大象传媒

As a small child I lived with my parents and grandparents. My father worked at Cammell Lairds and my grandfather was a joiner. They were both air raid wardens.

On the night of the 3rd May the family decided to go into the Anderson Shelter in the back garden. We had not been out all winter as it was so damp and cold in the shelter. If you took in any sort of heating, the fumes nearly gassed you! However, recently there had been a few landmines dropped nearby. We think it was because there was an orphanage at the top of the road and the Germans thought it was a barracks. These devastating landmines were getting too near! We wrapped up and went into the shelter. The two men took turns walking around during the air raids and being in the shelter with us.

During the early hours of the morning, our house was hit by a landmine. The house was completely demolished and the shelter caved in. As it was caving in I remember seeing bright colors outside and things like cookers flying through the air. My father was buried under the house near to our parrot. The parrot started shouting "What's Up! What's Up!" and one of the rescuers heard it. They dug and found my dad very seriously injured. He had half of his face blown off and various other injuries. He was taken to hospital in the front of a furniture van, sitting up! He was able to tell them that we were buried. It was about 8 hours after the bomb went off that they found us, just before the gas and water mains burst. Our immediate neighbours were all killed, including my best friend and her baby brother. They walked us out over our house, which was completely flat, although I remember seeing a chair standing eerily in the middle of the debris.

We were taken over to a damaged brick shelter in the middle of the road. Granny had shrapnel through her head which came out at her temple. She was bleeding badly and was taken to hospital. My grandfather had serious injuries to his face, which I won't go into, and was also taken to hospital. They wanted to take mum too because her face was injured but she wouldn't leave me. We were in the shelter for some time when a voluntary policeman who knew the family took us to his house. He carried me on his shoulders and when we got home they put me to bed. I stayed there for three days as I had no clothes and mum was too busy going round the hospitals trying to find her mum and dad and her husband. She went down to the Pier Head where they had notices of the injured. One notice said that dad had been killed and her mum and dad were on Urgent Notes in two different hospitals. However, someone came and told us that they had seen dad at Whiston Hospital. Mum was able to see him before he was taken off to Baguley in Manchester where he stayed for 9 months, during which time mum was never able to visit as she couldn't afford to get there. Dad was allowed home for a weekend after receiving terrible skin grafts and reconstructuring to build up his face, with a blue glass eye- his eyes were brown but they had no brown ones at the time. Granny and Grandad were eventually both moved to Broadgreen Hospital and we were eventually rehoused into a furnished house belonging to a soldier and his family.

We also had my grandfather's joinery business in Cable Street destroyed on that night. Today, all these years later, my husband still runs it in the same name, from a workshop in Bootle.

Back to my three days in bed. The only books I had to read were the Bible and Aesop's Fables! After three days, someone gave us some Sterling's cheque and they bought me a coat, a dress, socks, shoes and underclothes which I wore for school, and they were washed and dried overnight for the next day. At this time I went to St. John's Knotty Ash, along with Ken Dodd. Someone we knew used to take me home to their house every lunch time for food. When I got my dress and coat etc. it was as if someone had given me a thousand pounds. I was made up with them, although I had lost a wardrobe full of beautiful clothes and a room full of dolls.

It was a terrible time but we were all alive. Many of our neighbours and air raid wardens were killed but the friendship and kindness of people who helped and shared will never be forgotten.

'This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by 大象传媒 Radio Merseyside鈥檚 People鈥檚 War team on behalf of the author and has been added to the site with his / her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.'

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