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Leith
During World War II |
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Thank you to Frank Ferri, now living in Newhaven, Edinburgh for sending
me these memories of living in Leith during World War II.
Between 1939 and 1958, Frank lived in Ballantyne Road, Leith, opposite
the State Cinema.
Frank sent recollections 1, 2 and 3 below. |
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1 |
Frank Ferri
Newhaven, Edinburgh |
Mini Blitz |
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2 |
Frank Ferri
Newhaven, Edinburgh |
In the Bomb Shelter |
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3 |
Frank Ferri
Newhaven, Edinburgh |
The Morning After the Blitz |
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Thank you, also, to others for sending me their
memories: |
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4 |
E Young
Fife, Scotland |
Prince Regent Street - Bombing |
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1.
Frank Ferri
Newhaven, Edinburgh |
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Mini Blitz
Aircraft
"On the
night of April 7th 1941, my area (Ballantyne) was hit by a mini
blitz. German aircraft heading for the shipyards of Clydebank on the
west coast were intercepted by our RAF fighters and in an effort to
get away as fast as they could the German bombers unloaded their
bombs indiscriminately to hasten their exit."
Bombs
"The bombs they
released in our area were two land mines, suspended from parachutes,
which silently fell from the sky, giving no warning until they
reached ground level and exploded.
One bomb fell near Largo Place/ Keddie Gardens
park, destroying the corner of a tenement and killing at least two
people, at the same time badly damaging the Town Hall in Ferry Road
(now Leith Library).
Running parallel with Ballantyne and Largo
Place is the Water of Leith and the then railway embankment. The
second bomb fell in the deep embankment, thus forcing the blast in
an upwards direction, had it fallen on more level ground, Ballantyne
and other areas would have been levelled to the ground."
At Home
"That night is
indelibly imprinted in my mind. It would have been about nine
o’clock, and I aged six or seven was sitting by the fireside reading
my comic before going to bed. We were never early bedders,
even as children, sleeping on many nights with our clothes on in
anticipation of the air raid sirens going off.
My father heard
an aircraft passing overhead. We were, to a degree, used to
hearing the sounds of different aircraft engines and if the sirens
went off, we knew it had been a German. So frequently did
aircraft fly over our house, we learned to differentiate between the
engine sounds of friend or foe"
Damage to Our Home
"On this occasion
my father was right at guessing it was a German, but this time there
was no siren warning, the bomb parachutes fell silently, and then
there was this enormous blast, which lifted me right off my chair
and flung me across the room into the lobby (hall).
The complete
window had blown in, the plaster on the ceiling and walls fell off,
with furniture, dust and glass strewn all over the place."
Evacuation
"My father
grabbed me, placed my two year old brother in an all enclosing
gasmask that resembled a deep sea diver’s helmet and made for the
door and balcony. Feeling the rubble of the balcony under his
feet in the darkness, he shouted to my mother, 'I think the balcony
has gone, we may be trapped.'
Meanwhile, he
realized she had gone back into the house to retrieve her purse and
had got trapped behind the living-room door that had been jammed by
falling debris. He went back for her.
The balcony as it
turned out was safe and we gingerly made our way down the turreted
staircase to the sound of exploding shells, shrapnel and tracer
bullets and the sweeping bands of light from our ack ack gun
searchlights scanning the skies." |
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Frank Ferri, Newhaven, Edinburgh: April 1, 2008 |
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2.
Frank Ferri
Newhaven, Edinburgh |
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In the Bomb Shelter
Finding the Shelter
"On arrival at the brick built shelters in the
quadrangle, we found they were all full and had to make our way
through a pend (a large entry) leading to Ballantyne Place and The
Piggery where there were underground earth shelters.
These were also quite full, but we got in. The
Shelter had bunk beds and chemical toilets, with some other basic
needs. The whole shelter stank of some kind of disinfectant
like Lysol or Carbolic. The smell made you wretch.
Neighbours
One of the first faces I recognised in the
shelter was Mrs Geddes, our next door neighbour, having fragments of
glass removed from her head. People had brought with them some basic
belongings and some old ladies had brought along their budgerigars,
canaries, cats and dogs.
Booze
For a while not much conversation went on.
People just huddled together for warmth and comfort in the damp,
smelly and cold of their environment. Then the door burst open
with some new residents and a couple of Air Raid Wardens, some
drunk.
As it turned out, Jamiesons the grocers in
Junction Street halfway between Ballantyne and Bowling Green Street,
had the shop front blown in and some of the people had purloined the
booze, hence their condition and the exaggerated stories of drama.
Stories
One of the stories was (untrue) Mrs Gillespie
with her 10 children at No 3/21 top flat was trapped with her
family; their part of the balcony had blown away.
There were stories of people with their heads
blown off, heroic deeds of someone thinking the parachuted land mine
was a German Pilot and someone getting blown up running towards it
to arrest the enemy. All were untrue of course. War does
have its macabre yet unconscious sense of humour.
As each story unfolded, the children agog with
a mixture of fear and excitement, would scan the adult faces for
some kind of reassurance or reaction whether negative or positive.
Quiet Evenings in the Shelter
On
other nights we went to the shelters, without the bombing, quite
looking forward to it, because it meant you met your pals, played
Cards, Ludo or Snakes & Ladders and would certainly have the day off
school the next day (all very exciting for a kid) but this time it
was real and very different. We experienced real fear. We
detected it from the adults; it was their and my first experience of
a real air raid.
George's Ice Cream Shop
George DeFlice's Italian ice-cream shop, at
Junction Bridge had been pillaged during the night. This was
assumed to be in retribution for the Italians under the rule of
Mussolini who supported the Germans at that time.
As kids, on cold winters nights, we would go
into George’s and sit in, buy a cup of hot OXO or Bovril and a
couple of water biscuits to dip, or a bowl of hot peas and vinegar
(bad for flatulence) |
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Frank Ferri, Newhaven, Edinburgh: April 1, 2008 |
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3.
Frank Ferri
Newhaven, Edinburgh |
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The Morning After the Blitz
Return Home
"At about nine next morning, we exited the
shelters, blinking in the early spring sun and made our way back to
inspect the damage to our properties.
Gingerly climbing the stairs through the
rubble to our flats, not knowing how structurally sound the stairs
and balconies were, we entered the house.
Plaster from the walls and ceiling was
completely stripped, furniture lay on its face, glass, clothes and
crockery were all over the place and there was no sign of the window
or its frame. Fortunately the explosion had not fractured gas
supplies and started a fire."
Wind and Rain
"For many months, all we had to keep the wind
and rain from blowing in the window space was a bright yellow
oilcloth sealing up the windows, severely restricting natural light.
After the raid, we stayed off school for a few
days, and people came from far and wide to view the damage, making
us feel even sorrier for ourselves.
Sweets and Toy
The bright side of the blitz for the children
however was the receipt of a parcel containing sweets and a toy from
the people of Culver City, Burbank California USA signed by the
mayor. These gifts in the deprived war years were great and
treasured luxuries to us.
Stress
The major negative side to the raid for me
anyway, was, for some considerable time after the event, I suffered
(undetected by anyone) post traumatic stress and developed a
stutter.
I would run out of the house, no matter what
state of dress or undress, if a flake of lime or plaster was shaken
down from the ceiling by the footsteps of our upstairs neighbour
I ran out of the house totally terrified.
No treatment was given for that in those days." |
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Frank Ferri, Newhaven, Edinburgh: April 1, 2008 |
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4.
E Young
Fife, Scotland |
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Thank you to E Young who wrote:
Prince Regent Street -
Bombing
"My mum was a
baby and lived in Prince Regent Street, when area was bombed during
World War II.
The stair in
which my grandmother lived was badly damaged, and they were
evacuated to Bonnyrigg until repairs were made to the building.
Apparently, my
mum was covered, head to toe, in soot and had to be cleaned up in
hospital. Obviously, she was too small to remember (8 or 9
months old) but my gran must have told her."
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E Young, Fife, Scotland: Message
posted in EdinPhoto guest book, December 6, 2008 |
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