I was born at an early age in Withernsea, a seaside town about 15 miles north of the Humber estuary, and Spurn Point, 18 miles east of Kingston upon Hull.
We lived before the war started in a large seven bedroomed house on the promenade, my mother used to take in holidaymakers, and provide bed and breakfast, during the summer season. She also had lodgers permanently in the house, in fact from around 1936 until I got married, and left home, there was never just family in the house! In 1940 we moved from the seafront house, because sea-mines kept washing up on the beach, and sometimes exploded, breaking the windows. We moved down to Hull Road, to a house three doors away from the lighthouse. My father had joined the police as a Special constable, and when he had finished work used to go on patrol, assisting the air raid wardens, checking that houses weren’t showing lights during the blackout! I vividly remember one night the air raid sirens went, I was woken up, and came downstairs. We had an indoor shelter, which was a steel table, around seven feet long, by five wide, by four feet high! (Ideal for playing table tennis on)
Some German aircraft flew over to bomb Kingston upon Hull, one must have tried to hit the lighthouse, and dropped a load of incendiary bombs on it, which bounced of it, and landed in the back gardens! My father who was a Special Constable, put his dressing gown on and went out, with a shovel to put soil on them! Unfortunately, the Germans were using a new sort of incendiary bomb, which didn’t explode straight away, he shovelled some soil over one, turned to walk away, got around ten yards away, when bang! He felt a sharp pain in his back, when he came in he asked my mother to see what the damage was, his dressing gown was smouldering, and he had a hole in his back about an inch and a half round! The bombs had phosphorous in them so, he was in a fair bit of pain. He was not off work with it; he was still driving buses to, and from Kingston upon Hull, in the blackout, sometimes through the blitz!
My eldest brother Leonard joined up at the outbreak of war (he was twelve years older than me) into the Territorials, because it was said they would stay at home, and defend the country. He finished up at Dunkirk, where he suffered a burst eardrum, when a shell exploded nearby! He was in the Royal Corps of Signals: when he got back from Dunkirk, he transferred to the Kings Own Scottish Borderers, and was chauffer for a Polish General, for the remainder of the war!
My other brother, Ken (he is five years older than me) lied about his age, and joined the Royal Navy, as a gunlayer in 1942, after being in the Home Guard, he narrowly escaped death, when a kamikaze plane hit HMS Formidable, the aircraft carrier he was serving on, just aft of the gun turret he was manning, at Okinawa.
I used to go down to the railway station, with the barrow I had made out of old pram wheels, and an orange box, and wheel holidaymaker’s luggage to their lodgings! If we had any spare rooms tout for business.
We had relatives in York, and I often used to go there for a holiday, my cousins were brilliant, and gave me a great time, taking me fishing etc. They were fitness fanatics and I used to go and watch them work out at the Railway Gym.
On the 17th July 1942 I went to York for a week returning on the morning of the 24th. I had a bite to eat, then with my Glengarry, planted on my head I went to the pictures, for the children’s matinee, Flash Gordon and the Claymen, Johnny MacBrown, a Pete Smith Specialty, and Leon Errol. Leonard gave me the Glengarry, it was black, with a red, white and black chequered band round the bottom, two ribbons at the back, and a red pom pom on the top. Clutching my penny for sweets, and two pence for entry to the pictures. After buying my sweets from the nearby sweetshop, I entered the Little Kinema; looking forward to seeing my hero, sort out the Claymen. The Pete Smith Specialty had finished; I vaguely remember it being about smuggling people into America in a small ship! The ship docked, and when the customs people, or whatever they were came on board, someone pulled a lever, and all the immigrants, who were in sacks fell out the bottom of the boat! Leon Errol had just started, when there was a tremendous bang! Glass showered down on all the people in the cinema, panic reigned, some children made for the entrance to the cinema, someone opened the doors near the screen, and I made for that! I just got outside when I realised that I did not have my Glengarry, so I went back for it, finding it on the floor I shot out the exit doors once more! Turning right, right again, and right again, I was in Queen Street the main street of Withernsea! The railway station was to my left, as I turned the final corner, laid by the advertisement hoardings a man lay with blood coming from his mouth. I was told later that it was Bill Credland, a bus inspector, I knew well! He had been killed by the blast from the bomb which had fallen about a hundred yards or so in Queen street, another had landed in the bowling green about 75 yards behind the picture houses! I crossed Queen Street, and headed towards Piggy Lane, which led to Lascelles Avenue, which finished up in Hull Road. To the left of Piggy Lane, was a piece of waste ground, the army were using this land to park their brengun carriers, lorries, and tanks on. Going like a bat out of hell I set off for Lascelles Avenue, the plane, which was a Dornier 111k, had turned and was heading back, some soldiers in a brengun carrier open fire on it with small arms! The nose gunner of the German aircraft returned fire, bullets bouncing all round me; the bat became a rocket out of Hell! I reached home to find mother on her own. She had been stood at the back door watching this plane, Ken came out, just in time to see the bombs unloaded, he grabbed mam’s arm, and dragged her indoors, bruising her arm. Ken could see that the bombs had landed somewhere in Queen Street, telling the lodgers the situation, they set off to find me! There had been a change of lodgers since I left home the previous Saturday, so nobody knew what I looked like. That’s were the Glengarry came in handy, I was the only child in Withernsea wearing one!
I of course came home the back way, so to speak, they all went down Hull Road to Queen Street, and so we missed each other.
The bomb in Queen Street had landed on a milliners shop, killing the lady who owned it, a lady holidaymaker was also killed, and Bill, around twenty were injured, so it was lucky really, 50yards further south, and the bomb would have hit the two cinemas, which were side by side! Ken on his Home Guard duties helped dig Miss Moor out of the rubble of the shop!
I would like to know who had told Adolf Hitler, that I had come home from York. That was his one and only attempt on my life, he knew he was on a loser.
On the seafront during the war there were gun emplacements, about thirty of them from North to South of the promenade. We used to watch them blasting away at the German aircraft attacking the convoys going past, occasionally we saw a success, but not very often, I’m afraid. I can remember walking a couple of miles South up the coast to see an Heinkel that had been shot down, and get souvenirs from it.
When the bombs landed on Withernsea, the blast made a bulge in the plaster in the ceiling of our dining room. Mother was a great knitter, (I bet you have never had to wear abb vests though, have you?) and one day when she was sat in the dining room, sparks coming from the needles, the guns on the front opened up again; down came the plaster, hitting Mother on the head. Covered in dust, as the whole room was, she felt her head, no blood, just a bump, so everything seemed ok, just a headache for a while. But the headaches persisted; the doctor put it down to the constant noise of the guns! Mother developed a stiff neck, and had trouble turning her head. It turned out after the war, when she was sent to Leeds for an x-ray, that the plaster falling on it had broken her neck! Too late, instead of the spine joining straight it had healed off line, she never could turn her head right round after that. Adolf again!
A soldier used to be stationed on the top of the lighthouse, which was four doors away from our house, and one windy night one lost his cap. The next day he came looking for it in the back gardens of Hull Road! We found it in ours; Mother invited him for a cuppa. This became a regular thing with all the chaps that were on lighthouse duty, spending time at number 43, when off duty!
Ken remembers one day, which he keeps harping on about, at times. Mam had sent him to the fish shop for fish, chips, patties, etc, for twelve or whatever. After queuing up for half an hour he brought them home. A new regiment, The Green Howards were taking over from the Hampshire regiment in the town, the lorry loads of the men were stationary in Hull Road, and people were outside talking to them. Ken arrives with the tea, soon to be the ex tea! Mother said to one of the soldiers hanging out the back of a wagon, ‘You lads look starved, here you are, and have these’, and handed them our tea that Ken had! That’s probably why Ken joined the Navy?
We also had Waaf’s staying with us at one time, two lots of two. One pair were pretty good table tennis players, and gave me some good practice for the league I played in!
Barbara, and Mary two of the girls bought me a puppy for my twelfth birthday. It was a little black one, I called it Raf (after the Royal Air Force) I could do a fair impression of Johnny Wiesmuller, and I trained him to come when I did the yodel!
I guess you gathered I meant his call, and not his physique? He could hear me all over Withernsea!
Towards the end of the war, Mam, Dad and I went through to London (what a mess it was in) to visit Leonard’s wife, and her family; he married a girl from London. I finished up buying a couple of ducklings, bringing them home on the train, in a cardboard box!
We used to put them in the bath for swimming exercise. One day I put them in the bath, and went out to play, asking my Dad to keep an eye on them. You’ve guessed it Father fell asleep, when Mother came home; they were at the bottom of the bath!
She got them out wrapped them in a towel, and put them in the oven (no not to cook them!!!!) The oven was one of the old fashioned ones, that was heated alongside the fire, they recovered. When they got older, Raf used to chase them all over our, and everyone else’s garden. I remember once, when Ken was home on leave, he shot out into the garden shouting ‘The dogs killing the drake’, Raf was swinging it round by the neck! Ken hadn’t seen them ‘playing’ before. They were great pets, got an egg a day too!
I hope this is of some use to you?
Clifford Wardell
© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author.
- Contributed by
- firefly
- People in story:
- Clifford Wardell
- Location of story:
- Withernsea. East Yorkshire
- Article ID:
- A2018116
- Contributed on:
- 11 November 2003
