大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Roger Marsh of the 鈥楢ction Desk 鈥� Sheffield鈥� Team on behalf of Mr. M Hampson, and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

More stories from Bradford in Wartime

By
Mr. M Hampson

The local parks had what were called holidays at home. Events took place in local parks and the only one that I can remember were sheep dog trials, there were most likely others, but I do not remember them.

There used to be a dance called the 鈥楴elson Waltz鈥�; at the end of the dance couples kissed. My eldest sister caught gingivitis from doing this, all her teeth were pulled out at home by the dentist who was called Ridev. There is a dentist of the same name currently working from the same surgery, if it is the same family it must be at least the grandson, maybe the great grandson.

During one of the Bradford air raids, my father claimed to have seen, from the attic window, bombs falling on a local radio station. During the blackout, my mother woke up my youngest sister and told her to hurry up or she would be late for work. She ran to the main road and asked if the first tram had gone. She was told that if she waited, she would be in time for the last tram.

When my eldest sister got married, her brother in law was in the fleet air arm. He served on H.M.S. Battler and he got me some photos of hell cats landing and taking off, on the back they were stamped, 'not for publication'. What became of them, I do not know. My brother brought a book home on aircraft recognition. There were photos and silhouettes of British, German and Italian aircraft.

Cigarettes were not easy to get, my father smoked Woodbines; he was only allowed five Woodbines and five Pashas. They were oval in shape. Yet on newsreels Churchill is always seen with a Havana cigar. Was this one law for the rich and one for the poor?

At the end of the war one of my family brought home some chocolate with German writing on the wrapper. I suppose that it had been diverted and a lot of things got the same treatment.

The Photos were taken after the war, near to Low Moor Iron Works, I think this may have been a case of turning 鈥渟words into ploughshares鈥�.

I used to have two tinplate buses; the livery was red and white. At the time, local buses were painted khaki, so they got green paint and repainted them.

There were few Americans about, if we saw one we used to say 鈥淕ot any gum chum?" They usually had.

Pr-BR

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