大象传媒

After the War.

When we went to bed on Monday night 7th May 1945 we didn鈥檛 know the War in Europe was over?
Mr Winston Churchill broadcast to the Nation with the official news immediately after Big Ben had struck 3pm on Tuesday May 8th 1945. He finished his speech by saying 鈥淎lthough Japan remained to be subdued the war in Europe would end at midnight. 鈥淎dvance Britannia! Long live the cause of freedom! God Save the King.鈥�
When Mum heard the news, like thousands of other people she started to cry with relief and of course when we were all together we all had a very big hug, this set us all off with a mixture of tears and laughter. Everybody was ecstatic. The wars over the wars over, people were shouting to one another. Neighbours were hugging and kissing, shaking hands and patting people on the back was rife, every one was going mad, we would never forget the date of May 8th 1945. The papers of surrender had been signed. The first thing Mum did was to get rid of the black-out curtains; they were all outside in a pile near the shed when I got home from school.
On my way home from school some days later I saw a bill board outside the newsagents on Moss Lane 鈥楳ANCHESTER LIGHTS SWITCH ON PLANNED鈥� As soon as Mr Smith arrived home I dashed round to ask if he鈥檇 check in his evening paper when this was going to happen. When I got home, with bated breath I asked the question. 鈥淢um can I go into Manchester to see them switched on?鈥� The night arrived; I was on the electric train going to London Road Station, on my own!
I always enjoyed the train journey into Manchester; somehow tonight it seemed different, I didn鈥檛 understand; then it came to me, it was the buildings, only half of them were still standing. When the train passed rows of bombed out terraced houses I could see children were playing amongst the rubble, it was rather odd seeing walls and parts of walls covered in wallpaper. One house still had the chimney wall still standing like a pinnacle of defiance. It made me think, just how lucky we were to be living twelve miles from this horror, and yet hardly any damage at all in comparison. We did not go into 鈥榯own鈥� very often, so I was not aware of the dreadful damage the German aircraft had inflicted.
I walked down the station approach and on into Piccadilly Gardens to await the magic moment, this would be the first time since war began, nearly six years ago that the centre of Manchester would be flooded with electric lights. Without warning I was stood in a flood of light from the street lights and all the shop windows, and a loud 鈥淥ooh Arr鈥� emitted from the vast crowd. They must have arranged that they where all to come on at once. Well you should have heard the cheering, it was quite incredible.
I saw people with tears running down their cheeks, not just the ladies either; even I shed a tear or two, the whole City was charged with emotion. It was really awe-inspiring, the whole place seemed to be over flowing with people, and still more were pouring into the gardens.
As you would expect, the crowds included a lot of service men from different areas of the forces and many different nationalities, some recognised by the colour of their skin and other from flashes on their shoulders for instance Canada or Poland. They were all cheered and slapped on their backs along with remarks such as, 鈥淲ell done mate, thanks chum and hope you鈥檒l soon be out of that mob?鈥� Cigarettes were being handed out, not just the 鈥淗ere mate ave a fag,鈥� but quite a lot of full packets as well.
It was rather odd to see all the buses and bikes; along with the few cars with the petrol to spare, they all had their un-shrouded lights blazing and some blowing their horns and bike riders tinkling their bells.
I wondered what they were thinking as they were driving past the many bomb-damaged buildings. I stood near to Lewis鈥檚 building and had a good look round; I never imagined it like this, although I had seen the news at the pictures of Coventry and London, to name but a few cities who 鈥楥opped it,鈥� as it was referred to. But seeing the devastation for myself, it was having a big impact on me. After all these sights had sunk in I made my way, with a big lump in my throat, to the shop window of my favourite store 鈥榃ild鈥檚 Toy Shop鈥�. It was a young boy鈥檚 delight, no doubt many a father鈥檚 as well, of course the electric trains were the centre of attraction; it was far more interesting than in the daytime as the tracks and stations were lit up giving the whole set a magical appearance.
I started to make my way back to the station, looking in my pocket I found I鈥檇 enough money to buy an ice cream from one of the many carts. I was soon on the train wending my way home again, soon to be telling Mum all about my memorable trip. It didn鈥檛 take long for someone to spot another business opportunity even out of devastation; as soon as an area of bomb damage had been cleared and levelled, it was turned into a car park. They very soon became very big business and named National Car Parks.
A few days after the war ended the Gang were soon reporting that they鈥檇 seen Mums talking up and down the avenue. It turned out that they were arranging to have a big street party, a V E Day celebration, that鈥檚 what they called it. All the children had a job to do; this was to collect anything that would burn for the bon-fire. It was to be built in the junction of Gerrard and Leicester Avenues. Where the wood came from was amazing, some persuaded parents to prune a tree. We all kept the fruits of our labours in our own gardens and on the day it was dragged to the site and built up by some of the adults. We had done the occasion proud, it was a big pile and we just hoped that it wouldn鈥檛 melt the telephone wires stretching across the junction.
On the appointed Saturday, trestle tables that had been borrowed from various establishments were erected and covered in anything that resembled a tablecloth, there were plenty of old sheets, it was not important that they were returned in good condition, the attitude was so euphoric they said 鈥淲ell who the hell cares.
Over the previous days a few bits of bunting and flags had been hung out, two or three flags flew from windows and a string of bunting was hung between the lamp posts.
Around five in the afternoon Mums started to disappear and soon came forth laden with all manner of food. There were plates of sandwiches, cakes, buns, jellies, blancmanges, bottles of pop of contrasting colours and big pots of tea. Where it all came from I don鈥檛 know. The back shelves of larders and cupboards had been raided; many items had no doubt been saved in the hope of such an occasion. We were all seated and tucking in to this feast with many a Mum hovering around with jug or teapot and passing round plates of food of every description. Why is it that Mums find it so very hard to sit down? Well I suppose that鈥檚 one reason why they鈥檙e called 鈥楳UMS鈥�!
The war with the Japanese was still raging so Ronny Holland supplied a wireless set that was kept turned down low, just in case anything of importance came through. He also worked his gramophone that was sitting next to it on his garden wall; he was kept busy winding it up and changing the records.
When we鈥檇 all had enough to eat and drink, the tables were cleared, Mums picked up the crockery and went in to do the washing up. Some who had daughters dragged them, and a few unwilling sons to help with the chores. We had a kick about with a tennis ball until it was time for 鈥楳r George Tattersall鈥檚 Magic Show鈥�.
The time for the bonfire to be lit was fast approaching. At the end of the applause for his magic show Mr Tattersall made a little speech. He said how we must all be glad that the war in Europe was over and how we must all be looking forward to the Japanese defeat. 鈥淣ow who better to light this bonfire than someone who has risked his life putting fires out for the last few years, (laughs and big cheers), and who has been injured many times. More cheers. Ladies and Gentlemen I give you none other than our own Fireman Mr Jim Allcroft.鈥�
He rose to a big round of applause and shouts of 鈥淭hanks a lot, well done and another big cheer.鈥� He came forward a little embarrassed to take the torch, a stick with rag on and dipped in paraffin, to light the fire. Mr. Tattersall, still wanting to be in on the act so to speak, well he just had to strike the match. When the fire got going properly it made a magnificent blaze.
At about ten o鈥檆lock people started putting potatoes in the embers of the fire, when the cooking time had elapsed some were OK but many couldn鈥檛 be found as they鈥檇 been burned to a cinder. A few had had a little too much to drink and started to sing and dance around the fire. All in all every one had a jolly good time, some staggered home to sleep off the drink, some stood around and talked and other鈥檚 including most of us young ones ate the potatoes that were worth eating. At this time no one gave much thought to the fact that we would all be doing the same thing again in four months time.
The Japanese were defeated on August 14th 1945 and the surrender documents were signed on 2nd September 1945. The party had a smaller bonfire as we had most of the fuel in May, also there was a spate of bonfire wood raids being carried out all over the place, but it was all taken in good fun. I did notice quite a few gaps in the local trees that had under gone a little unauthorised pruning though. As before, Mr Tattersall performed his same tricks but still got a good ovation, but what puzzled us was where on earth the food came from in such a short time since VE Day, bye gum there must have been some hoarding. We all enjoyed it and had another good time; Muriel missed this one as she was on a farming camp organised by her school.
Looking back I鈥檓 sure that nobody fully comprehended at the time the devastation that those two Atomic bombs caused. Although we understood that it brought a quick end to the War in the Pacific and saved thousands of allied lives.
When Dad came out of the army Mum gave him about a week to get acclimatised to civilian life. Then it was, 鈥淕eorge, we could be doing with some re-decorating being done, its not been touched for over six years.鈥� Wallpaper? Now this couldn鈥檛 be bought anywhere so they purchased some of the new decorating medium 鈥楻ufcast鈥�. This was a sort of emulsion paint that contained sawdust and small chips of wood; this gave a rough texture to the finished painting job.
They worked hard at every opportunity stripping the paper off the walls of the hall and stairs and landing. Dad must have been swearing because over many weekends they鈥檇 been at it so to speak, I鈥檇 have to come in from the important things I had to be doing with the gang, and very often I鈥檇 hear Mum say 鈥淎nd you can stop that army talk in this house George Scott, what if the children heard you?鈥�
After this mammoth task had been accomplished Dad then had to set about the painting of the wood-work. After this was dry then this light blue Rufcast paint went on the walls.
Some years later when wallpaper became available again, Dad wished he鈥檇 never put the stuff on, it was near impossible to remove, and it certainly took the skin off any part of hands and arms that happened to brush against it.
Most people had the same idea of freshening up their homes after the gloomy days of the past six years. Wanting to preserve their privacy white wash would be painted on the windows; it was that or sticking newspaper up. But to save on electricity and let light in during the day, the small top windows were left as they were meant to be.
The various visitors who frequented the streets before the war were now starting to return. The first to arrive, well as far as I knew was the Rag and Bone man with his small two-wheeled cart and brown pony. You could hear him calling out when he was a mile away; he certainly had a voice that carried, no doubt a requirement for the job. 鈥淩aa-hag-abowan鈥� he鈥檇 shout, or something very similar that was equally near unintelligible.
These carts always had fat tyres on the wheels, and the man would always be sat on the front of his cart, with his legs dangling over the right side with the reins held loosely in his hand. Both man and pony looked preoccupied as if they didn鈥檛 want disturbing. If anyone gave him some old cloths or any old metal items they鈥檇 be given various things as a reward and a thank you from him. Donkey Stones, used to whiten the steps for the people who lived in terraced houses and balloons and goldfish for the households who lived on the new estates. That鈥檚 probably how we got our goldfish come to think of it.
The re-appearance of the 鈥楶OP鈥� man was a welcome sight; he had a horse and cart before the war, now he had a small lorry. It was fitted with slopping shelves from behind his cab, like a big 鈥楢鈥�, quite a number of the shelves were partitioned into boxes, just big enough to hold one of the large stone jars. He sold Ginger Beer, Sarsaparilla, Dandelion and Burdock as well as Lemonade and Cream Soda, there were probably others but these were our favourites, Mum would treat us sometimes when funds would allow, she鈥檇 buy ice cream then she鈥檇 give us cream soda with a dollop of ice cream in it.
Between the triangles at the rear was a door behind it were his 鈥榝illups鈥� as he called them, a crate of beer and some smaller bottles of various pops, plus of course his lunch box. Not long after his re-appearance he introduced Mum to Lager, these were in a smallish bottle and had a gold foil top like those on today鈥檚 champagne, Mum bought two bottles but I never saw her buy any more.
If Mum had swished the carving knife across the back step in her attempt to put a sharp edge on it, a thankful sight would be the mobile knife grinder who came round on his specially adapted bike. The grinding wheel was fitted over one of the bike鈥檚 wheels on some type of framework; this also acted as a small workbench. I seem to remember that the bike had another drive chain fitted? I wish I could remember exactly how the machine worked and what it looked like. Anyway it was pedal power that drove the grinding wheel after he had put either wheel up on a stand.
Now we had an addition to our visitors. This man had a brown face with a black beard and a bandage all over his head. When I ran in to tell Mum, I was informed that it would be a turban he鈥檇 be wearing, which was a sort of religious headdress. He eventually knocked at our house; he must have opened his suit case as he waited for Mum to open the front door, because a lot of its contents were spilling over its sides. 鈥淕ud mawning tu yu kind lady, are not we lucky to be 鈥榓ving sudch luveely weather today. I am vanting me tu be shooing yu sum loveely material, or vill it be sum new tee towels yu鈥檒l be vanting?鈥�
As his patter unfolded he would of course have half emptied the contents of his case all over the front step. Mum was a soft touch so she purchased a tea towel or two. He must have been very strong because his case was nearly as big as our garden shed.

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