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I grew up in Market Weighton where my father was a policeman. On the day the war was declared, all the sirens went off, and the policemen went out on the front lawn at Market Weighton with their rifles, thinking they were ready to shoot paratroopers that might land. I was 12, and we were frightened to death.

My father was posted in Hull to deal with looting, and we moved to Beverley. During the blitz, you could stand and read a newspaper in Beverley from the light of the fires in Hull. I joined the ARP as a messenger when I was old enough. The ARP post was at the end of our road, and my first job when I got there was to put the kettle on. The phones hardly ever went down so we didn't do very many message runs.

They started army cadets in the home guard and so I joined. We were too young, so we didn't do a lot. I was in the band on the drums. We’d march from East Hull barracks to Hedon Road jail. It was bombed and they used it for firing practice.

(Transcribed by Joachim Noreiko)

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