Memories Are Made of This: The Coventry Blitz

I was born in July, 1923 so I was just over 16 years of age when war was declared. I lived at home with my mother and father, and my brothers and sisters. We lived in the district of Stoke in Coventry. It's now that I am older that I realise how hard my parents worked to create this family home. It was the first time I saw my mother cry when war was declared.
I remember the barrage balloons that were placed around the outskirts of the city to stop low-flying aircraft. They looked like big elephants without legs! The balloon would be attached to a lorry and sent to the necessary height. If they somehow got loose they would take off the chimney pots of the houses. The 'ear flaps' would make a terrible noise. Once a balloon came bobbing along the wall in our back garden. A man, whom we did not know, came into the garden wielding a knife ready to cut the balloon loose. Fortunately the wind lifted the balloon and off it went.
I worked at GEC Stoke (the telephone works). My father was a test driver for the Triumph Motor Company and then started work at a factory making the Bofors Gun (an anti-aircraft gun). The Auxillary Fire Service (AFS) was stationed in various districts in the city. The Air-Raid Warden was a chap from up the road.
In September, 1940 the first air raid started. We got dressed to go to bed! My family didn't have an Anderson shelter so we used our 'glory hole', the space under the stairs.
I remember the night of the Coventry Blitz. It was frosty and there was a harvest moon. We were all home from work and the 'blackout' was in place. I remember my dad saying 'We're in for it tonight!' We heard the 'clatter, clatter, clatter' of the incendiary bombs falling - it was like a shower. We didn't hear the sirens. The family took refuge under the stairs. Fortunately, my two younger brothers were staying at my sister's house at Wyken (in those days they would go straight there from school).
The house was demolished around us - the roof, the doors, the windows. An Air-Raid Warden told us to leave the house as there was a delayed action bomb under the house. I remember my dad carrying our coats as we walked out of the house into the moonlight. We could hear fires crackling. We headed to two brick-built shelters around the corner.
We had to squash into the shelter. I was standing at my father's side and I remember moving my feet so that I would be able to lean against the wall. There was something soft beneath my feet and I looked down to see children sleeping. We waited unti it was light. As we left the shelter we could see straight across to our house where there had once been a road, a row of houses and a factory. My mother aged 10 years that night.
That day I walked to my place of work. GEC Stoke had not been bombed but it was all sealed up as there was no power and water. I walked further into the city up the big Morris Hill. There was an acrid smell of burning and we were not allowed to go further. The cathedral was on fire.
The next night we all stayed at my sister's house. That night Birmingham was bombed. We squashed into the Anderson shelter and I remember my father taking my sister's baby back into the house as the baby was screaming being in such an enclosed space.
The next day the women would wait for the 'water wagon' wearing that 1940's cross-over pinny with their buckets at the ready.
The GEC Stoke had a beautiful ballroom. I was keen on dancing and the other girls in the offices and I would attend the balls held each Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. The dance orchestra was called the 'Squadronaires' (it was the GEC's own band and was very good). It was here I met my first love - his name was Bob and he was a pupil pilot. His one intention was to become a fighter pilot and he was waiting to be selected. I remember the white flash in his forage-cap. He only lived to be 22 years old - tragically he was killed when his plane crashed coming into land in England.
Later in the war I started work (as a shorthand typist) with the National Fire Service. G-division (my division) was based at a school near to my home. The classrooms were used dormitory style for the firemen based away from home.
In late 1943, people were at their lowest. Things did not seem to be going right. I remember the effect that the victory at Al Alamein had - it lifted our spirits.
My sister had a difficult time with her husband being away. It was hard going for the wives of soldiers managing on a small wage or allowance. She had four young children at home (including twins!). Her husband was granted a Section B (early de-mob) so he was able to come home to be with his family. While her husband was away my sister received great help from the Women's Voluntary Service (later the WRVS) and the Canadian Red Cross. The four children managed to get through three prams in this time! My eldest sister's husband came home soon after from India - he had reached the rank of Company Sergeant Major.
I married in March, 1946. Our first home was in a flat over a grocery shop. We used our ration dockets towards furniture for the flat.

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