Air Raid Oct 2nd 1941

[anna]

..Ed , you best bring your long johns and your woolies socks ,,,,
and there is a nice bakers at the top of stanhope road ,over the road to the fruit shop ,thats sells nice stotties. .

[jimmywizz]

ed if you visit the library then the history room used to be down stairs a few years ago

[Ed Hitcham]

Hi Anna thanks for the tips about the weather, the sun always used to shine when I lived in Shields! My grandparents used to live just off the Stanhope Road in Ashley Road. After mums house was bombed we were eventually rehoused in Watling Street (but I couldn't find it when I visited a few years ago). I think somebody's nicked it!

[anna]

Ed, i think its called Bluebell Way now ...its all been updated ...again.

[jimmywizz]

Bluebell Way sounds so nice, until you think of hope street oops sorry no hope street

[anna]

Bob Hope St ....

[Delilahcat]

You are talking about how Hope street finally ended up.
I can remember some of our neighbours from South Eldon Street who were rehoused in Watling Street. When we went up to visit we thought it was paradise. Indoor toilets and bathrooms with hot water, three or four bedrooms. Remember lots of families lived in two rooms with outside toilet and water supplies just after the war. No wonder they felt lucky to get a council house in Hope Street. There were a number of Conservative Councillors who opposed working people having houses built fot them on the grounds that they'd keep coal in the bath.

[jimmywizz]

same problem, just swop coal for strange green plants growing in the loft lol

[urfa]

I remember the air raid that is the topic in here, I and my two sisters had been to the Blacks cinema, later called the Odeon, A message came up on the screen, that the siren had gone and the film would continue, we left the cinema and ran across the market square to get home, we lived in 53 Maxwell street and had to get over station road passed the old slaughter house, a warden told us to get in the under ground shelters that were at the bottom of Adelaide Street, we were only to get on the other side of the Pavilion cinema a matter of only 500 yards, and we would of been home, needless to say our mother was frantic, we had previously been evacuated but for various reason we were returned home, need less to say we were evacuated again, I must of been a hard case to handle because I ended up in a boys only camp on Shap fell.

[baldy.smith]

I wasn't exactly evacuated, but after we got bombed out in Brodrick Street my mother took us down to
Rochester in Kent to stay with an aunt and her family. I can't remember exactly how long we stayed but
it wasn't for too long due to some friction between my mother and aunt, this was due to my cousin who
was a real tearaway and gave a lot of grief to his neighbours, and when they came knocking on the door
he always said it was me who did it, so mother decided there was more bother there than in Shields.
While in Kent; we used to watch the planes flying backwards and forwards all day. The fighter planes
used to fly very low over the houses, made quite a noise doing it, saw many a victory roll from what
I assumed were spitfires.

[rusty]

All tho quite young i remember the bombs and the air raid that damaged the area around H.S Edward st ,also spending many a night in the Air raid shelter,also swapping pieces of shrapnel with the other kids,later spent many a happy hour or two playing onthe surplus lifeboats stacked in a yard not far from H,,s Edward st ....... [-o<

[brian c]

I wasn't exactly evacuated, but after we got bombed out in Brodrick Street my mother took us down to
Rochester in Kent to stay with an aunt and her family. I can't remember exactly how long we stayed but
it wasn't for too long due to some friction between my mother and aunt, this was due to my cousin who
was a real tearaway and gave a lot of grief to his neighbours, and when they came knocking on the door
he always said it was me who did it, so mother decided there was more bother there than in Shields.
While in Kent; we used to watch the planes flying backwards and forwards all day. The fighter planes
used to fly very low over the houses, made quite a noise doing it, saw many a victory roll from what
I assumed were spitfires.

Seeing as you were a No 1 target for the Luftwaffe i'm not surprised they evacuated you.....they wanted some peace and quiet

[baldy.smith]

At least we didn't have these dropping on us brian!

The photo showing a V1 was taken at Mereworth Kent in 1945.

[denis]

my sister ENA worked in CROFTONS

[brian c]

At least we didn't have these dropping on us brian!

The photo showing a V1 was taken at Mereworth Kent in 1945.

We bloody well did