Listening to the War

Listening to the War.

Why listening? Well as a young lad to be seen and not heard - I listened to the radio hearing Neville Chamberlain saying today we are at war with Germany.
That same night the searchlights stabbed the air over Doncaster revealing a plane. Which we children watched expecting something would be happening — I must say we were not brave, as the sirens wailed on that first night of the war.
We listened to Organ music on a Saturday afternoon with our dad on our radio — We were very modern having a large pole carrying a wire in our back yard supplying our new radio with many pleasant programmes — Larry the Lamb being one of our favourites.

We listened in time as Lord Haw Haw spoke, over riding the BBC programmes.
This was great fun., Especially as he once mentioned Doncaster’s new CO-OP building.

Bombs fell on Sheffield and other British cities including Doncaster — which was spared the worst of heavy bombardment.

(For those unfortunate people who were killed in Doncaster by the German airmen’s bombs. I have always carried a sense of sadness —even to this day. I know way wish to pass easily over the memories of those Doncaster people- and others )

Still fresh in my memory was the night when being awoken for some reason — I lay and heard the beat of a plane’s engine, which was different from what we normally heard.
I lay listening to the noise and thought this was strange. The plane was circling round.
I jumped out of bed and called to my Father ‘Get up-Get up’ as I ran down the stairs and sheltered under them.
The rest of my family did not move. No sirens had sounded at that time —
The plane was still buzzing around —the explosions shook our house — still no one was willing to leave there beds. Even though I called out loud to them.
The sirens did wail a belated warning as I joined the rest of my family in my bed listening to the silence.

I joined the army cadets and we paraded in most of the districts of Doncaster with our band of bugle and drums. It was supposed to raise the fighting spirit in the local population. Although we got more smiles and laughs as we swung our arms high marching behind the band. I think the band could only play a couple of simple tunes but the drums were good and loud on a quiet Sunday afternoon. The army cadets met regularly on a Sunday in the Ritz Cinema

Another uniform one from the home guards — I was still in the army cadets, I was told off for belonging to the cadets with there uniform and the home guards at the same time. I remember going to the Cantley shooting range and scoring the highest marks for rifle shooting (Lee Enfield Rifle ) I think,

Which I was given a reward of twenty cigarettes.
listening to a plane again - flying low over South Parade dropping flour bombs on the home guard . We were hiding in Regents Park marvelling at the accurately dropped flour bombs as they burst in the middle of the road.
I think the plane was a Handley Page

The home guard carried out many manoeuvres around the town. In the Armthorpe road Quarry, us kids watched and listened to the bangs as they tried out anti tank weapons. I believe that they were home made devices.
Blaca Bombard sticks in my memory as being something they used

A medical examination in a church in Hallgate preceded my joining the army.
Listening to a Doctor saying Brown eyes as he wrote my details down — my eyes were blue. Anyway what’s it matter? I always had brown eyes according to my pay book even to this day. Although they are still blue.

A packed train from Doncaster station carried many of the youth of Donny up to Inverness on a long and tiring journey.
They took our civvy clothes — and turned us into khaki robots

A drill sergeant was the next thing I was listening to. He’s best forgotten — Do you know? - he didn’t have a Father?

Roy Barker

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