Stoke and Staffordshire

Burslem Born & Bred

I was Burslem born and bred, went to Hilltop School then Moorland Road School. The shop in Burslem that is...

Potteries War Bride

Dorothy paid £14/13 shillings for her wedding flowers, and both she and George had to fetch the beer...

The Day War Broke Out

I can remember the bombing of the fields around Jenks' farm at Northwood. Everyone thought they were...

A Present from America

Inside was bacon, dried eggs, spam, biscuits and chocolate. We thought they were after Meir aerodrome or...

The Biscuits

I was about 7 years old at the time, we went to school in Walsall and the teacher of my class Mrs...

A Roving Potter

During one raid one night, I took shelter with my mum and brother under Silvertown Bridge. Councilmen came...

Childhood Reminiscences of Lingfield in Surrey

I remember when our village, Lingfield, was bombed... The second bomb had hit the village school...

Nile Street Bomb

On a different theme, Burslem had four cinemas, the Coliseum, the Palace, the Palladium and, up in Moorland...

Hitler Be Blowed!

My sister Audrey and I were at college together in Essex. A lot of people in the Shelton area went to the...

From Mwava to Blackshaw Moor

Before Britain declared war, when my dad was 6 and living in the village of Mwava in Poland... Straight...

Potatoes in the Cellar

Mrs Henderson and her brother went home for her dinner and if her Mum was not there she left a note on...

Lobby in the Field

I suggested to the soilders with me that they start to pick vegatables from the field - carrots, parsnips,...

Mind your Language Girls...

My aunt got me a job in a factory, Parkhall pottery in Longton - it made pottery for submarines and bits...

Betty Pinches

The song was 'I don't want to set the world on fire, I just want to start a flame in your...

The Bombing of the Brewerys: Burton-Upon-Trent

One lady told us that there had been a direct hit on the brewery and the bomb had hit the water...

High Jinks in the Home Guard

I was a pianist so I got roped into being involved in a pantomine that the regular Army Captain had...

WW2 Gomer Pyle in British Officer Mess

My father, Joe Fisher, served with US Army near Lichfield, part of his duty was to train Home Guard and...

Billeting Officer

After about a year evacuees started arriving in Stoke-on-Trent, they came mainly from London and Colchester...

Memories of Peter Green

Peter lived with his parents at the ‘Gas Works House’ and they had come from Coventry when his...

That German Overcoat

He was in France and the Germans were on his tail.A young lady took him into her home and hid him... While...

The School's on Fire

I remember the Germans dropping incendiary bombs around Town fields in Audley... At the weekend, me and my...

"Have you got any Gum Chum...?" Childhood Memories of Packmoor, Stoke-on-Trent

"Have you got any Gum Chum...?" Childhood Memories of Packmoor, Stoke-on-Trent. They seemed to have...

Happy Reminiscences

Dad kept chickens to feed the family during the war... One day we sat down for our Sunday dinner, mother...

A Positive Handicap (Book)

As there was no toilet tissue in those days old copies of the Sentinel or Daily newspapers were torn into...

"Get That Line Straight Beryl!"

Mum met Dad during the war... When they were going out on a date, Mum would do her legs with gravy browning...

Gas Masks and Blackberries

British Aluminium had a factory where they made the spitfire near where I used to walk... Mother died at my...