"If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children." Mahatma Gandhi

     "During the war an English Traitor named William Joyce or Lord Haw-Haw (as he was called by the British public),  would broadcast from Germany, taunting his listeners.  We kids would purposely tune him in to hear him and to hear Dad curse at him.  After nights of bombing in Coventry and surrounding cities, Lord Haw-Haw came on the radio, saying, 'Yes, Nottingham, you think you've escaped it, but it will be your turn tomorrow night!' Sure enough, the next night the Luftwaffe came over to bomb Nottingham."
                                        --Joan Shelton                                                                              
Bit of history:  William Joyce, Lord Haw-Haw, was an Irish-American politician and Nazi propaganda broadcaster to the UK during the Second World War.  In late August 1939 just before war was declared,  Joyce and his wife fled to Germany.  At the end of the war, he was hanged by the British as a result of his wartime activities.  Since he had possession of a British passport, he owed allegiance to the UK and so was convicted of treason.

Bit of history:  On the nights of May 8th and 9th, 1941, the Luftwaffe attacked Sheffield, Hull, Derby, and Nottingham.  In all 424 bombs landed on Nottingham, causing numerous fires, killing a few hundred people, and leaving over 1, 286 people homeless.  Nottingham may have been bombed because the Raleigh Bike factory produced 20 mm cartridge cases which were the main armament for the Spitfire planes.

     "I was sleeping at my sister, Doll's house during the Nottingham blitz, along with my sister, Win.  Win and I were in bed because we were too lazy to go downstairs and get under the table with Doll.  Under the table was our makeshift air raid shelter.  Jack, Doll's husband, who was in the Fire Service, came home next morning and yelled at us for staying in bed.  The Germans had leveled the center of Nottingham, trying to bomb the gun factory.  Instead they hit a huge bakery, and many were killed.  The German pilots would follow the River Trent to find their targets.

Friar's Lane, bombing May 1941

   





     After a bit, I went to stay with my sister Win as she was expecting, and her husband, Les, was away in the Navy.  When she went into labor, I rode by bike down Redhill to fetch Mam.  It was 2 am, and I went to get the midwife and walk back with her to Win's on Henry Street.
     Lesley was born that morning.  Her dad, Les, did not see her until she was a year old.  He was taken off his ship in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with a ruptured appendix.  By some fluke, a neighbor across the street from Win's was sent to replace Les on his ship, and he took the wire announcing that Les had a daughter."
                                                                                    --Joan  Shelton

Bit of history:  "Keep Calm and Carry On" was a propaganda poster produced by the British government in 1939 during the beginning of the Second World War, intended to raise the morale of the British public in the event of invasion. Seeing only limited distribution, it was little known.
     The poster was rediscovered in 2000 and has been re-issued by a number of private companies, and used as the decorative theme for a range of other products. There were only two known surviving examples of the poster outside government archives until a collection of about 20 originals was brought in to the Antiques Roadshow in 2012 by the daughter of an ex-Royal Observer Corps member.