大象传媒

After the all clear, following a bombing raid and as the clearing up started, children were privy to conversations of the grownups."Did you hear Mrs so and so and her family were all killed,direct hit on the shelter in Wellington lane,they`re still digging the rest out you know".The newspaperman fails to appear, a very important man,bringer of comics,his wooden trolly full of papers wouldn`t be seen again,he having been killed in the last night`s raid.More and more gutted homes around your own street but strangely no thought that you or your family might be next.No stress counselling for people they just plodded on,went to work if there was any workplace left to go to. Children lost months of schooling with their schools damaged or destroyed.Efforts were made to repair places and you can remember being bussed to other schools and being placed in the hall to attempt to do your lessons,it must have been a nightmare for the teachers.For long periods children were left at home, you played in the bombed out houses and rubble,police and airaid wardens had weightier things to do than chase kids.

Picture a wrecked house somewhere off Margaret street in Hull,all that`s left standing is one wall the bedroom floor cantilevered out from it,and the stairway up to the floor.An intrepid seven year old boy has climbed up there and is bouncing up and down on the edge of the floor. The floor is swinging wildly like some wooden trampolene.The rest of us watch from a safe distance,sensing something is going to happen,it does,wall and floor collapse with the child underneath it.We watch fascinated,suddenly there`s a stirring of bricks,the boy emerges bloody, and screaming for dear life runs off home. We continue with our games, show over.

My pal George asked me did I want to see his Grandad who was dead.The Grandad hadn`t been killed in the war,just died of old age.Along with Charlie who lived next to the school we all troop off to George`s house in Park rd.Grandad is lying in state in a white nightshirt in his coffin in the front room.George`s mother supervising advises that we all touch Grandad before we leave so that we won`t dream of him at night.Obediently we all touch Grandad`s cold hands and march out.George rises in our estimation.

As a child people`s deaths seemed unreal.George`s grandad was the only dead person I`d seen.Would all the people being killed be laid out like George`s grandad.One day I went on a tour of the city centre with Mum,following a raid.We watched people working in what was left of the basement of a large bombed out building."Naval headquarters"somebody says,"can`t get them out,they`re putting lime down,"I asked why they were putting lime down and didn`t get a reply.

In the winter of 1941 my father was directed to work on Merseyside,Mum and me were left behind in Hull,suprisingly during the war the authorities could direct you to work in any part of the country.In December a van arrived and men loaded our possesions and we embarked on the train leaving our little terraced house in Hudson street.Dad had found lodgings for us in Birkenhead where he continued his job as a stevedore loading and unloading ships.Evidence of the May blitz was everywhere,bombed sites to rival Hull`s.There was one big difference though air raids had ceased, no sirens, no bombs.We didn`t have to cower in shelters anymore ,not that we were to know this at the time.This all clear was to continue until the war`s end in 1945.We were very lucky as our neighbours family and friends were to suffer for another four years back in Hull."A north eastern town was attacked today"was a stock 大象传媒 phrase, never Hull.I wonder if George and Charlie survived it all?.

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