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After Coventry...! by Pat Bromley

I was 8 years old, living with my parents William and Doris Moore in Solihull when war was declared. They owned a cycle business in Solihul at that time which they closed down when my father began working for The Rover Company in Coventry. We moved to Earlswood and my father cycled each day to Coventry.
By day we watched 'dog fights' in the skies and every night listened to the harrowing noise of the bombers flying overhead.
Earlswood lakes apparently formed a horseshoe, which appeared to be the chosen direction finder for the enemy air force. In hindsight we realised why we had heard so many planes flying overhead on the 13th, it was an obvious reconnaissance for the bombing raid the next night.
We were very aware of the bombardment-taking place around us and I remember well the night of November 14th.1940. On that night my younger sister and I went to bed but didn't sleep. We decided to play conkers - every time a bomb dropped we each tried to be the first to hit the bottom of the bed board with a conker. As 8oo bombs fell that night we were not short of activity in our game. Ultimately we spent that night and most nights closeted on camp beds in the hall, devoid of glass windows, of our house. Before trying to sleep we went outside into the garden to see the scarlet sky over Coventry as the city burned.
My school in Wood Lane suffered bomb damage one night and there was talk of spies (dropped by parachute) in the hedgerows around our house. My father was part of the local home guard, patrolling the lanes around where we lived.

The Coventry raid flattened the Rover factory and my father was one of the 'key' workers moved rapidly to Barnoldswick in Lancashire. A cotton mill was taken over by the company and the essential work (unknown by me at the time) continued. Mother received a telegram a week or so later from father telling her to pack up all our processions at the house, as we were all to move north.
Christmas that year was a sad affair. I think we had sausages and mash NOT my pet black and white rabbit! A close escape!!
For 3 months or so we lived in an old terraced mill house, which backed on to the very tall mill wall. Cooking was done in an old rusty fire range, which also served to heat the house !! and water. Baths were taken in a large tin tub in front of the fire. The toilet was a two seater at the end of the yard!

All empty property in the surrounding area was 'taken over' for the duration of the war plus 100 days afterwards. We were lucky to be given a brand new three bedroomed cottage close to the village on Elslack near Skipton. Here we had a bathroom and eventually electricity (oil lamps were our original lighting)
We lived in Yorkshire for the best part of 5 years (my prime learning years). School was 'Miss Todd's' serving the two villages of Elslack and Broughton. 12 pupils aged 5 to 12 seemed to be the full quota. We walked the mile or so to school each day across the field even when one could not see the hedgerows for snow. During the very cold days Mother would walk to the school at lunchtime to bring hot food for all the pupils (and the teacher).
School holidays were spent helping out on the neighbouring farm.
I learned to drive much of the farm harvesting equipment with the help of the two farm horses, Bess and Gypsy.
I also helped bring newborn lambs back to the farm and my mother helped revive several small ones in front of our fire, feeding them by using a baby's bottle..
Life was really good - we made 'tree house over the 'beck' and learned to swim in the waters, creating dams to make our pools larger. We walked or cycled everywhere..

Things we were aware of:
1.The arrival of 'land girls' in I guess 1942 to give help to the local farms.
2. Ultimately the Polish refugees who were also brought in to help with farm work.

What we were not aware of:
1. Many food shortages while we lived in Yorkshire
2. As children we hardly knew there was a war on until Christmas each year when we visited our Grandparents in northern Birmingham and spent most of the time there in the air raid shelter.

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