大象传媒

By Bill Hopper:
I remember the war starting when I was a young boy. My parents were very worried that my dad would have to join the forces, but we later found out that as a miner he was in a reserved occupation.

Nevertheless, he wanted to do his bit for his country, so he joined the Home Guard. I remember him coming home with his rifle and his uniform one Sunday morning. I tried to pick up his rifle, but I couldn't because it was too heavy!

After the Germans started to bomb Coventry, my dad and his friend decided they would build a shelter at the bottom of the garden to protect their families. When the air raid sirens went, we would go into the shelter with various items to keep our minds off the bombing - which was almost impossible as the noise was quite deafening at times.

We always had oil lamps in the shelter because all the children were frightened of the dark. There were also beds so that we could all go to sleep if we felt tired, plenty of water and a small primus stove in case anyone wanted a hot drink.

We used to guess what sort of plane was flying above us based on the noise the engine made. We would listen to the bombs dropping over Coventry and Birmingham, and when the all clear siren sounded we would come out of the shelter, look towards Birmingham and see the flames from the buildings that had been bombed that night. It was quite frightening to think we were so close to annihilation.

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