大象传媒

I was seven when the war started so the fact didn't mean much to me at the time. In 1940, my father became the caretaker at Bourne methodist church on Anlaby Road. One of the school rooms at the rear of the church became a rest room for the people who had been "bombed out". I remember people coming in: they were shocked and carried little bundles of things they had managed to snatch from the ruins of their homes. I particularly remember one lady who came in holding a ragged piece of cloth from which she wouldn't be parted. It was all she could find in the rubble. This was a night when a land mine was dropped in a heavily populated area nearby and many homes were destroyed. We provided drinks for the people - I can't remember any food. One bad night the gas main was severed so we had to boil kettles of water on the living room fire - a big job when there were numerous people to provide for. Often service people came into our room to chat during the night. The carpet had many feet walking over it, but it was still going strong in 1988. Another church room was set aside for the services to use. They could sit quietly to write letters, have a drink and something to eat. My job was to toast the teacakes on our gas cooker - I wish I had a pound for everyone I'd toasted -I'd be quite rich!

At first we had no shelter for our use and during raids we sat or slept behind the huge oak wardrobe in my parent's bedroom. The windows in the rooms were high -about six feet and covered with wooden shutters for blackout. During one of the heavy raids the blast blew the shutters down and all we could see was a vivid orange sky. We learnt later that Hammonds store had been demolished and that a German plane had come down in the ruins. We did eventually have a shelter but sometimes the raid had started before the siren went. One night this happened and we had to run across the big yard as planes were swooping overhead.I can still see one that swept down firing as he came. We lived near the railway and the Western General Hospital so I suppose we were in a target area. The old hospital building still has chips in the brickwork from the bullets.

Schooling was a hit and miss affair. One night we had a raid and there was a vivid orange sky to the west. I told my mother about it and said I wouldn't be going to school in the morning as it had been on fire during the night. She didn't accept this excuse of course, and sent me off as usual. When I returned some short time later she was surprised to be told the school was damaged by fire -" I told you so," I said! I was evacuated several times, but the least said about that the better. I was lucky with one family who treated me as their own daughter. I was very happy at Brighouse. I was due to be evacuated to Canada where I had a cousin. My bags were packed ready for the next boat when we had the news of the torpedoing of a boat carrying children to Canada. All further voyages were cancelled. If I had gone, who knows what would have happened? I attended six different schools during the war so it's a wonder I learnt anything at all. However my parents believed in education so I learnt much from them for which I am eternally grateful.

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