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John Arnott — 12 October 2005

Although York suffered a number of sporadic bombing raids during the war, in which only a few bombs were dropped in the area, there was one major raid, aimed directly on the cathedral city. The experience of this raid, in a family setting, left a bagful of memories. This is an attempt to capture some of the many emotions expressed within that family during that long awful night, so many years ago.

THIS ONE’S FOR US

It was the night of York’s big raid,
Late April ’42,
That was the night, when,
Terror froze.

The siren sounded as many before,
So ‘up garden, to shelter’ we had to go,
Mam, Dad, Sis and me, eiderdown too,
It was cold, it was damp, the shelter smelt.

That Anderson shelter, a rotten thought,
Half underground, earth on top,
Tiny entrance, black inside,
Add to that, ice-cold skin, you don’t forget.

Everyone in, Dad the last, (to batten the door),
A candle lit, to see a bit,
Into bunks, we were blocks of ice,
Steel surrounds, sweating, wet.

The night was different, oh,
Different, filled with fright,
Fear began with that engine throb,
The enemy, to be sure.

Spitfire, Hurricane, were friendly sounds, but
Heinkel engines…..sounded Hell.
That throbbing sound, filled with terror,
A family, underground.

The first wave came with a thundering shock
Those whistling bombs tore the air,
And like claps of thunder, they hit the ground,
Then Mam ‘did one’, and that was worse! (1)

Bombs and guns, flashes and flares,
When will they stop…please go away,
Will we survive…a direct hit?
In this shelter underground.

Then it happened, the heart stood still,
Cutting the air,
A bomb whistled down,
“This one’s for us”, Dad cried.

We froze, life stopped, the end was now.
That whistle screeched and screeched its path,
It never stopped, so it seemed,
Then it did…and silence hit!

No one moved,
Hearts had stopped,
Afraid of the next,
That wouldn’t miss.

The raid went on,
The air was foul, so damp and cold,
No school for sure, as thoughts went by,
Collecting shrapnel be the thing to do.

Droning planes,
Holding breath, fear and fright,
A sneaky look, to get a view,
If only of, the barrage balloons.

When it stopped, we weren’t quite sure,
Like a storm, has it stopped?
But silence won, and ‘all clear’ sounded,
From siren, ont' Council School.

We were lucky…one did drop near…
Over fence, in gardens of maternity place!
Didn’t go off…in Acomb sand, (2)
Dad was right…or near enough!

No folk around, in Chestnut Grove,
While ‘Army’ took it out.
When done, didn’t seem right…
A corporal, on top of bomb!

York, was shaken that nasty night,
Holes and craters, everywhere,
Station, Leeman Road I remember well,
But ‘this one’s for us' I shudder still.

This one’s for us…remember, big Sis?

1.The control of stomach winds was difficult for Mam!
2.Acomb was an area where the earth was predominately sand.

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