In times of war 1939-45.

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi John.
Your stay in Derbyshire was how I lived at the time, a little village, with the local farmer bringing the milk around on a horse and cart, the Village kids helping out in Harvest time and getting an ice cream, before they disappeared.
WE still got bombed and machine gunned though as there was a big steel works a mile away, still I suppose it could have been worse, My first trip in 49 we went to Hamburg, all that was there was heaps of bricks.
Cheers Des

[happy daze john in oz]

Cannot say I remember it but according to my aunt whom we lived with a bomb was dropped close by.
No major damage to the house but the force of the explosion tore the front door off.
She told us it took six weeks to get it replaced.

[Keith Tindell]

I can well remember as a small lad being dragged under the table, or under the cupboard under the stairs. I can also remember the drone of the doodle bug, and listening for the engine to cut out. The Germans were in fact in advance of us in many ways, V1 and V2 rockets for eg. Also i was reading that for a while we could not understand how they were able to hit London in the dark, or poor visibility at night, with accuracy. They then found that the Germans would fly down a radio signal which ran right across London, and there was another transmitter in Norway which crossed London from right angles, and when the pilot heard that signal in his ear, it was open all bomb doors, dastardly chaps those Germans, as someone famously said, *they bombed our chip shop*.

[John F Collier]

I can well remember as a small lad being dragged under the table, or under the cupboard under the stairs. I can also remember the drone of the doodle bug, and listening for the engine to cut out. The Germans were in fact in advance of us in many ways, V1 and V2 rockets for eg. Also i was reading that for a while we could not understand how they were able to hit London in the dark, or poor visibility at night, with accuracy. They then found that the Germans would fly down a radio signal which ran right across London, and there was another transmitter in Norway which crossed London from right angles, and when the pilot heard that signal in his ear, it was open all bomb doors, dastardly chaps those Germans, as someone famously said, *they bombed our chip shop*.

"They bombed our chippy" ,think that was Stan Boardman Keith, he was a scouse comedian, very funny bloke. I think the yanks got in quick at the end of the war, and made offers to take the German scientist to the USA to carry on their work, fair to say they had nothing to lose and everything to gain, and that was the basis of Americas space project. PS..........................
Flying bombs, Doodlebugs and Buzz bombs , call them what you will but they all had the same devastating result when they hit the ground. cheers

[John F Collier]

Hi John.
Your stay in Derbyshire was how I lived at the time, a little village, with the local farmer bringing the milk around on a horse and cart, the Village kids helping out in Harvest time and getting an ice cream, before they disappeared.
WE still got bombed and machine gunned though as there was a big steel works a mile away, still I suppose it could have been worse, My first trip in 49 we went to Hamburg, all that was there was heaps of bricks.
Cheers Des

Hi Des, That had to be better than working in the steelworks most of my life I've worked outside, there is a film I think you both would enjoy; if you've already seen it, there's no harm done, it's a story about a boy evacuated from London to a small village , John Thaw is the main actor, the boy is carrying a lot of baggage, "Mr Tom" is a heartwarming film, if you've not seen it, it's worth a look, two brother in laws one RN the other MN, they both served in the war, they are both gone now bit very interesting to hear what ut was like to be at sea in wartime, cheers,John.

[James Curry]

True or false I don’t know for sure , but as a kid listening to Lord Haw Haw on the radio nearly everyone did it. It was rumoured that his brother was a spitfire pilot who committed suicide. William Joyce was one of the Many executed after the war as was found guilty of being a traitor at the Nueremburg Trials. Even though he was supposed to have taken out German citizenship. And was one of the many hanged by Albert Pierrepoint your favourite publican. JS

Concerning William Joyce, he was an American / German citizen born in New York. How come he was hanged for High Treason? Éamon de Valera was another one who was sentenced to be hanged but was reprieved because he was an American citizen. He was born in New York, His father was Spanish and his mother was Irish. I do not have any problems with Joyce being strung up but why not De Valera as well?

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi John F.
There was also a big tin works next to the steel mill, I worked there from when I left school at 14 along with many the same age, but only lasted untill I was barely 16 then went to the Vindi, couldn't have worked there any longer, no way Houssay
Des

[John F Collier]

Concerning William Joyce, he was an American / German citizen born in New York. How come he was hanged for High Treason? Éamon de Valera was another one who was sentenced to be hanged but was reprieved because he was an American citizen. He was born in New York, His father was Spanish and his mother was Irish. I do not have any problems with Joyce being strung up but why not De Valera as well?

When Winston Churchill became Prime Minister in 1940 he was surprised to find that foreigners could not be prosecuted for Treason, he immediately set about creating a new law.
The new law came into effect in 19 40 and was called "The Treachery Act" , it came in for a lot of criticism as it was said to have been cobbled together too quickly, it served it's purpose
for the war years but was scrapped some time after the war. Hope this helps to clarify the situation for you, cheers. John Collier.

[happy daze john in oz]

But Devalera must have done something right as he became president of Irish republic if I recall correctly.

[James Curry]

John, I will post another thread concerning De Valera seeing as this one is actually about Times of war 1939 - 45. Cheers James.