Blitz survivor tells why Sheffield should mark VE Day

The Star, Sheffield

Blitz survivor tells why Sheffield should mark VE Day.

Transcript

00:00Do you think that it's important that we still remember VE Day in Sheffield?

00:04Oh, definitely. Definitely.

00:07Sheffield took a pounding.

00:10They were after the steelworks,

00:14and every night they'd start at 6 o'clock,

00:17and they'd bombed the hell out of Sheffield,

00:20all down Broughton Lane,

00:23where Jessup Savills is at the bottom,

00:26all down there, they were after all the steel companies.

00:30And Sheffield took a heck of a pounding.

00:34It really did. So did Rotherham.

00:37So did... It was just...

00:40I can remember going into the shelter with the gas mask,

00:47and we all had an identity disc

00:50with our names on it and our addresses on the back,

00:55so that if we were bombed out,

00:58we knew where we came from,

01:01and they could find, you know...

01:04It was horrendous, horrendous, absolutely horrendous.

01:09But we come through it.

01:12And the people of Sheffield were absolutely incredible,

01:18what they went through.

01:19They went through hell.

01:22They really did.

01:24And I have nothing but respect.

01:26Nothing at all but respect for them.

01:29And the lads that fought for us were from all over.

01:32You can't...

01:36Thank you was not enough.

01:39So you think it's very important that we do remember?

01:41Oh, I do.

01:43I owe my life.

01:44I had a life.

01:46Because these people gave us a chance to have a life.

01:51Nobody else.

01:54Just our people gave us a chance.

01:56The lads that fought for us did.

02:00And, you know, thank God they did.

02:03But, no, they should never forget.

02:06Because they owe so much to so few.

02:11They really do.

02:14Yeah, I think it's still very important,

02:16because, I mean, we don't know what...

02:17I mean, well, this city, I mean, all the way down there

02:19was bombed in the war and things like that,

02:21and it could be an incredibly different country, city,

02:24if it wasn't for them.

02:24So I think it's important to remember the sacrifice

02:26that people made.

02:28And, you know, the further time goes on,

02:29the more we lose touch with that.

02:31But it's really important, I think, to remember that.

02:33Because, like I said, we don't know what the planet

02:35will be like without them people putting their life

02:36on the line for us.

02:38Yeah, I think it is important,

02:41because there's people who serve for our country,

02:44and obviously soldiers from Sheffield as well

02:46would have gone and helped support.

02:48If it weren't for them, we wouldn't have had the lives

02:49we have now.

02:51I do, yeah.

02:52Yeah, because I think it's good for the young ones

02:54to find out what they did for us.

02:59Sacrifices that were made,

03:02the lives that were lost throughout the First World Wars

03:06and the Second World War,

03:06and how I carry the respect.

03:10And when I come here, I'm peaceful here.

03:14I find peace here.

03:16Did you have relatives that fought in the war?

03:17Me nan.

03:19She's here.

03:19And she was a nurse in the Second World War,

03:25based in London, Brixton way, really.

03:28And, yeah, a long story.

03:32So, me personally, I was in Wing Fellowship.

03:35That's your nan there, is it?

03:38Your nan, yeah, my dad's mum.

03:41The poppies there are in her garden.

03:44She's got lots of poppies.

03:45But she likes her picture to be in black and white

03:48because she doesn't like red.

03:50She's scars.

03:52So, yeah, that's it.

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