Failsworth Bomb

Although I have a lot of wartime memories, good and bad, there is one I shall never forget - the night of January 9th-10th 1941. We had an air raid, nothing like as bad as lots we had previously had; it ended with a crunch sound of a bomb quite nearby at about 12.10 am - quite early really. In the morning I was making my way to work when a young fellow came up to me and said "What are you going to work for, your place was bombed last night". I couldn't believe it - there was the works chimney still standing, but as I approached the entrance to the works lane and saw all the people standing around I knew it was true. I was terribly shocked and I wept. The works was Springfield Laundry, Failsworth. Mrs Ashton, one of the laundry employees,took me into her cottage and gave me a cup of tea. She had given out so many cups of tea she had run put of milk and sugar, but I didn't care. She filled me in with the news. The works had been hit by the last bomb of the night. My colleague,Keith, senior to me, had been on fire watching duties and had been hurt and taken to hospital. That was awful, how was I going to manage without him? However, I came to my snese pretty quickly - it must have been a Friday because all I could think about was all these "lads and lasses" milling around outside who would want their wages. So I had to get cracking. I went round to the company secretary's house nearby and asked him for the office and safe keys. There was an unexploded bomb in the field opposite the office so no-one was allowed near. However, the army personnel were there so I approached the officer and goT permission to go inside. I collected everything needed for doing wages - clock cards, wage sheets, wage packets, and most important of all a Ready Reckoner - no computers in those days. With this lot, my junior colleague, Joan,and I made our way to my house. I was at this time a single girl of 22 living at home and my mother was a little surprised to see us, but she was unflappable and left us in the front room to get on with it. We worked hard and got the job done - all we needed was the money. On Saturday morning the company secretary arrived with the cash and he and I finished the job off. We then took the wage packets to the District Bank in Failsworth where the manager allowed us to distribute the packets from the counter. It is the only time I've been on the other side of a bank counter! The works was closed for about 6 weeks, but friends in the trade, normally competitors, helped us out, and we tried to inconvenience customers as little as possible. The Misses Fielding, who owned the printing works nearby, opened their home to us and we used their lounge as our office. People were so very kind to us. Keith came out of hospital snd got back to work eventually but his injury left him with a permanent limp. Because of that, he was not fit for service in the armed forces, and I have to say I was quite glad of that because we didn't want to lose him from work. I believe he served his country better running that office than by going into the army pay corps.
Does anyone else remember the night of January 9th-10th 1941?
Kathleen Morris, nee Guest, now living in Congleton, Cheshire.

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