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On the above date, I was almost 10 years of age and a pupil at St Mary鈥檚 School in Woolton Village. That day, we were told that the school would close due to the political situation and the onset of WW2.
When I went home, I was told that because of this, I was to be sent to my Aunt Anne for safety. She was a housekeeper to a priest in Maryport in Cumbria, and off I went the next day. I arrived safely, but was very embarrassed by my aunt whom I met in the station. She kissed me and threw her arms around me on the platform.
I settled in fairly well, but was bewildered by this sudden change of circumstances and surroundings. The next day my cousin Alfie arrived, which was good for both of us as we had always got on well together. The following week we started school again, as there was no evacuation there.
Then came Christmas and New Year and school holidays, one day at this time, I was reading at a table, and a local girl named Mary Morgan, who helped my aunt, accidentally knocked a large statue off a shelf. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The result was I got a split forehead; blood everywhere, and screaming 鈥淗oly hell!鈥� However, every cloud has a silver lining, and a few days later our grandfather: Mick Clare, arrived to bring Alfie and myself back to Liverpool.
I eventually recovered from my accident, although it took about a month to heal. Looking back, the ironic thing was that from September 1940 to may 1941 Merseyside had 80 air raids, and fortunately I survived them all without any injury at all, 鈥榙eo Gratis.鈥�
I was eleven years old when the air raids started in August 1940. There were frequent raids from then, and what I still recall clearly were the 鈥楥hristmas Raids 鈥榳hich occurred on the three nights of December 1940.
I had gone to town in the afternoon of the 20th to meet my father and get the Christmas tree, and then take it home immediately on the next tram.
Unfortunately, the air raids started much earlier than usual that day, so we became stranded in the town centre.
We took shelter in Mount Pleasant throughout the raid, and after a few hours, everything went quiet and it seemed as if the raid was over. However, this was not the case, as shortly after it started again. Suddenly, there was a large explosion nearby. I think the Adelphi Hotel took a hit. Everything happened at once; windows shattered, screams and great confusion and fright. We were lucky and were not injured, and about an hour later, the 鈥楢ll Clear鈥� sounded and we went home. This was not easy due to the disruption on roads. We finally arrived home around 4:30 am, much to the relief of my mother, and we still had the Christmas tree with us, in spite of the Luftwaffe.

'This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by 麻豆官网首页入口 Radio Merseyside鈥檚 People鈥檚 War team on behalf of Bernard Richter and has been added to the site with his / her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.'

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