大象传媒

I lived at the Conishead Priory, Ulverston, during the WW2 and at that time it was a Military Hospital. I remember the Barrow in Furness Blitz and the bombing of Allithwaite near the aerodrome of Cark.I had been watching in the far distance the raid on Barrow. It was a clear night, with the searchlights weaving their shafts of light high into the sky. There were no signs of anti aircraft shell bursts but I could see the spiral trails of Flaming Onions. I must have heard planes fly over head as my gaze was diverted across the bay to where I knew Cark aerodrome was situated. Bombs started to drop, and suddenly there was a purple flash of a very large explosion. I started to count the seconds and as the count reached five I felt a gentle warm breeze waft over me. Many years later when I was cross checking my memories of the time, having thought then that it was an ammunition dump that had been hit. Now I think that the blast was caused by a Land Mine. Not the small anti personnel ones of today, but a large type dropped by parachute, intending to damage by blast.Please read "The Allithwait Blitz" The next day my friend and I searched the fields near Gascow Quarry, where we understood that anti aircraft shells had exploded. We found the shell holes, but we never found out what type of defensive weapon Flaming Onions were.