大象传媒

This story has been entered by Tony Greenfield, with the agreement of, and on behalf of, Ken Mayberry. Ken states "probably my earliest recollection of the war years was at the age of six, returning home from playing out, to find my mother anxiously talking to a neighbour and I recall their reference to a 大象传媒 radio announcement earlier in the day that "war had been declared". I was one of a family of seven and had an older brother and sister and a younger brother and sister. Father had been a career soldier before marrying Mother and had fought at Gallipoli during the first world war. He worked locally as an Administrator in Public Assistance (now the Benefits Agency). We lived in what was then a modern semi-detached house in the Liverpool suburb of Great Crosby. Along with my younger brother and sister, I attended Forefield Lane County Infant and Junior School throughout most of the war years. The school was about a mile from home and we would walk there and back each day in all weathers, without question, as there was no public transport. I recall in the early days of the war the excitement and activity when workmen arrived to dig out and prepare for the erection of an Anderson shelter in the garden at the rear of the house. The shelter was constructed of corrugated steel and came with a bright shiny galvanised finish, which was subsequently hidden from view under the earth that had been dug out to accommodate it. Father paid a local joiner to construct bunk-beds in the shelter and together with a few basic amenities it eventually became a second home for the family. Living within three miles of the Liverpool docks area, we soon became the centre of attention of the Luftwaffe and during the period 1940/1941 the whole of this area was bombed relentlessly. It became a regular nightly event to be wakened in the dark by the Air Raid siren and our parents would hurry us down to the shelter in the garden where we could hear the aircraft overhead and the crump of bombs dropping nearby and feel the ground shudder. Our local neighbourhood suffered extensive damage from the bombing with whole streets being completely destroyed. Most of the bombing raids took place during the night and we would wait to see each morning the extent of the damage to our immediate district and to hear the stories of the narrow escapes and also of the casualties. As children we were forbidden to pick up shrapnel from the bombs that peppered the area and our movements were at the time strictly limited. Being too old for further military service, father continued in his civilian employment during the day and spent most nights assisting as a Fire Watcher/Local Rescue Volunteer during this period of the blitz. My elder brother who was nearing his sixteenth birthday acted as a messenger for his local Support Group and rode his bicycle around the district ARP centres. He had a few near disasters when caught up in air raids but apart from singed eyebrows and a blackened face his injuries were never serious and secretly I think he enjoyed it. He did eventually join the RAD and flew as a Rear Gunner before an unrelated injury invalided him out of air crew. I can remember the tremendous spirit of cooperation that existed between everyone during these years; we shared everything, food, clothing and shelter. The family of Anne Ropbinson of 大象传媒 fame (The Weakest Link) lived next door to us , although I can't remember Anne or her brother being at home during this period. They had an aging grandfather living with them who we understood had travelled the world and had a parrot that would mimic all the voices and sounds of the time, much to the delight of all the children. I recall the night when her father was home on leave (he was a serving captain in the Army) and the sirens had gone off, heralding another bombing raid, and we were all safely tucked up in our air-raid shelter when father appeared, followed by Captain Robinson and they crouched inside the shelter while the most horrendous bombardment was taking place outside. The artillery battery on the Mersey shore-line, some two miles away, was blasting away, we could hear explosions in the distance and the night sky was as bright as day through the through the gaps in the air-raid shelter door. Then there was the noise of aircraft overhead and the clear whistle of bombs falling and I remember as the whistling faded, Captain Robinson shouted 'down' and with that there was the most almighty explosion, the whole shelter shook violently, glass and debris rained down around us, covering everything in dust. The noise of falling masonry seemed to go on for a long time and then everything went quiet, no one was hurt and the men emereged from the shelter to survey the damage. We children were confined to the shelter for most of the day but when we were allowed out the scene was hard to believe; where there had been houses opposite ours there were just piles of rubble and the houses behind ours had suffered the same fate. Our own home and that of Anne Robinson's family had survived, albeit in a sorry state, the windows and most of the doors had gone, there were holes in the roofs and the chimneys blown away. I don't remember the clean up; we children were all marched off to stay with a local relative for a few days, returning each evening to sleep in the shelter that had protected us so well - I can only assume that it was on the basis that 'lightning never strikes twice'. There was a factory owned by the Littlewoods organisation close to our home, which had been given over in the later stages of the war to the dismantling and packing for shipment of a wide variety of military vehicles, from tanks to huge American armoured personnel carriers. These vehicles would arrive in great convoys and be parked up in the the streets surrounding the factory, which was a tremendous attraction to us kids, as we would compete with one another to see who could drive these monsters; that was until we were caught and dragged home to be severely reprimanded by our parents. To my recollection, nobody ever really succeeded in starting one of the vehicles but very occasionally, more by luck or accident, we would shift one into gear, then by yanking on the starter button the monster would lurch forward, coming to a sudden stop as it shunted into the rear of the vehicle in front, fortunately without injuring anyone. Despite our mischief, I don't really think we seriously affected the eventual outcome of the war but we did keep the factory watchman on his toes. Despite the restrictions, the shortages and the risks. they were interesting and busy times for us as children and I believe gave us an appreciation and understanding that has set the standard for our future lives".

Ken and his wife Jean have lived in Teesdale for many years now, first in Staindrop, then in Eggleston and, latterly,
in Barnard Castle.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.