…down Sun Bank Lane past Hale
Bank Farm he ran this morning and he did not stop until reached the little moss
covered clearing in Sun Bank Wood just where the river flowed and made a little
rock pool.
He pulled the laces of his new
black plimsolls Mum had bought him , especially for today, and dug his toes into
the soft, cold moss. He leaned against
a tree there, felt the tremble of his growing manhood and breathed the damp
wood air to calm his lungs and the pounding of his heart. The river narrowed here, gurgled and
whispered as the water lapped against the rocks and he watched for the glint of
a fish in the water…he had seen hares box here, it was his place, his secret
place, a tiny arena where the moss had grown over the boulders and when he was
here he was lost in time and started as if waking from a dream to run home for
his breakfast…fried bread today as a special treat for Mayday, he knew it,
could taste it already and he quickened his step…nothing could break the magic
of his day…the smell of the earth , the song of a robin, chaffinches calling,
thrush and blackbird, he knew them all, as his Grandad had taught him, whisper
of the wind in the tree tops, the song of the river, sun rays lighting dew
drops like tiny diamonds in the grass, morning sparkle in the grass along the
river bank. His place, this was for sure, no one else ever came here… Teddy
Moore was happy….
…today was May
Day and today he would dance with Rosie Simmons. They would weave a web of pink and yellow ribbons round the maypole on the vicarage green, they would watch
the Morriss Dancers and he would kiss her on the cheek. Both were in Mrs.
Bacon’s class where he had rested his head upon her ample bosom when he was only
five… Ted knew that Rosie would go away to school next year…he to the big
school in Widnes, on the bus…
May 1st 1941, in
the warm evening sunshine aircraft are made ready as the crews clamber aboard.
Daimler-Benz engines cough and splutter into life with a belch of exhaust fumes
and the noise shatters the peace of the Summer twilight.
Throttles are
pulled back, and slowly, rubber tyres start to move over the grassy airfields
in Northern France. The heavily laden bombers shuffle and line up for take off.
Hitler's mighty Luftwaffe were taking to the skies again.
This time their
target was, Liverpool.
The German squadrons massed into formation and
headed up the North Sea or West, then North up the Irish Sea in an effort to
avoid the thicker fighter cover of the RAF over Kent. On into the gathering
gloom the bombers flew. It was rumoured the Germans were using new technology
of radio beams to locate their target.
latest report in the Weekly Gazette:
1st MAY 1941
The start of the
May Blitz, 8 days of bombing intended to cripple the ports either side of the
river Mersey and hamper the supply lines from the West. The area was hit hard
during this period with terrible loss of life and destruction.
Just before
11.pm the first set of bombs fell onto Wallasey and signalled the start of the
May Blitz. Liverpool and Bootle were also targetted this night as the Luftwaffe
tried to destroy the docks and bomb the people into submission............ It
failed.
2nd MAY 1941
The bombers
return in force with wave after wave hitting the area in a prolonged attack.
Liverpool city centre is the main target and suffers terrible damage. The Dock
Board building, Saint Michael’s Church in Chinatown, the old White Star
building, Liverpool Corn exchange, are hit this night.
An Ambulance
Driver is killed at the Pier Head.
DENIS HAWXBY
died 02/05/1941,
aged 28.
Crawford's
Biscuit factory on Binns Road is hit. One person ( a Firewatcher ) dies from
wounds received in the blast.
ALAN PARKHOUSE
died 02/05/1941,
aged 17.
A bomb hits New
Bird Street killing 3 people.
JOHN HERON
died 02/05/1941,
aged 36.
WILLIAM OWENS
died 02/05/1941,
aged 51.
WALTER RALEIGH
PHILLIPS
died 02/05/1941,
aged 35.
…it had been a
small wedding, Rosie Simmons became Mrs. Moore in her Mum’s wedding dress, Ted, smart in his uniform, buttons and boots
shiny from polishing…just families and their best friends…no fuss but a spread
in the Golden Lion, they cut a cake that Ted’s Mum had made for them with a
bride and groom in the middle…
…it was a good day and they were happy, they had
only the one day and one night, Cherry tree cottage to live in, rented and
Rosie would get everything ready for when he came home, only one bedroom, an end of terrace, was all they
needed for now, they would be happy there together…
…she walked with him as far as Hale station where
he caught the train to go to war, she would wait for him, hang lace curtains in
the little windows, plant red geraniums and a garden and on his return home to
her they would begin their lives together and maybe buy a house one day when
the children came along… they’d live there until they were very old, wrinkly
but still smiling and in love…life was good today and full of promise…she was
Mrs Moore now, after all and that counted for something…
…no one knew where they would send him…
…she stood very straight as the train began to
move and take away her Ted, she waved to him, smiling through a veil of tears….
…there was no one to meet him at the station when
he came home…
…shattered…
…worn…
…old for his age…
…and for the first time unsure of a life without
commands, demands, screams and guns and smell of burning on the wind…and after
the train drew away the silence was huge and it frightened him…
…he began the long walk home to Cherry tree cottage
and to his love in Hale …
…there had been no letters…
..he wound his way through Sun bank wood where
the river still whispered, no time to take off the boots, muddy and worn, the
moss not so inviting and his love was waiting for him…
…he crossed the little bridge that led to Chapel
Lane, with wearied feet past Hale Bank Farm to Sun Bank Lane where he had lived
when he was small and in just a few moments he would see their cottage and hold
his Rosie tight…
…there had been just the one bomb in Hale…
…just one stray bomb…
