingham blitz in 1941, my grandmother decided to move her young family to a safer air raid shelter down the road. As they got ready to make a run for it, they opened the front door only to find an incendiary bomb on the path in front of the gate. It was very much active and spitting phosphorous ! This was their only route out of the house, so my grandmother grabbed a sandbag lying nearby and threw it on the bomb, saving them all. Where she got the strength from she never knew, as normally she couldn't drag one across the ground never mind pick it up and throw it !
The front path still bore the scar of the bomb 30 years later when she moved house. It may well still be there now !

The following day, my father, then aged 9, went out with his pals looking for shrapnel. They decided to look in Bridgford Park and came across the park keeper, tears rolling down his cheeks looking into a very large crater. The "bloody hun" had bombed his beloved bowling green, and not just any old bowling green, Nottingham's best ! Despite repair and TLC the green never recovered, a lighter patch could always be seen where the "bloody hun" had left their mark !

During 1944 prior to the DDay landings, Nottingham became a temporary home to the American GIs. Loughborough Road in West Bridgford was full of American vehicles and GIs waiting to move down south. On this particular day my father came cycling out of school on to Loughborough Road along with the rest of the school. The GIs started to throw sweets out to the children, dad became distracted, collided with a school girl, flew over the handlebars and ended up in a very bloody mess on the ground. The GIs ran over, helped him up and offered him a large block of "K" ration chocolate, which he declined, owing to the fact that his front teeth had been loosened by the impact with the tarmac. He still has the scar on his top lip !

My father's uncle was a despatch rider in the army and was home on leave. His job in the army meant that he carried a revolver. On this particular leave my father found the gun took it outside and went to play cowboys and indians with with the next doors neighbours son !!! The neighbour's father just happened to be a particularly conciencious special constable, who took a dim view of 8 year old boys waving revolvers about !!

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