wartime

Anne Bowen

Anne Bowen, nee Waterhouse, Browning Street.

My name is Anne Bowen (nee Waterhouse) and during WWII my family lived at 1 Back of 52 Browning Street, Ladywood where my father Fred Waterhouse ran his coal dealership. The yard in front of our house was shared with the shop at No50 and with No52 The Sportsman Inn. There is a story told by my family about a bomb which fell in our yard. I believe it fell on the night of 19/20 November 1940.

It made a deep hole in the yard and caused considerable damage to the surrounding buildings. The children were moved somewhere else for the following nine months until the buildings were repaired. The children's names were Gladys, Frances, Mary, Beattie, Alfred and baby Jean Waterhouse. The gate was blown off the front of the yard and the business sign which said ''F.W.Waterhouse & Son, Coke and Coal Merchant'' was blown from above the gate and landed on top of the Baldwins paper bag factory.

I was born in 1946 and obviously know nothing of the war except what I have been told.

Does anyone else remember anything of this incident?

David Speake

I was born in 1936 and lived with my mom, Elsie Speake in Upper Ryland Street, my dad was a prisoner of war.

I remember being in the cellar of our house and suddenly the candle went out and there was a bomb that caused us to be trapped in the cellar. We got out unharmed and walked up to Five Ways and there were flames everywhere. We were told that a landmine had landed at the top of the street and killed everyone on the shelter.

Has anyone memories of this night of bombing?

Stan Humphreys

These are my dads medals and photographs.

This is a photo of me spreading dad’s ashes on Juno Beach, where he came ashore on D Day, 65 years to the day after.

He lived in Edward Street and Nelson Street. He was a police messenger at 16 till he joined up. He joined the Royal Berkshire Regiment and on 6 June 1944, landed on Juno beach, this was the Canadian beach, with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles. He was part of the beach group.

On our visits to Normandy many years later, he liked to wear his Canadian badge and Juno Beach badge, because he was part of the beach group it reminded him of the 17 lads he buried there.

We played the Vera Lynn tape while in Normandy on our many visits. The photo of him Bruxelles 1944, was a weekend off from the front trying to relieve the paras in Holland, this is now known as a bridge to far.

He was transferred to the Dorset’s and then the York and Lancs, both disbanded now and he was demobbed in 1946.

I will be wearing his medals, Canadian badge and Juno beach badge this year in Normandy, 65 years on.

Dad had an older brother, Harold, known as “dick”, he was also in the war. He was born 14 February 1911, his wife was Joan, last known to live in Lickey Road.

Stan Humphreys Jnr

Joyce Rowe, nee Marston

We also were evacuated from Ladywood at the beginning of the war, My sister and I twice in fact.

First I think from St. Peters School, to Bromsgrove, then came home for a short while during and slept in the Anderson Shelter in the garden every night.

Then we were evacuated again to Asworth, Nottingham. My sister and I stayed with one couple and my two brothers stayed with a family next door but two.

I did write about my experiences in one of the first Brum Magazines, but loaned the paper to someone as you do, and I never got it back.

We lived in Essington Street, at the time and I went to St. Peters School and St. Barnabas School and of course Osler Street Schools.

This is a very good site and I spend many hours looking through it as all my family on both sides have all come from Ladywood,

although scattered around the world now, I know a lot of them read your memories. Keep up the good work.

Joyce Rowe (nee Marston)

Graham Sullivan - Evacuee

We were evacuated from Ladywood at the beginning of the war, to Putley about 6 miles from Ledbury, we were hoarded into a school, to be chosen by our foster parents, we went to a couple by the name of Jack & Violet Walters, Jack was a nice man, they had no children of their own.

They lived in an old cottage with no running water, and no flush toilet, me and my brother never got used to this, and when our parents came to visit us, our dad never used it, reckon he must have gone into the fields or something like that.

The village had a couple of shops, and a bus ran every Saturday to take you into Ledbury, and our education was very basic, to be honest we never settled there, and it wasn't long before our parents bought us back home, to face the bombing, and we were glad to be back in Ladywood.

Regards Graham Sullivan.

Edward Colson, formerly of 5/273 Icknield Port Road

This is my Mother and cousin Tom ( in uniform) taken at the start of the last war.

They are in the garden of No 4, the home of my Aunt Jess and Uncle Albert (Coop).

Mom was a nurse (name of Ashford), at Barnsley Hall Hospital, Bromsgrove and Tom was on his way to Burma.

The houses in the background are in Marroway Street, but the one painted black (tarred) is in Coplow Street. The next house (No 5) would become ours at the end of the war.

Tom was awarded the MBE, 18 months ago for his work with the Burma Star Association.

He was the President of the Birmingham Branch of the Burma Star Association.

Tom Reynolds MBE, died 8th June 2010, aged 87, after a long illness.

*William "Bill" Leaver from Morville Street and Ledsam Street*

Identity Cards
George Compton of 1/57 Morville Street	Edith Compton of 1/57 Morville Street