BOMBING IN MANCHESTER

I read in my local Advertiser newspaper in Oswestry, Shropshire, that they were sending World War Stories to the BBC for their archives. I hope my story will contribute to your archives.
I was 5 years old when the War started and nearly 12-year-old when the War ended. I lived in Salford, Lancashire, which was adjoining to Manchester - Manchester being a city that was heavily bombed during the War. We lived not from far from the Manchester Ship Canal and the local railway was directly in front of our home. These areas were important to the Germans to try and destroy, their aim being - to stop ships going along the Ship Canal and transportation on the railway.

My memories of my childhood were - to sleep nearly every night in the shelters that were available to us, ie the crypt under the local church, cellars under large buildings. They became a refuge for everyone away from the bombing and everyone helped each other no matter how big or small a task. One night in particular stays with me until this day.

We were again sleeping underneath a building, in the shelter that was known as the Transport Offices on the Crescent in Salford. The Transport Offices was a building on a corner and either side of the Offices were rows of Victorian houses. This night people were chatting with each other, some were singing and generally doing what they did every night. There was a horrific explosion and the walls of the shelter seemed to come in like rubber and go out again. Dust and debris fell around us all and panic set in with everyone. When the dust settled we found that no one had been hurt. The ARP Wardens that kept watch at the entrance to the shelter told us that a landmine had been dropped by parachute on the houses adjacent to the Transport Offices and that all the houses on either side of the Offices had been demolished and that the only building standing up was ours. Underneath that shelter were several hundred people and we all realised that what had happened was indeed nothing short of a miracle. Relatives were told that we were all buried underneath in the shelter, because of the completely flattened houses on both sides, it was thought that we could not have survived, but we had all come through the ordeal safe and sound.

THAT SAME BUILDING STILL STANDS TODAY.

MOIRA MARSHALL

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