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I can remember my first day at school, St Paul's School, Seacombe, wrote Don Verdin who was born in 1923. My mother took me, and left me crying, and the other kids brought me blocks of wood to play with.
Of course she had to come and get me every day, as the school was next to a stable, and the big horses would get loose and charge around in front of the school.
One time when she took me shopping, she left me outside in the pram, finished her shopping then went home without me, and was home quite a while before she realized I was missing.
Later in life I would enjoy Guy Fawkes Night, and go around collecting wood for the bonfire; joined the gang and went around raiding other bon-fire piles. Liked to go to central park to watch the men sail their boats, and we would catch small fish in the same pond.
The district we lived in was not very nice, so I was glad when we moved to the Wallasey village area, into a cottage on St Georges Road, next to St George's School where I went for a few years.
I took part in the Wallasey village festival, where I was one of the St George's grenadiers. Met a young girl at school name, of Evelyn, she used to call me Les, but that's another story. I often wonder what happened to her. War broke out and lost touch.
The rest of my memories are mostly war memories. When the war first started I remembered German scout planes flying up the river Mersey. They were not fired upon until their return flight, but none of the planes were shot down.
When the air attacks started, the German planes took a bearing from southern Ireland, from the lights of the cities, which did not have a blackout regulation in place.
Many bombs were dropped on Wallasey, as it was being used for defence of Liverpool against attacks from enemy aircraft bombing. There were many gun emplacements, searchlights and rocket launchers.
The war didn't stop us from living the lifestyle we were used to. We did have to carry those gas masks in the little cardboard boxes around; couldn't get in to a movie show unless you had it with you.
I remember one night while sitting in a show in Liscard, during an air raid, when incendiary bombs were dropped and penetrated the roof. While the sparks were falling, we were asked to move back a few rows. Seems silly when you think about it, I didn't stick around, I walked home through an arch of tracer bullets being fired at the enemy planes, kind of scary at the time.
Had a chance to hit back after a while, when I joined the anti-aircraft division at Green Lane, Wallasey, as a member of the Home Guard.
When I was able to I joined the Merchant Navy as a radio operator, crossed the north Atlantic in convoy, and was once on a ship that broke almost in half. The crew tied the ship with steel hawsers, to prevent it from getting worse.
After I left the Merchant Navy I emigrated to Canada, where I live to this day. I miss Wallasey and all the people I have known. Thanks to the internet I have made a lot of new friends there.
Don Verdin, Ontario, Canada, 2002
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