14-10-2012, 05:05 AM
2
Re: Wartime Memories.
I can remember that our family "adopted" a GI who was in a local hospital and I used to take him a few goodies like biscuits and home produced eggs (my father kept chickens) from time to time. I was still at junior school so it was before the end of the war.14-10-2012, 09:05 AM
3
Re: Wartime Memories.
Strangely I remember most of my war years, from the age of about 3 years, I was 2 when the war broke out.In 1940 we had the Blitz, at 2 years old I don't remember our house being flattened, although from time to time I think I can remember a pile of rubble, but that could be a figment of my imagination. Although I remember having a ride on the back of our dog Pat, a ginger chow at eighteen months, so perhaps I am seeing what was our house.
The sirens went off and mum picked me up and rushed to the Anderson shelter that we had in our back garden, it was enough to save us, as you know a lot of folks were killed in the blitz.
We had absolutely nothing left, father who was serving in the Royal navy was stationed at Portland, and was luckily on shore base at the time, got leave to come home, but he apparently spent his leave digging out bodies and body parts from the East End rubble.
We had nothing only the clothes we had on, nothing was salvaged there wasn't time, we were given a suitcase and taken to a train station that took us to a little country village called Farringdon, which was in Berkshire at the time, but was moved to Oxfordshire when the had boundary changes.
I still have that suitcase to this day, although it is a bit dilapidated.
I am going to take a break now my arthritis is not so good in the hands this morning, I will resume my story later.
14-10-2012, 09:41 AM
4
Re: Wartime Memories.
Originally Posted by Wrinkly
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Strangely I remember most of my war years, from the age of about 3 years, I was 2 when the war broke out.In 1940 we had the Blitz, at 2 years old I don't remember our house being flattened, although from time to time I think I can remember a pile of rubble, but that could be a figment of my imagination. Although I remember having a ride on the back of our dog Pat, a ginger chow at eighteen months, so perhaps I am seeing what was our house.
The sirens went off and mum picked me up and rushed to the Anderson shelter that we had in our back garden, it was enough to save us, as you know a lot of folks were killed in the blitz.
We had absolutely nothing left, father who was serving in the Royal navy was stationed at Portland, and was luckily on shore base at the time, got leave to come home, but he apparently spent his leave digging out bodies and body parts from the East End rubble.
We had nothing only the clothes we had on, nothing was salvaged there wasn't time, we were given a suitcase and taken to a train station that took us to a little country village called Farringdon, which was in Berkshire at the time, but was moved to Oxfordshire when the had boundary changes.
I still have that suitcase to this day, although it is a bit dilapidated.
I am going to take a break now my arthritis is not so good in the hands this morning, I will resume my story later.
I suggested the same thing to someone else on here but he didn't take any notice can't think who it was.
.
14-10-2012, 10:55 AM
5
Re: Wartime Memories.
I vividly remember the memorial service for my father, it was in a church that feature during our civil war, It's church spire supposedly being blown off from cannon fire.
I can remember sitting on the town hall step, asking the GI's that were stationed there "Have you got any gum chum" always had a mouth full of gum.
This is me sitting on the same step some 65 years later, you can imagine how my mind was working then 4 years ago, on my first visit since leaving.
On the right of the townhall is the roll of honour, my fathers name is on there too.
In the next picture is a chapel which I attended for a special service, where GI's presented each village child, with a copy of the new testament, once again I still have it to this day.
14-10-2012, 04:55 PM
7
Re: Wartime Memories.
I was born after the war ended, so I have no direct experience of it. However, my late father-in-law used to tell me of his days as a stoker on the Atlantic convoys. He had a series of extraodinary escapes and came through the war unscathed. In 1944, he was about to set sail when he was ordered to change ship because they needed experienced and reliable people for special work. This turned out to be on a munitions supply ship to back up the D-Day landings!My father never spoke much aboutthe war, but occasionally talked about ferrying wrecked aircraft to an Italian internment camp where the internees would strip out any good instruments and send them back for re-calibration and reuse. He said that the Italians grew their own herbs and vegetables round their huts and the place always reeked of garlic! He would add cynically that they ate better than he did!
Another very interesting gentleman that I knew was a retired colonel called John Hasler. He was the brother of 'Blondie' Hasler, the leader and one of the two survivors of the 'Cockelshell Heroes'. They both appeared to be the epitome of English eccentricty. John often told a story in which they and (Sir) Francis Chichester got outrageously drunk one night and Blondie bet Chichester half a crown that he couldn't sail the Atlantic single-handed! Perhaps a bit apocryphal, but typical of his stories.
14-10-2012, 10:06 PM
9
Re: Wartime Memories.
I was 6 when the war started and living in Manchester,and we had great fun going out after the raids and looking for shrapnell, very exciting when it was still warm.We went to school for half days as a lot of people spent the nights in the shelters, we didnt as Grannie was claustaphobic and I had a bed under the stairs and they went under the kitchen table,one night the backdoor was burst open and a man and woman came into the kitchen with a wedding cake, they had just got married and the siren went and the warden told them to get inside. We were never bombed but a lot of houses were around us as we were near Trafford Park and we got it most nights or so it seemed.14-10-2012, 10:11 PM
10
Re: Wartime Memories.
Originally Posted by anniemuldoon
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I was 6 when the war started and living in Manchester,and we had great fun going out after the raids and looking for shrapnell, very exciting when it was still warm.We went to school for half days as a lot of people spent the nights in the shelters, we didnt as Grannie was claustaphobic and I had a bed under the stairs and they went under the kitchen table,one night the backdoor was burst open and a man and woman came into the kitchen with a wedding cake, they had just got married and the siren went and the warden told them to get inside. We were never bombed but a lot of houses were around us as we were near Trafford Park and we got it most nights or so it seemed.
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