大象传媒

CHILDHOOD MEMORIES OF WORLD WAR TWO. (Derek Lehrle. Warrington. Lancs)

I was four years old when the war started in 1939. I have no recollection of that day when life as we knew it would never be the same again. My first recollection of wartime events came when my father and next door neighbor constructed an air raid shelter in his rear garden. I remember them excavating the hole before assembly. It was probably an Anderson shelter which were being manufactured at the time. Neighbors ridiculed them but soon changed their minds when the bombers came. A Government shelter was built at the end of our avenue but my family never used it. Later it became a playground for local children. My family spent many cold nights in our own, especially early on in the war. My father built two bunk beds at the far end for Tony, the boy next door and myself. The shelter was a damp and chilly place to be after leaving a warm bed. I hated being shaken awake from a deep sleep and led out into the cold night with the sirens, shell flashes and searchlights lighting the sky. My parents must have thought the same because many nights we slept under the solid table in the living room. It must have been difficult to fit the three of us under there. One night, we were under it. An air raid was in progress one night when I heard a pretty loud bang outside. I woke my parents to tell them. My father went to investigate but came back without finding anything. The following day, my mother and I were on a bus and heard two ladies say that Liverpool had been bombed the night before. We came to the conclusion that the noise I had heard was the accumulated explosion of a few bombs going off together. Grabbing gas masks and blankets became a way of life as we headed for the shelter. One vivid memory is an anti aircraft balloon in sight during the day. It seemed to be floating above the London Bridge pub 100 yards away. It was always seemingly hovering just above the pub roof. In reality, it was a few miles away. At night it was invisible until the flash of a bomb, shell or a searchlight reflected off its surface.

Houses had brown sticky paper over windows in a cross pattern. This was to prevent glass splinters in a bomb blast. Blankets were positioned over windows and doors to prevent light escaping. 鈥淧ut that light out鈥� must have been a familiar call during that time. One of father鈥檚 jobs as an ARP warden was to check that no lights were showing in the avenue during the hours of darkness. Many blackouts were constructed in wood and painted black to cover windows. Vehicles had special headlight covers with horizontal slots to deflect the beam downwards. Very little light to see was the result. Resident on our front door step were a bucket of sand, a bucket of water and a stirrup pump. These buckets were painted red with fire written on them. To be used for putting out fires started when incendiary bombs were dropped. I remember my mother once saying that an incendiary bomb landed in our front garden. I was also told that one had gone through the roof of a house lower down the avenue They had just moved their son from his bed and gone to the shelter. The incendiare went through the roof and his bed. Mother once mentioned that a few days previous to that raid there had been a large fire in a Warrington timber yard, which burned for most of the night. It was said that the Germans made a note of this, returning later to bomb the area. Around that time a garden party was being held at Thames Board Mills in Warrington. This was a yearly event for the workers and their families. On this particular day a German bomber attacked the garden party killing quite a few people. Hard to understand with all the industrial targets around. Spitfires from RAF Sealand caught the bomber and shot it down somewhere over Cheshire. I actually remember a bomber climbing away from that area over our house. Mother was chatting to the lady next door and the plane was gone before they knew it was German. I was quickly dragged inside the house but by then the danger had passed. I can remember the Perspex front on the bomber as if flew overhead. I have often wondered if it was the plane that bombed those people at the garden party. A local man at that party was blinded in the attack. Another time a bomber dropped a stick of bombs across Manchester road near the parish church in Warrington. Houses on a corner with Manchester road and Howley lane were destroyed. One bomb dropped on the boiler house at the Firth Company and another finished up in the Mersey. Anti aircraft guns were positioned at Moore in Cheshire. They were on a hillside overlooking the Ship Canal and you could see the Moore and Walton swing bridges from there. After the war I spent time exploring the concrete remains. Another group of anti aircraft guns were positioned in a field at Stretton. Later those guns were removed and the site turned into an army camp. American forces used the camp when they came into the war later on. These USA servicemen many times visited the local pub at London Bridge. Local kids were always pestering them for chewing gum. 鈥淎ny gum chum鈥� was the favorite saying. They always came up with some. Once an American convoy of passed along London road in the direction of the camp and I felt something hit my leg. Glancing down I saw a packet of chewing gum still bouncing along the pavement. I looked up to see smiling soldiers peering out of one lorry. I waved my thanks which was returned smiles. Another time an American lorry trailer toppled over on Stockton Heath roundabout. The contents were scattered all over the road. They were supplies for the camp at Stretton. On one occasion a young American painter/artist soldier visited the London Bridge pub a few times. He had me sitting on the canal steps while he sketched me eating an apple. He even supplied the apple. I must have sat patiently for over an hour. I have often wondered if there is some famous painting in an American art gallery. The steps are still there and were originally used for passengers from the narrow boats 150 years before. When the ack ack guns at Stretton fired the whole neighborhood could hear them. They gave comfort to the population just by knowing that we were fighting back. The German bombers had a characteristic drone to their engines, which was unmistakable. We used to listen to them going overhead to bomb Liverpool hoping they wouldn't drop their bombs on us. The shells would explode high overhead and the splinters would fall to earth again, rattling on the roofs as they came down. These guns would be in action for long periods rattling the cupboards either side of our fireplace. The following day was special boys as we searched for shrapnel along the road. One had to be careful as some of the larger bits would still be hot. Our lives for a long time were controlled by the sirens. One evening we had been to Warrington for some reason and were returning home by foot The sirens sounded and the buses had stopped running We walked home along Wilderspool Causeway going at a brisk pace until we came to the Stockton Heath swing bridge over the Manchester Ship Canal. The bridge was closed to prevent the bombers seeing it across the canal and hence bombing it. It was a long walk to the cantilever bridge to cross and we would have been in the open during the raid anyway. Shelters were near-by so sheltered in one of them. Wilderspool brewery was just opposite and father commented the he hoped they would not flatten it. Later an ARP warden popped his head in to say they had briefly opened the bridge. We hurried across the bridge into Stockton Heath. We had walked through the village when we heard more bombers overhead and took shelter in an archway, next to Caldwell's paper shop. We huddled there whilst the area was lit up occasionally by flashes from the exploding shells overhead and distant searchlights. It was very Erie with that going on and I remember hiding under my fathers coat. It seemed very safe there. After what seemed like ages we ventured out from our cover and hurried home to spend the rest of the night under the oak table. One has to remember that there were no lights of any kind and it was pitch black. The only light was from the exploding shell flashes overhead and searchlights unless bombs.
I never saw many planes during the war but one day I was out with my mates when we heard the beautiful sound of Merlin engines. Looking up we saw two Spitfires flying in formation just above the rooftops. It was only a fleeting glimpse as they were past in a flash but that image is firmly imprinted in my memory and I can see almost every detail to this day. The beautiful sound of the Merlin engines has remained with me ever since. Whenever I hear them at a classic war birds airshow the hackles on my neck rise. As the war progressed we were to see many friendly four engined bombers flying in formation high overhead. Most of them had twin fins which made them either Lancaster鈥檚, Halifax鈥檚 or American Liberators. With the repelling of the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain the bombing raids lessoned in our area with just odd ones taking place. Only sparse raids taking place as the war progressed. In 1939/40 strange faces suddenly appeared at school. Different accents mixing in with our northern ones. These children were refugees from the London and other cities subjected to bombing. They lived with local families. I never got to know any of them and I cannot remember how long they stayed in the area. Peoples connection with events during the war were through the news media. The radio being the main source closely followed by the papers. The radio news announcer would read out the latest figures, defeats and victories that had taken place. I remember news like 鈥�50 German bombers were shot down today for the loss of 15 RAF planes鈥�. 鈥淭he army in Egypt has routed the Italians in Libya鈥� and so on. Then there was Lord Haw Haw who broadcast from Germany. He would say things like 鈥淗ow did you like the bombing last night, Bristol. We will be back tonight to give you another dose鈥� Not the exact words but that was the gist of the message. Many times my father chatted about the war with others. They covered the many causes and consequences that are part of such conflicts. One point has always stayed in my mind and that was the general consensus that it was inaction by the free world in the thirties, which allowed Germany, Japan and Italy to create havoc in the world. These bullies should have been controlled before they became too powerful. A lesson I learnt from the school playground. Given freedom bullies ruled with fear and threats. In-action before the war allowed these countries to become too powerful. Millions died as a result. New Zealand lost more lives per head of population than any country in the world. A huge price to pay for the world鈥檚 inaction.
Many houses lost their iron railings in their front gardens. I remember workmen were using oxy/acc torches to remove them. Today only small stubs are left protruding from the stonework.
Everyone was supplied with a gas mask and they had to be carried at all times. Mine came in a black, round tin can. Many others came in a cardboard box protected with a cloth cover. We practiced with them many times at school. Our school had air raid shelters where we would retire to upon hearing the sirens. There we would be required to wear the gas masks for practice. Lessons did not stop because there was a raid on. Have you ever tried to recite your time鈥檚 tables with a gas mask on? We did. During this exercise there were plenty of rude noises being produced as the air escaped past many cheeks and the rubber. My family visited Liverpool many times where an aunt lived. She ran an old Victorian house for boarding and accomodated brave merchant seamen off the atlantic convoys. Soon I began to notice gaps appearing in the rows of buildings in Liverpool during 1940/41. German bombs were creating new scenes of sinister proportions.
Rationing came early when the war started with ration books quickly appearing. Meat coupons, clothing coupons, food coupons to name three. I have read that margarine was limited to 4 ounces. Tea 2 oz. Cheese 2 oz. Eggs were 1 a month at one time. Mother found a way to make the margarine stretch a lot further by mixing it with something else and letting it set in small bowls. The only meat not on ration was rabbit from memory. Rabbits hung outside the butchers shops on hooks in their hundreds. Rabbit pie was a favorite with many families. The government issued advice on how to utilize the food available. One of the recipes told how to make steak and kidney pie without using any of usual ingredients. Dried egg was in general use together with SPAM and corned beef. Butchers shops were almost bare of produce and I still remember the long queues when there was something available. Many times there wouldn鈥檛 be enough to go round. When war ended rationing carried on and did not finish until about 1952. Those ten years from 1940 to 1950 were indeed a struggle in many ways but the food supply was hard hitting. As a child growing up through it all I didn鈥檛 understand the seriousness of it all. Looking back at it from this point in time I understand the consequences now.
CHILDHHOD MEMORIES OF WORLD WAR TWO. (Derek Lehrle. Warrington. Lancs)

The year was 1940
The Blitz was all around
With gaping holes, no windows seen
Devastation to be found

In the months prior to this
We learned to live in fear
When listening to Lord Haw Haw
The tales from men held dear

The daily chores still had to be done
Babies washed and families fed
In spite of several shortages
With dried and not boiled egg

The sirens sent a dread right through us
They gave us the signal to flee
Under beds, shelters or tables
Wherever one happened to be

Gas masks had to be carried
No matter when or where
We learned to quickly slip them on
And laugh at peoples stares

The rationing of foodstuffs
Became a way of life
Butter, sugar, tea and flour
Carefully measured to lesson strife

Sweets, chocolates were unheard of
Unless we happened to know
A GI based at Warrington
With a girlfriend in our row

Each night at 6 o鈥檆lock
With sandwiches made by mother
We would listen for sirens
So we could take cover

Dad was in the Home Guard
With guns made from wood
He was in charge of the stirrup pump
Dad鈥檚 Army making good

The early in the morning
All sights met the eyes
Building shattered, debris everywhere
Chaos remained for a time

But life still had to go on
People had to bed
Go to work, man the factories
To back up our fighting men

We learned a lot in those days
To consider others was one
To offer help to those in need
And comfort those who mourned

I sincerely pray that we never
Experience this again
Let鈥檚 hope the world has learned something
But, then again, they never will

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.