"The sky was lit up with flames" - Sheffield man shares memories of the Blitz

A retired electrical maintenance engineer for Osborn Mushet Tools and very accomplished photographer, Peter was a pupil at St Theresa school pupil at the time of the war and remembers when the sirens went off.

He and his siblings donned their Siren Suits and went in to their Anderson Bomb shelter with his mother.

He said: “These were a one piece flanneling suit with sewn in mittens and built in feet and to amuse the children, the heads had big ears, like rabbits. It was a zip up thing.

“It was very easy for parents to put children into and they were warm and very comfortable.”

That night when the sirens sounded. Peter remembers himself and family going into their shelter and the first German planes coming over.

“They had more of a growl, the engines completely different to the RAF planes,” he added.

Soon after they heard the first bombs began to fall.

He said: “Or it could have been the heavy anti aircraft guns firing as there was one sited at Manor Castle, on Manor Lane.

“Some of the bombs you could hear the whistle when they came down, then you would hear them drop, then it would go quiet.

“You went back into the house. Then another wave came over we were in and out of the shelter until the early hours of the morning.”

Peter shared the shelter with his mother – Elizabeth – and sisters while his father – William – was on duty for the ARPW and his brother was at work.

His baby sister Anne who was one at the time, went in a special cot with a hand operated pump to keep her ventilated.

“She was too young to wear gas mask,” Peter added.

Peter had three sisters and a brother; Joseph aged 16, Margeret aged nine, Theresa aged 13 and Anne.

Peter's brother was an apprentice metallurgist for at English Steel. Joseph later joined The Royal Navy in 1942.

The night of the Blitz Peter’s brother had worked the day shift but the factory had taken a direct hit.

Peter’s brother had stayed through the night helping to clear rubble and debris, so work could continue.

Up until the Blitz Peter had grown up with ‘the blackout’ and restrictions with strict rules enforced.

At night the city would be shrouded in in darkness. All vehicles and torches had cardboard disks which restricted the amount of light from them.

“So as a five year old I was used to only blackout at night,” he said.

“The sky was lit up with flames as a five year old that stuck in my mind as I was used to blackout.”

Peter’s recalls his grandmother and aunt lived on Claywood Road near the Cholera monument.

Peter's mother was concerned about them and Peter and his two oldest sisters were sent down to check on them.

They walked down City Road to Claywood Road where they lived “they were fine,” Peter recalled, so they carried on their journey into the city over the footbridge at Midland Station and on to Fitzalan Square.

Peter remembers they were still dealing with the aftermath from the bombing of Marples Hotel.

He also remembers Walsh's department store was still burning and the images of burning trams stayed with Peter.

“A policeman sent us off home. I can remember corrugated sheets like the ones used for Anderson shelters on different parts of the footpath and Fitzalan Square.

“Obviously years later I realised that they were bodies under there, they’d fetched out from Marples.”

Peter recalls a lucky escape for his uncle who worked near Weston Park.

“His was making his way home that night, he lived on the manor. On his way, during the bombing, he sheltered in shop doorways, when aircraft came over.

"He dropped into Marples for a while and when it went quiet again he carried his onward journey home. His plan was to go down Commercial Street then up Duke Street home.

"When he got to the bottom of Commercial Street, Marples Hotel took a direct hit.”

The following day Peter and his sisters played on the manor fields where there were several bomb crators.

“We found pieces of shrapnel. We were not sure where it came from whether it was from the anti aircraft guns or aircraft.

“We would swap them for marbles.”

Peter doesn’t remember being frightened during the Blitz or the war.

He considered that as a five-year-old he was too young to “comprehend the enormity of the war”.

Peter also recalled good times as a child. He remembered people from St Swithin's church on Basildene road where his father’s ARPW colleagues used to meet up.

He remembers parties organised with magicians and other entertainment.

He recalls Sheffield holding numerous parades to raise morale and funds towards the war effort and a shot down Luftwaffe mechasmit 109 fighter on display in Barker’s Pool.

Peter also recalls the end of the war he was nine-years-old.

“They marched us into the hall, a class at a time. Each of us got a Fry’s sandwich, which consisted of a two ounce bar with a layer of dark chocolate then a layer of light chocolate then another layer dark,called a sandwich.”

There was two versions of the chocolate bar, one with two layer of milk chocolate and one with two dark.

Pete received the one with dark chocolate which disappointed him as “ no one would swap” he laughed.

He also remembers everyone leaving school.

“ We all ran out of Saint Thersa’s there was cheering and shouting ‘the war’s over, the wars over’,” Peter said.