大象传媒

鈥he beginning of a new school year was always a bit chaotic because of organising the new intake (about 90 pupils) and also re-allocating the Second Year pupils, like myself, into 3 new classes (Forms) based upon the examination results at the end of Summer Term. This year there was also the problem of Air Raid Precautions. This was resolved by providing wooden 鈥渟hutters鈥� made by the woodwork teacher, Mr. J. Leeson, and his senior boys. In the event of air raids these would be fixed over windows and doors which faced inwards to the corridors and all pupils and staff would quickly take their books down to the ground floor corridors. The theory was that this would provide some protection from the blast. Although we had several practice and/or false alarms we did not ever have to shelter for real!

The expected bombing attacks did not materialise until after the fall of France in June 1940, and the Midlands were not affected until the Luftwaffe switched over to night bombing in September 1940. Bromsgrove was not affected until October 1940 when the Germans extended their bombing to the Midlands and Merseyside. From late October until May 1941, the air raid sirens sounded almost every night as bombers passed overhead on their way to targets to the north of the town. When the target was Birmingham, it would be many hours before the 鈥淎ll Clear鈥� sounded, and sleep was disrupted by the soud of explosions and anti-aircraft fire. At first we took to the Anderson shelters in the garden, which had been issued to us just before the war started, but these proved to be bitterly cold and damp, and we soon remained indoors during raids, taking cover in the recommended places, ie inder the stairs and/or under the table.

The first, and only, daylight raid took place shortly after school leaving time on Wednesday 13 November 1940. I left school just after 4 o鈥檆lock accompanied by a friend, Alan Wallace, and we called in at the Victoria Ground in the Birmingham Road, where a football match was in progress. At about 4.15pm we heard the sound of engines and saw a German bomber flying very low from the direction of the town, and heading towards Longbridge. I recognised it as a Heinkel HEIII, and the Black crosses and swastikas were clearly visible, as were the crew. A few minutes afterwards the match ended and we hurried out of the ground and headed home to Upper Norton. When we came to ope ground on the right hand side of the road, we could see over the fields (now a housing estate) to the Lickey Monument. The barrage balloons at the Austin Aero Factory were visible and the bomber was circling around these. Anti-aircraft fire could be heard. By the time we had reached our homes, and found a viewing spot on the roof of my friend鈥檚 shed/workshop, we had missed the attack on the bomber by Hurricane fighters which others saw over Bromsgrove, including my older sister who worked at a shop in the town. However, after a few minutes we heard and then saw 2 of the 3 Hurricanes flying over from the direction of the town and presumably heading back to base.

Meanwhile, life at school continued more or less as normal, except for the loss of many of the male teachers to HM Forces, and for a number of new pupils arriving from time to time by evacuation of their families from Birmingham and other areas. Some classes were affected by shortage of supplies, especially woodwork and domestic science. The missing male teachers were replaced, either by women or by men too old for military service.

In late 1941, or early 1942 an Army Cadet Force was formed in the town, with Mr. Leeson as Commanding Officer. The headquarters was at watt Close School and I think the age of 14 was the recruiting minimum. An Air Training Corps was also formed with headquarters at the High School and the Headmaster, Dr. W.P. Baron was the Commanding Officer. The minimum age for this was 15. Many boys from the High School joined the Army Cadets, including myself and my friend John Russel, but as soon as we were both 15 we transferred to the A.T.C. Amongst the instructors at the A.T.C. were Mr. J. Blundell and Mr S. Fox, masters at the High School. Another schoolmaster, Mr. T. Abel, the head of Stourbridge Road school, was the Adjutant to the A.T.C.

I joined Lloyds Bank as a junior clerk in September 1943, having passed my School Certificate examination at the end of Summer Term. Not long afterwards my older sister was conscripted under regulations covering women aged between 18 and 30. They were obliged to join one of the Civil Defence organisations, or one of the Womens Armed Services or to take work in industry, even if this meant moving to a factory away from home. My sister elected to join the A.T.S. (Auxiliary Territorial Service).

There was an army hospital at Barnsley Hall, where wounded service personnel were treated. Some of these could sometimes be seen in the town, wearing their distinctive bright blue uniforms, with white shirts and red ties. Later on, in the autumn of 1942, the All Saints Emergency Hospital was taken over by the U.S. Army, and wounded Army Air Corps personnel were seen about the town. The other ranks wore uniforms of a very superior quality compared with British Army and Air Force uniforms, and all looked like officers, except that the officers uniform was also very superior and distinctive. They were also paid more than 4 times the equivalent ranks of the British, and very quickly were known as 鈥淥verpaid, over-sexed and over here!鈥� They also introduced our young people to the pleasures (?) of chewing gum!

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