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Interview with Gualtiero Silvio Cosolo
Gualtiero Silvio Cosolo recalls attending the Ceriani vocational school in Monfalcone, at this time the air raid siren went off every day and the children would run to the nearest shelter. Describes the 7 March 1944 bombing and the gruesome sight of…
Interview with a survivor of the Karigador bombing
The informant recalls the day when he and his cousin plundered a ship with a cargo of furniture, clothing and foodstuffs, which was moored at Karigador. He describes how the harbour was suddenly bombed and strafed. Remembers how they hid behind a…
Interview with Guido Di Blas and Ilario Bolletti
Guido Di Blas and Ilario Bolletti recount wartime memories associated with the town of Monfalcone and the surrounding area. Describes a severe night of bombing stressing the ominous sight of target indicators and loud explosions; recalls the massive…
Interview with Stefania Vischi
Stefania Vischi recalls her wartime life in the Monfalcone area. Stresses how she spent long hours alone inside a shelter, frightened by explosions and tremors. Contrasts the horror of being at the receiving end of the bombing war and the strong…
Interview with Thea Warwick
Thea Warwick was seven years old and living in Rotterdam during the war. She recounts what is was like during the Hongerwinter. Walking for miles to soup kitchens and talks about other examples of how they obtained food. They moved into the…
The Evacuee
Roy was evacuated four times.
The first to Isleham and he was accompanied by his maternal grandparents and Alan from next door. There was no electricity, water or sewerage in the farmhouse. Gas was installed but never used. Lighting was by paraffin…
The first to Isleham and he was accompanied by his maternal grandparents and Alan from next door. There was no electricity, water or sewerage in the farmhouse. Gas was installed but never used. Lighting was by paraffin…
To Janet from Rupert Harwood
![EHarwoodRTWHarwoodJ[Date]-01.jpg](https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/square_thumbnails/1237/16297/EHarwoodRTWHarwoodJ[Date]-01.jpg "EHarwoodRTWHarwoodJ[Date]-01.jpg")
A letter written by Ruper Harwood to his daughter 'Darling Little Janet', telling her not to worry if he is reported missing.
Interview with Teresa Messali
Teresa Messali gives a brief account of her pre-war life with her large family in a farmhouse near Bergamo. She mentions Pippo; describes the pressing need to find shelter during the bombings and stresses how she frequently resorted to ditches.…
Interview with Maurizio Ghiretti
Maurizio Ghiretti describes his early life at Monticelli Terme, a small town near Parma. He remembers various episodes of wartime hardships: food shortages, a tree taken down at night for firewood, men hiding in concealed rooms to avoid roundups, and…
Interview with Sara Ventriglia
Sara Ventriglia, the daughter of a Jewish mother and a Catholic father, recalls her early life in wartime Milan. She describes the alarm being sounded, she and her family getting quickly dressed to reach a nearby shelter. She recollects moments…
Interview with Fausta Maggioni
Fausta Maggioni recalls memories of her wartime life in Milan. She describes a sizeable shelter reinforced with wooden props, a little bag with the few valuables she had always to bring along, as well as the many duties of her father as warden, who…
Interview with Adriana Ventriglia
Adriana Ventriglia remembers the bombings of Milan. She provides details about her evacuee life in the Lodi countryside and describes how her father was injured in a train strafing. Mentions her early life in a mixed family, the impact on…
Interview with Giovanni Delfino
Giovanni Delfino was at first evacuated to the Cremona area, where he could see the glow of the distant bombings. He then came back to Milan only to witness a bomb nearly missing his house and killing factory workers. He describes the gruesome sight…
Interview with Roy Monk
Roy Monk remembers days spent in the air raid shelters as a schoolboy during the war. After the war he wanted to be a policeman before he was called to National Service. After training to be a mechanic he was posted to RAF Upwood. Then he was posted…
Interview with Speranza Piras
Speranza Piras reminisces about the 17 May 1943 Alghero bombing and her subsequent life as an evacuee. Provides details on daily life in wartime: German occupation, anti aircraft fire, hardships, the black market, and different anecdotes about…
Interview with Celsa Agosto
Celsa Agosto reminisces about her wartime experiences and talks about a relatively quiet existence until her father was enlisted. Her neighbourhood was then bombed, and a day after a reprisal stormed the town. After that Celsa never came back until…
Interview with Gavino Pala
Gavino Pala reminisces about his childhood in Sardinia, describing schooling and paramilitary training. Recollects the 17 May 1943 Alghero bombing, explaining how part of the population had left the city the day before and slept among olive trees,…
Interview with Ruta Popika
Ruta Popika was born near the river Nemunas, in what was Lithuania before the war. She remembers her family being forced to move eastwards and westwards from Lithuania according to the changing tides of war. Remembers the occupation of the Baltic…
Interview with Penny Turner
Penny Turner’s father, Flight Sergeant Albin John Turner, pilot of a Wellington bomber was killed in action during the first bombing operation on the 4th September 1939. Years later, when she was five years old, her mother told her that her father…
Interview with Jim Wright. Two
John Wright was born in 1932. He was evacuated from West Ham during the War along with his Mother and two Brothers. Johns’ Father joined the Royal Air Force as an Observer Bomb Aimer with 207 Squadron. His aircraft was shot down over Switzerland on…
Interview with Iris McClements. Two
Iris McClements remembers being issued with a gas mask at the age of 11, before the war started. Her family moved to Eldwick when she was about 13 to avoid the bombs. She joined the Women’s Junior Air Corps and recalls being issued with a bucket,…
Interview with Margaret Hodgin
Margaret’s family lived in Fiskerton and her first memory of war time, when she was seven and her brother four, was of her father digging a shelter in the garden. The children would walk or cycle to Reepham school.
Margaret was about eleven when…
Margaret was about eleven when…
Thea Colemen - my story 1940-1945
Describes growing up in the Netherlands before the war. Writes of the political situation in the Netherlands before the war. Mentions the invasion by the Germans and subsequently describes life under occupation. Includes photographs of Rotterdam…
Letter from the headmaster
![EButlerPWJohnsHJ-[Mo]390901.jpg](https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/square_thumbnails/1916/44177/EButlerPWJohnsHJ-[Mo]390901.jpg "EButlerPWJohnsHJ-[Mo]390901.jpg")
A letter signed by the headmaster of West Bromwich Grammar School, P. W. Butler. The letter concerns the decision to evacuate students.
Interview with Cliff Thorpe and Roy Smith
Cliff Thorpe and Roy Smith grew up in the village of Elsham while RAF Elsham Wolds was operational.