WARTIME MEMORIES
BARRY JOHN SLATER
I
always meant to get my father to talk about his ‘experiences’ during
the First World War and record them. Before 1914 he was an ‘improver’
at Sheffield Simplex, a cheap form of apprenticeship. They were employed
making motor cars among other things. He signed on at Pontefract Barracks
and later transferred to the Royal Flying Corps. He wanted to be a pilot
but his squadron officer or C.O. told him;
"We
can train any cavalryman, of which we have plenty, to fly in a few months.
It takes years to train a mechanic to keep us silly buggers flying and we
are short of mechanics. If you stay as you are I’ll take you home to
Doncaster for a weekend now and again."
This
was I believe, Captain Galley whose family had something to do with
Doncaster racecourse where the planes landed. Dad had to service the
aircraft and make certain they were chocked and tied down. The local
militia guarded them. He went off to South Elmsall where Grandma and
Grandpa lived. On Monday morning, dad got the engine running and they flew
back navigating by following the railway lines. This they did several
times apparently without any problems.
My
father-in-law Harry Lee was a prisoner of war in the last ‘39-45’ war.
He didn’t say much about those times but I know he and lots of others
were forced to work in, I believe, Polish coal mines. Conditions were
appalling. Crushed hands and feet were frequently welcomed as a ticket out
of the mines.
Uncle
Charlie Lodge was born in Cridling Stubbs and worked as a fitter at the
Bonemill as well as at various quarries. During the war he was a civil
maintenance engineer at Finningley Airfield. Many of his stories and tales
were very sad. Aircraft staggering back after a raid only to crash-land
and burn. Driving a bulldozer, with bombs falling around him, he would
attempt to fill in the bomb craters so that returning aircraft could land
safely. He also ended up trapped in the power-generating house after a
near miss damaged the blast-proof doors, wedging them shut.
I
always meant to get them to tape record their experiences but for some
reason or other it just never happened. That is something I regret very
much, so to everyone else out there, don’t be like me, record those
stories for posterity.
Barry John Slater
Sunday January 4 2004