大象传媒

My father, who was manager of another bank branch in Birkenhead, had a customer who needed an overdraft urgently for work connected with the war effort. Dad passed it on the last day of the blitz on Liverpool but all overdrafts had to be approved by Head Office in Liverpool 鈥� even in the middle of air-raids! He found that all the telephone lines to Liverpool were down with one extraordinary exception. In the corner of Exchange Flags was a tiny little shop called the 鈥榃izard鈥檚 Den鈥� in which a funny little old man sold party jokes and crackers and even Hitler had not succeeded in breaking his line! The ferry-boats were not operating with unexploded bombs in the river, the Underground was out of action for the same reason but the Mersey tunnel was open to walkers and cyclists only.

Dad used to ride a sit-up-and-beg bicycle to go to work; (he didn鈥檛 really approve of motor cars anyway and never had one) so 鈥� out came the bike with the necessary documents in the saddlebag and off he went through the tunnel to Liverpool. I wish I had seen him as he wheeled his somewhat battered old bike into the august and imposing banking hall, removing his cycle clips as he made his way up to the holy-of-holies where the overdraft was duly allowed.

This story was collected by Lis Edwards and was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Becky Barugh of the 大象传媒 Radio Shropshire CSV Action Desk on behalf of Mrs Margaret James. The story has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

See more of Margeret's stories:

• 1) September 3rd 1939 鈥� A definitive date in history, was a golden autumn day鈥�
• 2) 鈥淭he invasion has started!鈥�
• 3) An incendiary bomb dropped down our bedroom chimney!
• 4) By then, Dad had perfected our air-raid shelter
• 5) It was shattered into a thousand pieces
• 6) Feathers fell like snow
• 8) After the frantic years of the Blitz
• 9) Falling asleep in their food
• 10) It was bedlam!
• 11) Hardly Appropriate
• 12) Unsung Efforts

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