Valarie Maggs - Her Childhood Memories

THIS STORY IS SUBMITTED BY A VOLUNTEER ON BEHALF OF RADIO BRISTOL ACTION DESK AT CITY OF BRISTOL COLLEGE.

November 20th 1940 - “The first Blitz on Bristol arrived. Dad was at Church, while Mum and I hid under the stairs of our home in Hotwells. Eventually we snuck out and had a look at the orange glow from the City Centre. Dad came home and explained that St Andrews Parish Church had been bombed, with friends of ours becoming trapped in the Crypt. Apparently the heat of the explosions was so intense, coins fused together. The damage was devastating.”

January 3rd 1941 - “We had an Anderson shelter in our back garden which we were taking refuge in at the time, when an elderly gentleman walked in and explained that our family Church was gone. Bells could be heard in the distance signifying the time of 9pm. “Don’t be silly, the clock just chimed.” My Mother said, and the gentleman replied, “that’ll be the last time you hear it.” The next morning Mum took me round the department stores which had all been bombed. We had a look at the remains of our Church too, which was terrible. Incendiary bombs had been dropped on the roof, but the trees around the building were still standing. The water from the firemen’s hoses had formed icicles on their branches, which despite all the devastation, looked beautiful.
“Dad worked for the Home Guard, but he was also a Carpenter and had made many of the objects inside that Church, so he was particularly sad.”

Good Friday 1941 - “A friend and I had managed to get hold of some tickets for a worship at a place called Brooklins at the end of New Foundland Road. We walked home despite the bombing going on around us, but by then I felt quite used to the noise. I wasn’t very frightened at all.”

1944 - “Doodle Bugs had started hitting London, but my Granddad was awarded the British Empire Medal for his work in the Shipyard, which meant he could take two people to a visit at Buckingham Palace as an extra reward. My Grandmother didn’t want to go so both my parents went instead, taking me with them. We were anxious to avoid any Doodle Bug raids so we got the train from Temple Meads at 3:30am and then walked from Padington Station to Buckingham Palace! There we saw King George 6th himself and we watched quite a few people awarded the Victoria Cross. One guy even came in wearing his battlefield dress.”

VE Day 1945 - “I was at home, after never having the misfortune of being evacuated, but I was ill with Scarlet Fever that I had been struck with a week before. On Mother’s orders, I wasn’t allowed out of the house! I could hear everyone else having such a good time, and there I was in bed having the curtains disinfected!”

“My school, Clifton National, was bombed the day Clifton Parish Church was destroyed. As a result, I was sent to Hotwells School, which is also where all the other pupils from Clifton National were sent leading to us only being taught for half the day each week. I missed much of my education but on the positive, I enjoyed a good lie-in in the mornings, particularly when raids had kept me up all night!”

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