Remembering the forgotten

A former Edge Hill University academic has released a new book which examines the lives of World War Two's 'forgotten children'.

Pam Russell has written Liverpool's Children in the Second World War, a vivid collection of memories features the stories of more than 100 people who experienced the city's blitz - both evacuees who returned home and those who were not evacuated.

Pam was formerly a senior lecturer at the University, specialising in the history of the English language. She also writes a regular newspaper column and, through this, appealed to her readers for their wartime memories. She received a deluge of letters, some from as far away as the United States, as families told their relatives of her project.

Pam said: "I had realised that a lot had been written about evacuees but I was aware, from my own family, that lots of children stayed at home and must have seen some amazing things. I haven't ignored the evacuees, but what emerged was that very few went away for the whole of the war, and there were what I've called the 'yo-yo children', those who came back to the city because they got homesick, were put with unsuitable placements, or whose parents missed them too much and thought there wasn't much in the way of danger back in Liverpool."

And she says the spirit of the blitz continues to this day in people's memories.

"There is quite a lot of humour," added Pam, "and they make light of their experiences. There is a complete lack of what they called 'whine'.

"I have talked about this in the book. There was a letters' page in the Liverpool Echo which encouraged children to write in, but said many of the submissions were 'too doleful'! They wanted the children to be bright and cheerful. The people I spoke to say they wanted to 'do their bit' - that was the phrase their parents used - and showing a stiff upper lip was their way of doing this."

Some of Pam's favourite memories from the book feature in the chapter 'Dangerous games for boys and girls'. These included boys rafting through the flooded basements of the city's department store on blown-off doors, climbing up railway embankments to collect sweets thrown from trains by American servicemen, and playing with the remnants of weapons.

Pam said: "One little boy found the nose cap of a shell. He took the black powder from it and put it into a dustbin lid then threw a match into it. There was a huge plume and the lid was destroyed. He says his mum was upset that she didn't have a bin lid for the rest of the war, though I suspect she was more upset because she realised what could have happened!

"Another lady told me how she was sitting on her mother's knee as she read ‘I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow this house down' - just as a bomb landed in the street outside. She can't hear that children's story today without a shudder."

Pam is signing copies of Liverpool's Children in the Second World War at Waterstones in Ormskirk on Saturday 14 November at 1pm. Alternatively, copies can be purchased in all major book stores, including Amazon and Tesco, by calling 01235 465577 or at www.thehistorypress.co.uk.