How it was then, w.w.2

[alfred]

growing up as a child during ww2 in the east end of London i lived near three docks now extinct but then they were a hive of bustling activity
seeing v1 rockets flying over head when i was sent one time to take sandwiches to an A.R.P. hut,

As a child then i imagined that the American and  R.A.F  pilots wer'e men some where in their forties , and as i got older learned that these men weren't much older than 22 or 24 years of age , it really shocked me although they were very brave and courageous men never the less,

for me it was an eye opener,  its strange when reading of the facts you read about after the war ended.

Q; have you read interesting facts about ww.2 if so what did you find amazing.

[Alex]

I wasn't born Alfred, but my Mum would tell of the many bombs dropped on Liverpool which was I believe the most heavily bombed area of the country, outside London..  Birkenhead docks too, I assume ship building carried on at Birkenhead ? 

[Sheila]

Before she died my aunt had a sort out and gave me things that had belonged to my father (a Battle of Britain pilot).  One of the things was a leaflet in German that the RAF had dropped on Germany.  I gave it to one of my daughters as she is good at languages.
I also have two sweetheart brooches, one is gold and the other is made from a bit of German plane that was shot down.
There is only one log book as my mum said that she was asked to hand them in after the war.  I don't know if that was just someone thinking he could make a profit.

[klondike]

Only stories here too. Northampton was not a target but had the odd bomb jettisoned by a raider lost or in trouble. One took a corner off a house my grandparents were living in. My mother was in Coventry during the two big raids but they took out the city centre in the main and she was not bombed.

I doubt even here many will have first hand tales. I was born nearly 5 years after it was over and I'm no spring chicken.

[crabbyob]

we lived in a tenament Alfred, and my grandfather was a coal miner and he worked afternoon shift, now there were no streetlights and even buses had strange slotted headlights. my grandfather got off the bus across the road from where we lived [and remember there were no pit baths before 49...lol so imagine sitting next to him...lol] anyway when the bus left we only had moonlight [remember please i was about three] and my grandfather was always facing the wrong way calling my name because he couldnt see, so i had to direct him like golden shot, left a bit, a bit more, then walk, stop your walking into a wall, it appears we had the neighbours in stitches.... i remember the sound of the german bombers heading for Clydebank in particular but Glasgow in general.... people were amazing, and i believe still are, when required.

[Michael Rolls]

I was born in Plymouth in 1937. Thankfully we moved before the war started, because in 1941 the Luftwaffe flattened the street, including our house, with some loss of life.
In 1944 we lived in Walton-on-Thames, which received a fair number of V-1s which had overshot London. Some friends of my parents ran and Black and White fish shop (anyone else remember those?) which was in a row of shops with flats over. They lived in the flat over the shop and one night were awoken to find the party wall between themselves and next door demolished and their bedroom floor in danger of falling into the shop. They managed to evacuate safely and were very, very lucky. From memory (mum, dad and I went round to help the next day) three flats/shops beyond theirs had been destroyed, but as it happened, theirs was the only occupied flat, so no casualties.
Our Walton house had a long garden with some very tall trees at the end. One day a low flying German tip and run raider was chased - at very low level - by a couple of RAF fighters. He was so low that he took nearly ten feet off the top of one of our trees. No idea whether or not he escaped.
Mike

[GrannyMac]

I was born about 9 months after the war. My dad was a clerk before he went into the army, my mother stepped into his job when he was away. She was also in the ARP. I have photos, badges, medals etc.

The back of bombed tenements, and a first aid station in Dundee.

[automatically pruned due to age]

[GrannyMac]

My father on parade, my mother in the ARP.



[automatically pruned due to age]

[klondike]

In 1944 we lived in Walton-on-Thames, which received a fair number of V-1s which had overshot London.

I don't recall the detail but do remember reading that apart from inherent inaccuracy in both early missiles there was a degree of misinformation fed back to the Germans which caused more to miss London but of course they had to hit somewhere.

[Michael Rolls]

Dad was the manager of the local Gaumont cinema and used to cycle to work, with a shabby old mac over his evening dress, with the patent leather shoes in a bag - couldn't risk scuffing them
One day he was cycling past some shops, keeping a wary on an a V-i in the distance waiting for tis engine to cut and for it to start its plunge to earth.
Suddenly a man dashed from one of the shops, knocking dad to the ground' 'doodle bug he shouted in the process. Somewhat annoyed, dad pointed to the distant menace
'Not that one - that one'
It's approach masked by the sound of the other V-1, there was indeed a second coming down, which hit only a couple of streets away
Mike