STREETLY,
STAFFORDSHIRE
AND DEVON MEMORIES
(1936 - 1961)
...
FROM A
SMALL
BOY'S "DIARY"
...
TUESDAY 7th
AUGUST 1945
I LEARN
SOMETHING INCREDIBLE
....
by Chris Myers
|
Tuesday, August 7th
1945.
I'm still in
Beeson of
course. We got here last
Saturday and now it's
Tuesday already. We are having a
lovely holiday. I was going
to start telling you a bit
about it today but I'll have
to leave it for a day or
two, now. That's because
there's something really
important which has just
happened and I must write
that down first.
Dad
has told me something
incredible today when we
were walking down to
Beesands. Yesterday, the
Yanks dropped a huge, new bomb on
a Japanese town. The bomb
was so big and powerful that
they say it was about
the same as all the bombs
which have been dropped on
Germany and Japan through
the whole war. I don't know
whether that is true or not.
But in my mind's eye I can
see hundreds and hundreds of
Lancasters and all the
ordinary bombs they are
carrying. Every day and
night. And Halifaxes and
Stirlings and Wellingtons.
Flying Fortresses and
Liberators and Mitchells as
well. The town was called
Hiroshima. They say it has
been completely destroyed
and most of the people in it
have been killed.
I
don't know what to think
about this. It sounds a
terrible thing. But it is
just another of the dreadful
things that I can remember
from the newspapers ever
since I learned how to read
them. I can't really feel
sorry for the Japs. I have
never met one, obviously.
But in all my nightmares
they are even worse than the
Germans. So frightening. So
cruel. I know all this from
some of the films which I
have seen at the
Avion
in
Aldridge and read in the
papers. And so I have to say
that I hate them.
I know I'm not supposed ever
to feel that way. Mum always
says that I should never
hate ANYONE. But I'm not
sure she was thinking about
the Japs when she told me
that. (Or the Germans, come
to that, especially after we
saw all those horrible
pictures of
Belsen in the Daily
Mail a few months ago). And so I
have to say I don't really feel
very sorry about this.
Dad says it will almost
certainly bring an end to
the war against Japan. I
hope it does. That would be
a really good thing. I don't
know what Mum feels about
all of this, though. She is a very
kind person and is probably
thinking about all the
children, like me, who lived
in Hiroshima. But I bet she
is thinking about my brother
Graham
as well who so far hasn't
been hurt or killed.
 I'm sure Graham will be
pleased if the war finishes.
He has moved on from Italy,
now, and is in
Austria,
still in the 8th Army.
But quite safe. As I told you a
little while ago,
he's
near a big
lake where he can swim and
go boating. I am not sure
what work he is actually
doing but in his spare time
he is enjoying himself and
that must be nice for him
after having to fight for
more than two years, all the
way from
North Africa. This is
the picture, again, of him
sitting on the edge of the
lake. It's a place
called
Millstatt. It looks
nicer than where he
spent a lot of last winter,
when they were still
fighting. (I've shown you
pictures of that, before.
Last
January).
But probably not as nice as
Devon.
I know,
though, that he is scared
stiff that he and his
comrades will be sent out to
the Far East to start
fighting again. All the
newsreels tell you how
dreadful it is to be there.
I sometimes have nightmares
about it - like a Japanese
soldier suddenly jumping out of
the jungle in front of me and
he's coming towards me with
his bayonet. And I can't
run....
I
expect Mum and Dad have been
really worried about Graham
having to go there. Until
today, that is. And as for
the families I've told you
about in Streetly who are
waiting for their dads to
come home from the Far East,
they must feel exactly the
same. Everyone must be
so relieved. Because the
Japs can't carry on any
more, can they?
Oh dear, I DID say we
were going to forget about
the war, didn't I! It's
quite difficult though. I
know that Dad can't. But the
main thing for us is still
our holiday, in this lovely
place. I've written enough
today and will leave the
things I want to tell you
about until next time.
Except for this,
just a silly little story.
It's what Mum and Dad told me
after they came out of
The Cricket pub
in
Beesands yesterday
evening. Before I
forget it.
There were
quite a few other visitors
in there as well as some of
the locals. They were
chatting to a couple who
were sitting nearby. The
bloke asked Mum where we
came from. Mum told him -
near Birmingham.
"Oh, ah", he said, "I
thought I recognised the
TWANG!"
Mum, even
though she was born in the
middle of
Brum like Dad, was
a bit taken aback. I don't
think she feels that she has
a Brummie accent. I don't
think she has one either,
really. Or certainly not a
very strong one, like you
sometimes hear in New
Street. There's a bloke
always there by our bus
stop, selling the two
evening newspapers. He
shouts out "Spatchermile,
spatchermile". Everyone
knows that he means
"Despatch and Mail". He's
definitely got a real one.
So has my granddad, a bit. (I don't
really ever know whether I've got one,
myself. How do you ever know,
anyway, unless someone tells
you? Someone like your mum? You can't hear
yourself, can you? You're
not on the wireless or a
gramophone record. I
probably need to ask
Mrs. Honeywill.
I'm sure she'll know because
it's so different from how
people talk around here. I
think people call that a
"Devon burr"). Any road, Mum
was laughing about what the
bloke had said.
This lady and gentleman came
from Birmingham as well. It
was their first visit to
Devon. Dad asked them how
they were finding it. The
lady said she liked it all,
apart from "all them high
hedges" which stopped her
from seeing the views.
Mum and Dad had a chuckle
about that as well, afterwards.
Because one of the things
that they really love about
Devon ARE the hedgerows.
And I think I do, too.
I'll be back in a few
days with some proper news
about our holiday. Sorry to
keep you waiting .....
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Please see INDEX page for
general acknowledgements.
Grateful
acknowledgement is also made
to:
- the several owners of the Myers
Family Archive of which all the
images shown on this page are a
part.
This family
and local history
page is hosted by
- The Home Guard of Great Britain, 1940-1944
-
www.staffshomeguard.co.uk
All
text and images are, unless otherwise stated, © The
Myers Family 2025
|
