The following notes are from the research I did into my family's experience of World War One (and Two) in preparation for studying the Joan Littlewood play, Oh What a Lovely War.
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| Battle of the Somme |
1916: My great-great-uncle Herbert George Merchant was blown to pieces at the Battle of the Somme. He was the eldest of six children, four of whom died in infancy and as a result his mother was always very protective of her second son, my great-grandfather Leslie Merchant. Leslie was an RAF officer in WWII but was too old for active service so was based in London.
My Great-great-grandmother was blown out of bed by a bomb in their street.
WWII: my maternal grandmother used to spend many nights in their air raid shelter. There were huge black tanks of oil around the city that were lit to give out smoke so that bomber couldn't see the city. It stank.
A German POW worked in their garden and after the war ended they sent him food packages
ERD
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