Memories of air raid shelters

Memories of air raid shelters

Leicester in WW2

An oral history extract describing using air-raid shelters in WW2.

EMOHA

Interview with Olive Rudkin, Ref: EMOHA70/45

EMOHA

.mp3

English

Oral history

Tape

1 min 44 sec

(Sound of air raid siren) When the war started, I remember at Mellor Street School, they built a huge, great big shelter. And every time the sirens went - I was married then, got me son - we’d take him and run him down to the shower and sit there with all these other people, you know. But it got so, eventually, we were so fed up with dashing down the shelters that we didn't bother. We used to say, oh, no, I won't stay in bed if we've got to have one, we'll have it, you know. But I remember one day when there was a big bomb dropped in Sudeley Ave, which is off Abbey Lane, and I was on Checketts Road doing some shopping, and the bomb dropped, and the floor just shook underneath. And my son was in the home, so, I was so scared, I just took to me heels and ran, dashed home, you know. And the planes were still going over. And on the Tuesday night, when they set fire to the town with the incendiary bombs, we had these Anderson shelters, but the lady who looked after my son, she had a better one than mine in my backyard, so I just grabbed my son and we ran down and we were all singing in these shelters, you know, so that we wouldn't hear the planes going over. And kept saying, well, if you don't hear it, you know, you’ve copped it. (Sound of all-clear siren)

Frances Matterson

Olive Rudkin