My mother Elsie,86 yo God Bless her,and still able to spring a huge surprise.
During the Birmingham blitz my mother was on a bus from Walsall one early morning,going to her work at Turner Bros near Summer Lane.
Going along the Walsall Road,Perry Barr,near the Crematorium they were attacked by a Nazi fighter.This had got under the barrage ballons,and escaped the ack-ack from Perry Bar Park.
For some reason the buses went in convoys,and while her bus was being attacked the driver was killed by the bullets.
While my father's war record was known to me my mother's was a surprise till the other day.
She was a member of a first aid post,spending most nights sleeping on a stretcher
Her other 'hobby' was the home guard,under Lt Col Austen she spent a lot of time on duty with her fellow workers and others.
This unit was made up of Turner Bros workers,Fruit market workers,as Mr Austen ran a business from there,and people from Richmond House.
All these had tall buildings,with flat roofs.They used to signal to each other from those.
My grandfather on mums side was a sniper in the Great war,and how amusing to find out mum was also a useful shot after her HG training.
I'm so glad I got this story from mum,and even happier I could share it with those here who may be interested.Soon the generation who fought the Nazi scourge will be largely gone,so we really need places like this to preserve the tales of the ordinary folk who we all owe so much to.
Tim
During the Birmingham blitz my mother was on a bus from Walsall one early morning,going to her work at Turner Bros near Summer Lane.
Going along the Walsall Road,Perry Barr,near the Crematorium they were attacked by a Nazi fighter.This had got under the barrage ballons,and escaped the ack-ack from Perry Bar Park.
For some reason the buses went in convoys,and while her bus was being attacked the driver was killed by the bullets.
While my father's war record was known to me my mother's was a surprise till the other day.
She was a member of a first aid post,spending most nights sleeping on a stretcher
Her other 'hobby' was the home guard,under Lt Col Austen she spent a lot of time on duty with her fellow workers and others.
This unit was made up of Turner Bros workers,Fruit market workers,as Mr Austen ran a business from there,and people from Richmond House.
All these had tall buildings,with flat roofs.They used to signal to each other from those.
My grandfather on mums side was a sniper in the Great war,and how amusing to find out mum was also a useful shot after her HG training.
I'm so glad I got this story from mum,and even happier I could share it with those here who may be interested.Soon the generation who fought the Nazi scourge will be largely gone,so we really need places like this to preserve the tales of the ordinary folk who we all owe so much to.
Tim
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