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The Blitz

As a young child not understanding the full implications of the war, I spent many a tense night in our neighbour's Anderson shelter, candles, thermos flasks, the sound of bombers engines, the whistling noise of falling bombs, hoping they would not drop on us. We started using the neighbours shelter after being caught in our house when a 'little' bomb landed on it. Later a massive brick shelter was built for us. I posted a pic of me standing on it, complete with 'Tin Hat' spotting for 'jerry' planes here.
https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=21044&p=172836#post172836
It was hard work demolishing it after the war.:)
 
I remember a couple of bomb sites in nechells during the early 50's, one we called the bomb-peck, the other became a playground called 'the eight logs' because a square 8 log construction was put in as a play 'fort'
 
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I told my story to a friend on Bordesley Green Technical School and he said I should tell in on The Blitz.
I was born in 1939, just before the war, in Deritend (dirty end) Bham. My father was Irish and could only get work on a daily basis. When the war started he got regular work and moved to Blake Lane, Small Heath but my parents thought the Landlady would not like babies, so I was shipped off to my maternal grandparents in Belfast. The Landlady did not mind babies so my mother fetched me back just in time for me to be bombed out. Durring an air raid, the authoroties placed an anti-aircraft gun at the corner of Blake Lane and Green Lane to shoot down enemy aircraft. The Germans tried to knock it out, but they missed it and hit the Co-op Greengrocery shop instead. It blew up, but the adjacent houses also went down, like a pack of cards. I was under the stairs with my mother when the house came down around us. The Air Raid Patrols and Air Raid Wardens gave us up for dead thinking that we could not survive the collapse.
My father was on the night shift at the BSA and when he came home he jumped off the No.28 bus in Hob Moor Lane and ran over to us. He knew where we were so dug us out. My mother's first words were "I need a cup of tea!" I slept through the lot. Oh to be young!
My father walked down Fifth Avenue looking for an empty house, at No. 70 he met people who wanted to bolt, so did a deal for the furniture and moved us in, where we lived until 1953.
We first had a Henderson shelter (a cage under the table) then an Anderson shelter which we shared with neighbours.
My father was also in the Home Guard, stationed with an Anti-aircraft gun on top of the BSA tower. He was not on duty the night it got hit and collapsed on top of the workers. They could not retreive the workers so waited until they heard no sounds and them poured in quicklime. Poor souls.
 
Wonderful memoir, expatriate, and thanks for it.

Do you have any more memories of or information about your father's Home Guard service?

Chris
 
Don't know much about my late father's "Dad's Army", service, but I had an uncle who was a WO1 Armourer in the RAF. One day on a flight out of Singapore the aircraft was told not to return because Singapore had fallen, so they went to India.
One day, when we were living in Fifth Avenue, he came to visit us. That night an air raid started and he heard a bomb go off for the very first time. He wanted to know what it was, he had never been on the receiving end of a bomb attack before! He quickly ran to the Anderson shelter with us.
My mother still has my father's bayonette which I think the grandsons want, three on them. My father was very proud on his "de-mob" suit which had 24" bottoms.
 
Ray, my mother told me that there was a lot of casualties in the Avenue Road bombing, most of them from the same family as a wedding was due to take place on the Saturday. My dad went to help dig them out.
 
Sylvia,
It seems that a air raid shelter had a direct hit,and I think 50 people were killed.The couple who were due to be married,were both killed,but the marriage service went ahead,and they were married although dead.So very sad.
 
Oh Ray I never knew that the couple were married after death, I went cold right through reading that. What a tragedy. I am so glad that I was too young to realise the full implications of growing up in the war years.
My eldest sister was a teenager during the war years and still went out dancing as often as she could, it must have been agony for mom and dad
hoping she would return home safe and sound.
 
Odd but true, my youngest sister who was just a babe at the time, was accidentally left in the house when the family hurriedly evacuated the building for the garden shelter during a surprise air-raid from a lone bomber....she was sleeping in the half-closed, big bottom drawer of an oak press! Apparently, sleeping in a drawer was considered quite 'de-rigueur' in earlier days (???) .....anyhows, she came to no harm and remained asleep during the whole affair....'though she still remarks upon it, especially when her own children/grandchildren moan-on about their lot: ''well a least you weren't left alone to the German bombers!''

I wasn't born until 1951, so am regarded as a bit of a spoilt softie...
 
O.C. said:
Margaret, map shows were bombs fell in 1940 ..Greenway Street
Red dots Incendiary bombs
Black dots High Explosive Bombs
Click to expand...
I lived facing the two explosive together bombs at number 29 Greenway St.it was a good job we was in the shelter under the Greenway pub in their celler,all our windows was blown out ( lucky a)we was told that they was going to drop the heavy stuff that night,other wise we would have been in our own shelter.
 
Sam Heard said:
I lived facing the two explosive together bombs at number 29 Greenway St.it was a good job we was in the shelter under the Greenway pub in their celler,all our windows was blown out ( lucky a)we was told that they was going to drop the heavy stuff that night,other wise we would have been in our own shelter.
Click to expand...
Yes there was a pawn shop on the bend of the next to Keenen the shop Four house at at front and six houses at the back plus othe house in the Road also got bombed
 
I remember the Blitz.i lived in kingstanding.i remember having to go into the Anderson shelter with my family .we had one bomb drop by the side of our house blowing out all the windows.you could hear the whistling bombs nearly all night
 
Hi
my aunt who was an air raid warden was on duty in cromwell street was killed outright.Her body was found a short time after,she is mentioned on the blitz memorial in town.I wonder if it was the night your house took a hit,what date was it.
Pauline Green.
 
expatriate, With respect to you a correction on the BSA bombing, several days were spent searching for survivors and bodies and reluctantly it was decided to pour concrete into the cellar for health and safety reasons, no quicklime was used, some building lime may have been used in the concrete which was normal in that time. Len.
 
lencops, You may well be correct, I was only a baby at the time that happened and only repeat what my Mother told me.
 
Hi, I lived at 15 back of 26 Tower Street just across the road from Prices Builders there was a Bomb Peck as we called it this was our play ground at times. My mom said that the houses across from our yard took a direct hit took out sevral house ?? any body Know any more info ..

Also does any body remember Martin Billings the printers just round the corner from Tower Street ???
 
My gran lived at 2 back of 26 Tower Street till the early 1960s and my sister was born at 14 back of 26 in 1941.
Sorry I can't remember a builders or a printers.
Lynne.
 
Lencops
Please please dont think i am been rude but do you really know this to be true ? the reasons i ask are -
although i have heard this story many many times from relatives and a large number of people over the past 30 or so years, i cannot believe that there is no memorial in place, also why was the area allowed to be built on so soon afterwards ? (in the 50's i believe) also are you talking about the 'new building' ? when they was knocking it down i saw no evidence at all of any basement anywhere in the new building area, plenty of basements in other areas tho. i have read different accounts over the past few years only one of them states that it not to be true (it stated that it took 6 weeks to get the last body out) over the next few months i will be in a position to delve a little deeper into this mystery and confirm it to be true or not, with permission i would like to begin a thread on the subject, everyones help will be greatly appreciated in what i believe to be a importan,t although delicate matter.
thanks
cb
 
hi pete..would you happen to have any pics of tower street..would love to see them if you have..

lyn
 
Lyn and Pete - if you feel that this is likely to develop into further discussion about Tower Street postwar, could you consider starting a new thread please? (So that we don't divert too far from the topic here). Thanks.

Chris

PS Thanks Lyn - Pete's post and images now transferred to this thread: https://forum.birminghamhistory.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3628 (Lower Tower Street)
 
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will do chris..pete there is a thread for lower tower st so maybe we could continue on that one...i shall bring it to the top and you will find it under the kellys directory section...

lyn
 
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