大象传媒

I was born on 07/11/40 at Walsall Manor Hospital. It was a bad time for my Parent鈥檚 and everyone else in those days. England was at War with Germany and the Bomb鈥檚 where dropping all around us. Walsall is situated about 9 miles north of Birmingham the nearest City to us is Lichfield. Walsall and the surrounding areas where mostly Industry and this is why we all had to expect Hitler鈥檚 Bombers to come over the Midlands and try and put the factories out of Business that where producing weapons for the war effort. Even though food and clothing and the little luxuries of life were on ration people seemed to be a lot happier in those days than they are today. It was no use moaning because everyone was in the same boat (situation). I remembered quite a lot about those days. The saddest day of my life was when I lost my Brother Michael he was knocked down by a lorry when he was crossing the road near to where I was staying at the time. He died in The General Hospital Walsall. What happened was Michael had come round to our Grandmother鈥檚 where I was staying who was our Mother鈥檚 Mother. My Brother was staying at our other Grandmother鈥檚 our Father鈥檚 Mother 5 minutes walk away. It was straight forward to get from one Grandparent鈥檚 to the other I wasn鈥檛 allowed to go to my other Grandparent鈥檚 on my own because I was too young. On this Fateful Day Michael had come round to be with me, we were happy together as I remember we used to play all sorts of games as we did then the same as any kid鈥檚 of our age. When it was time for Michael to go I remember that I didn鈥檛 want Him to and I played merry hell for him to stay, I screamed and screamed for Him to stay a while longer. Eventually he calmed me down and told me that he had to go on an errand on his way back home and if he didn鈥檛 hurry the shops would be shut I didn't know any different then so I had to give in and let him go I was still hanging on to his jacket but I had to let go in the end. That was the last I ever saw of my Dear Brother Michael whom I adored. I have never really got over His tragic Death I often wonder what would have happened if I could have just held on to him for a few more second鈥檚 would he have missed the lorry. On the other hand what if I had let him go instead of hanging onto him would he have been half way home and instead of under the lorry. This has always haunted me and always will I suppose, I am the eldest of four Sister鈥檚 and two Brother鈥檚 and I love them all to bits but I will never forget my Elder Brother Michael I named my youngest son after Him.

When I was about 5 or 6 I had an accident not far from where my Brother was Killed I was pushed of a guard rail by the bus-stop near to my granny's house. The Side of my head hit the kerb and split it wide open I didn鈥檛 feel a thing but when I felt the blood running down my face I put my hand in to the gash and it felt huge, I just screamed and ran like hell to get to my granny's, fortunately for me my uncle Sid was at my granny's, he must have heard me coming up the street screaming he ran to meet me and picked me up took me into the house wrapped a bath towel around my head and took me to the General Hospital on the first available bus. When we got to the Hospital I was rushed into what I thought was an operating theatre I had an injection in my right leg then the Doctor started to stitch my wound and I felt every single stitch there was two nurses holding me down someone was holding my head and I screamed the place down with the pain it was something that I never forgot it was terrible but necessary to save my life the doctor told my uncle Sid that another eighth of an inch and I would have been a goner if I remember right it took about 25 stitches to close my wound. After the accident I seemed to go in to a shell I went very shy, at school I would sit at the back of the class trying to hide from view of the teacher. I don鈥檛 know why I hid myself from view unless it was because a few weeks after the accident I came out in a terrible rash all down the one side of my face the Doctor said it was something to do with the Blood that had poured down my face at the time of the accident. There could be no other reason, thinking about it because I could read and write before I started school. My Aunt Betty had seen to that, she was like a mother to me; she was my mother's sister. These were the only two on my mother's side of her family my Grandfather had been wounded in the first world war, he died just before my mom was married in 1936, his death was caused by a piece of shrapnel that had been travelling around his body for years, the Doctor said to my granny, 鈥淚t could have happened any time so you can be thankful for the years you had together since the end of the War (WW1) my granny got married again just before I was born in 1940. It was different with my Dads side of the Family he had a lot of sisters and one Brother my uncle Ted he was quite a character but that's another story. As I was saying there was no other reason for me to be shy so it must have been this rash that made me so. It seemed to take a long while for the rash to clear up, not long after that we had to move from my granny鈥檚 to a House of our own that the council had allocated to us it was about 5 miles from my granny鈥檚 up the north of the borough, it didn鈥檛 take long to settle in to my new school.

Just as I was settling into the routine of school my Father was taken ill. Now my Father had a very heavy industrial job in a Brass Foundry and it was affecting his health. He was off work for what seemed to me like a very long time, eventually we had to move out and move back in with our relatives. This time we could not stay because room was scarce. One fine summer's day a car pulled up outside my granny Davis鈥檚 house, we were told to get in and that we would go for a ride. I would guess we were in the car for over an hour when we pulled up outside this huge House with lots of other Buildings. We were told to get out of the car and go inside I didn鈥檛 mention that there were four of us my Younger Brother Tony, my younger Sister鈥檚, Pat & Helen and myself. I was told that we had to stop at this home until my Father鈥檚 Health improved and that I had to be good and set an example to my siblings, I don鈥檛 know who it was who took us in the car but he made sure that I understood my responsibilities. 鈥淚鈥檓 going now and you mustn't cry you must show your Brother and Sister鈥檚 how brave you are鈥�. As soon as the man got back into the car my sisters started to cry, I told them not to worry I would look after them.

The two nuns that had been standing in the hallway now came up to us and told us to follow them and they would show us where we had to stay. After a few minutes of walking down several long corridors we came to a dormitory, 鈥淭his is where you boys will be staying for now your sister鈥檚 will be in another part of the ground鈥檚 for Girls鈥�. We said goodbye for now and that we would see them after we had settled in.

When we had been there for a few weeks we were told my Brother and I that is 鈥淵ou will be moving in to St. Joan鈥檚 tomorrow so that you can be with your Sisters鈥�. My Brother and I where so excited we couldn鈥檛 wait for the next day to come. The next day we were moved out of our room and took across the grounds to our new home. When we got to St. Joan鈥檚 we were taken to a dormitory for boys when the door opened there was 12 beds. Down the other end of the corridor was the dormitory for the girl鈥檚 it was a long corridor and half way along was the stairway on either side was toilet鈥檚, the nun鈥檚 room鈥檚 and a couple of side rooms. These side rooms where empty and I didn鈥檛 think anything of it at the time. Later on there was an outbreak of either measles or some other contagious disease and that's when the side rooms that were empty when we arrived were now used for isolation wards for those of us that where taken ill my sister Helen was one of the unlucky ones. The epidemic as the nuns called was soon over and everything was back too normal in no time at all.

I really loved this part of the home especially being with our sister鈥檚 it was like being a family the only thing missing was Mom and Dad. I was appointed head of the boy鈥檚 dormitory because I was the eldest. We were all there because our sister鈥檚 where in that particular home and the mother superior of the homes thought it a good idea to get those boys in St. Michael鈥檚 who had sister鈥檚 in St. Joan鈥檚 united. It was a very strict upbringing when we first arrived at the homes after settling in we was told the do鈥檚 and don'ts. Now if any of these rules where broken it was punishable the punishment may have been, sent to bed without food, strapped with a leather torse, made to bend over and given six stokes of the cane. I personally had all of these punishments quite a few times during my stay at the home BUT I would like to stress that it was all of my own doing for being so disobedient. I thought I could get away with it because I seemed to be well in with the Nun鈥檚 but how wrong I was. I don't hold any grudges for my punishers as I have already stated it was all my own doing. I think that one has to accept a certain amount of punishment during their lifetime, I think it teaches one respect for their elders, I think it鈥檚 very wrong the way that this form of punishment over the years has been misinterpreted as physical abuse the word abuse needs to be redefined, this of course is just my opinion, if I hadn't broken certain rules in the first place I would not have been punished.

When we had settled down at St. Joan鈥檚 I was asked by the Mother Superior if I would like to be taught how to serve Mass. I was gobs smacked to think that they would ask me to learn these duties after all I was not exactly a little angel so to speak. I said, 鈥淚 would be delighted to learn to serve Mass鈥�. If I had known how difficult it was to learn the Latin Language I would never have volunteered to be an Altar Boy. Once I had learned the Latin for the mass I began my altar boy duties. I had to be up at 6.am every morning to serve mass in the chapel for the nuns, then back to the home to make my bed, make sure everyone in the dorm was up and had made their beds and assist those that couldn鈥檛 quite do the it on their own mop and polish the dormitory floor then it was down to breakfast.

When Breakfast was over everyone, except the very young, had to clear the table wash and dry and put away all the breakfast dishes and reset the table for teatime by putting out the tea set, and finally polish and mop floor. We were always rushed to do this because we had to be showered changed and ready for 8.am Mass. Mass always finished between 08.40 and 0845 then it was straight to school. There was two schools known as the top and the bottom school the top was for the infants and the bottom were for the juniors and seniors it used to take 10 minutes to walk to the bottom class so if Mass ran a bit late which did happen sometimes but not very often we had to run like the clappers to get there before the bell rang for assembly. During my last twenty-two years on the Railway I have lost count at the amount of times I have gone past those homes and the wonderful memories come flooding back so vivid as though it was only a few weeks ago instead of a lifetime away.

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