Blitz survivor tells why Sheffield should mark VE Day.
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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.