A Boy's life

During the Blitz on Liverpool and Districts during 1940, It was decided to evacuate the Children, I was 12yrs old at the time and was evacuated to Builth Wells North Wales, with My brother aged 10yrs and my sister 6 yrs,My Mum and Dad told me to look after the other two,When we reached Builth Wells we were herded like sheep in the Country Hall. on display with large name rags pinned on us, while prospetive carer's looked us over, anumber wanted to take either myself, my brother or my sister, but no body wanted all three, And I would not consent to us being split up, so at the end of the day, we were the only ones unplaced, Our Headmaster who had travelled with us, finally took us round to an old lady who had agreed to take us in.

When we walkedinto her little house there were cats everywhere, three or four on the table feeding out of saucers, they left us there but as soon as they had gone, I took my brother and sister out of the House, I found my way to the Railway Line, and with my sister on my shoulders, and my brother alongside, I started to walk along the Line, I was heading back to Liverpool. After a couple of hours the Police and the HeadMaster had caught up with us, They took us back to the Military Hospital, and looked after us there for a couple of days.

Eventualy after some negotiating I agreed to let my brother go to stay on a little farm and my sister and I stayed with a family who owned the local Hotel, not far from the farm,
things went ok for a few months, Mum and Dad came to see us whenever they could, Then as things quietened down with the bombing Mum
took my sister home.

By this time the Old Chap that ownedthe Hotel
was becoming a bit too demanding on my time, I actually thought he considered me his little labourer for his allotment, To be Fair I didnt mind giving him a hand at times , but as I say he became a bit too demanding, I was missing out on time with my school mates, So much That I got Mum and Dad to take me home.my brother was happy on the farm and stayed there a couple of years, he became sort of one of their family, they were very good to him, and he got on well with them.

A lot of the other children had returned home
We were getting a bit scarce on Teachers,and we still got a few AirRaids and I helped out as an Air Raid Messenger, taking Messages on my bike from one Air Raid Post to another

In February 1942 I left School and worked at Litherland Motors Garage,It had allways been my ambition to go to sea, So I used to take days off work, and go down to the Docks. I usedto Dress up,And I had an Envelope addressed to The Shore Bosun C.P.R, that used to get me through the Dock Gates passed the Police who thought I was from the Shipping Office, Eventually the Boss at the Garage, who was a pretty good bloke really, said Tommy
its not fair to you, only having threedays a week trying to get a ship, you really need a full week, lucklly it was not long before I was accepted and was due to sign on to the Empress Of Russia I was made up, But Mum and Dad were not, actually when I was doing the rounds of the Docks, I used to say to Dad of a night, Well Dad I v'e Made it I'm Sailing , So when I was really going, that Morning I had my bags packed, Dad worked at The Aircraft Factory, Hesaid to Mum I dont think he's joking this time, so he took the Day off Work and went down to the Docks with me. He tried to talk me out of it.

So there I was in 1942 14 yrs of age, about to
set sail. It was a terrific experience, I think at that time I was probably the youngest seaman in England, but I took to it like a duck to water ,as they say.

In 1943 I was on the Troopship Duchess Of Bedford, Dad came to see me off, He said you can't sail on a ship like that its got no lifeboats, I said its Ok were going to Gourock up the Clyde and being fitted with new ones, Well they were new ones allright, in fact they were actually Troop Landing Barges, and we also took on board about six thousand American 1st and 5th Army Troops, We
were heading for the Invasion of Italy.

We headed off in Convoy, through the Atlantic to Gibralter through the Mediteranian
to Salerno, September 1943, We dropped the Americans in their Barges when all hell broke loose, the Germans were waiting for them, the American were taking a hell of a Battering, So we were held there for three days,it was thought we might have to evacuate them, so for three days we were under constant attack from German Planes and Shore Batteries, all the Ships were zigzaging around the Harbour.

I was Bridge Messenger on the after Docking Bridge, when I got a call to find the Bosun and get him to chop the Barrage Balloon Down as it was hindering our movements, I found the Bosun and went with him to the Balloon Platform. this was just forward of the 6inch gun Platform, The Balloon was swinging all over the place, at one moment an American Destroyer was swerving just astern of us, with all guns blazing. and our six inchGun let Strip. allmost at the same time a bomb just missed our stern.

With the Blast I was flung right across the Ballon Platforminto the railings, I think I was too knocked up to feel much. At the end of the Third Day we got word that the British eigth army had got through Naples, so there
was no need for us to stay any longer, and the Convoy left, It was also found that when the bomb had just missed us it had sprung some plates in our stern, and we were taking water, We put into Oran in North Africa,where emergency repairs were made and we set off back home.

When we dropped the Americans off at Salerno
because of the situation we had been unable to
unload their supplies, so when we got home everyone had a few extra goodies , Canned Turkey, and a few other rare foods, Mainly cans.

I'm Going to close off on this as Part one
I'll come back with Part two at another time. 10 /7/2003

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