大象传媒

I was born in 1937 and do not remember the outbreak of W.W,2, My earliest memories are of the later war years. I was born and grew up on an isolated farm in the Peak District some 12 miles from Sheffield. There was no electricity at the farm but this did not mean we did not have to comply with the black-out restrictions. In the winter-time we relied on candles,torches(more commonly known as flash-lights at that time) and paraffin lamps. One of my earliest recollections is the day that the milking-machine arrived.A small Lister petrol engine provided the power for the vacuum pump which was needed to run the machine. We already had black-outs made from wood and black canvas to fill in the cowshed and dairy windows. Another memory is the hoods made to restrict the car headlights in order to comply with the black-out regulations. I also remember the sound of the German bombers over Sheffield.The explosions could be clearly heard.I was often told to sit under a stout,antique oak table when the bombers were about.My parents closed the heavy wooden shutters to the windows and we all sat fearfully in the faint,flickering firelight.We all followed the progress of the war on the radio news.As we had no electricity the radio was powered by a dry H T(High Tension) battery and an accumulator.This had to be taken to the local garage to be re-charged every couple of weeks or so.So although we had usually more than one accumulator the radio would sometimes not work because the accumulator was "flat".Trips to Joe Fletchers garage in Baslow were infrequent due to the petrol rationing.Rationing of food and clothing were also problems for my parents. Living in the countryside had its compensations.The farm was over-run with rabbits but these did provide a source of coupon-free meat.We also regularly killed a pig and shared the meat with our friends and neighbours.This was reciprocated by them.We also had home-grown potatoes,eggs and poultry.It was a strict regulation in the war that all farmers had to grow at least one acre of potatoes.Local school children helped with the picking and sorting of the potatoes.Small potatoes were boiled and fed to the house pig and the poultry.This helped to eke out the concentrated animal feed,which was also rationed.In later years,ironically,perhaps,German prisoners of war helped with the potato harvest.I remember them coming to the farm.They coveted apples and Woodbines. Looking back I have two vivid memories of WW 2.Firstly I was shocked to see the utter devastation and desolation in the once proud City of Sheffield.The area known as "The Moor" in Sheffield was reduced to little more than piles of red bricks,but miraculously the trams were rattling along as usual.My second and perhaps most vivid memory concerns a single incident on one summer afternoon. I had accompanied my father with his two shire horses Dolly and Taffy and a mowing machine to cut a field of grass for hay.It was a lovely warm,sunny day.All mowing machines were noisy but a new noise became increasingly apparent above the sound of the mower.The horses were usd to the mower but were obviously aware that there was something strange.The source became quickly apparent.A German war plane came over the hill,from the direction of Calver,behind us and came very low directly over us.I was very young but I remember that I could clearly see the rear gunner sitting in his turret.He looked at me and I knew that he could kill all of us.My Dad always said afterwards that the plane was so low he could have thrown his cap over it!The plane went down the valley towards Chatsworth House,about a mile away.We heard gunfire from that direction and we learned afterwards that the West Front had been damaged.Chatsworth is the home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire,but was used as a girls boarding school at that time.We later heard that the plane had dropped all its bombs in the Manchester area and was thought to be running out of fuel.It crashed somewhere in Eastern England. Can anyone throw more light on the attack on Chatsworth House or the eventual end of the flight,please?

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