- Contributed by听
- audlemhistory
- Location of story:听
- Newcastle under Lyme
- Background to story:听
- Civilian
- Article ID:听
- A5842460
- Contributed on:听
- 21 September 2005
September 3 1939, the day war broke out, to quote the then well known comedian Rob Wilson, I was sitting in a caravan near Alton Towers with my parents listening to Neville Chamberlain on the 鈥渨ireless鈥 announcing that we were now at war with Germany- a very sobering and rather fearful time for everybody. About an hour later there was the sound of aircraft approaching which was a little frightening for an eleven-year-old boy. Over the trees and over the caravan at very low altitude flew two Hawker Hart bi-planes. Was this a show of strength I wonder? If so it was probably half the then capacity of the Royal Air Force.
Living as I was then on the Westlands in Newcastle under Lyme, we had a relatively quiet war. German bombers by the hundred passed over us on the way to Manchester, Liverpool and Belfast but the Potteries and North Staffordshire had no serious bombing, only the odd one dropped by German planes returning home. The nearest bomb to us was about a quarter of a mile away but it sent my elder brother, who had previously said he was not going to sleep in the shelter and would rather die in his bed, scuttling down to the shelter in record time!
What I do remember very clearly was the end of the war in Europe. The day it ended was the day that the School Certificate pupils were to take their oral examination in French. We, the candidates, were assembled in the Memorial Hall of Newcastle High School waiting to be called individually into the French Master鈥檚 presence. I decided that nature called and required an urgent response. As I ran past the school entrance gate a man on the road outside called out to me 鈥淭HE WAR IS OVER. THE GERMANS HAVE CAPITULATED鈥. I ran back into the School Hall to pass on the news. I was the next pupil to go into the examination room and excitedly announced to the Examiner in English 鈥淪IR, THE WAR IS OVER鈥. He showed not the slightest emotion but said to me 鈥 EN FRANCAISE, MONSIEUR, EN FRANCAISE!鈥 which I did 鈥 and thankfully passed!
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