��ѿ��ý

A Schoolboy’s view of World War 2
By John Salisbury
I was only 6 years old living in Rose Cottage, Higher Anderton, when all the neighbours where gathered around to listen to our wireless. The message sent by the Prime Minister was very grim as he announced we were at war with Germany. Solemn faces and tears as preparations were made. This meant very little to me but it did to the company listening to the radio.
Our first experience of imminent war was when a French aircraft landed in a field just outside the village. We went to the field to get a closer look but we couldn’t get close because of the security.
Families were issued of ration books. It was a headache for Mum, having six of us! She had to care for all of us as Dad was away in the Forces. We were issued with gas masks, or respirators as they were called. These were in a box fastened with braid and had to be carried at all times.
In case of an air raid, a siren was fitted on a tall building in the village, which was the headquarters for the A.R.P., ��ѿ��ý Guard and Fire Service. We had to go there to be issued with our gas masks and to have them checked for any damage. When an Air Raid was imminent, the siren gave a rising and falling wailing sound.
We were a very close-knit community, living in a row of cottages. Our sanctuary during air raids was a communal Anderson Shelter over the road in the allotment, or under the stairs in the cottage. Two elderly neighbours, Mr Copp and Mr Glass, came and checked we were safe in the shelters during the raids. However, sometimes we would go back to our house. There we would go to our bedroom and watch the air-raids on Plymouth.
The raids on Plymouth and district were devastating! On clear moonlit nights the German bombers came over and dropped their bombs. Up went the barrage balloons, which were situated covering the approach to Plymouth and the dockyard. We watched the City burning and heard the people screaming, this still stands out vividly in my mind. Some bombs dropped on our side of the river, Mount Edgcumbe Manor was hit by firebombs and the top floor was gutted. Although most of the time we were made to go to the shelters, we still saw what as going on and it was not very pleasant. At the all clear the siren gave a continuous sound and the defences were stood down.
After heavy raids on Plymouth, steamboats brought the refugees to our side of the river where the locals were waiting to meet them and offer them food and shelter with the aid of the W.V.S. and Red Cross. My mother took in a couple and their daughter, as we had plenty of room it was also company for her as the raids became more frequent. We all became one family.
As children we became adventurous the oldest ones taking the lead. After a raid we would scour the area looking for shapnel or, if we heard an enemy aircraft had crashed, we made our way in that direction but had great trouble getting pass security. I had a box full of souvenirs at home. My mother worried her self sick about me because she never knew where I was, except when I was at school.
In a corner of a field there was a large oak tree in which we made a tree house. This was our make-believe machinegun post - we couldn’t grasp the seriousness of the situation.
There were several military camps around our village, American and British, so there were always troops around. We used to search the countryside for discarded cigarettes or ration packs, the American ration packs consisted of bars of chocolate packed in a greaseproof pack, these and the cigarettes we took back to the camp house. I started smoking early in life and suffered later in life because of this. We also searched the shores of the tidal lake, where we found tins of fruit, veg and even sausages. All went back to our tree house so we ate well, but how we didn’t poison ourselves I will never know.
The American troops were stationed at a place called Maker Camp. They used Mount Edgcumbe Park for troop and vehicle movements. There was a very deep anchorage accessible from the park, called Barn pool. Here they laid a concrete slipway made from slabs shaped like Cadburys Chocolate Bars, this allowed the tank and personnel landing craft to embark their cargo for the preparations for D-Day. Thousands of Soldiers passed this way.
The coast around S.E. Cornwall and Plymouth Sound bristled with all sorts of defences, Barrage Balloons, Searchlights, Observation Posts, Heavy Guns and Pill Boxes. Metal poles protruded from the sand on the beaches. On one occasion a Barrage Balloon broke free and deflated. The cable tangled in the tree canopy and one end dangled to within a few feet of the ground which had a steep slope, we attached a cross member on the cable, this made a dangerous but fabulous swing.
Wherever we went there were posters in windows and billboards with slogans, such as ‘Dig for victory’ or General Kitchener pointing his finger with the caption “Your Country Needs you!” Land Girls were extensively employed working the land or in munitions factories and the many other places where men use to be employed.
There was one occasion when an American Liberty Ship, the ‘James-Egan- Layne’ was torpedoed off the
Eddystone Lighthouse. The captain ran the ship on to a sand bank in Whitesand Bay, where she is lying now, forming a reef used by SCUBA divers. We scoured the beach to find a few souvenirs but got chased off by security. All we got for our troubles was covered in oil!

© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.