"James Green was my Great Uncle and, as a small boy in the 1940s and on into my teenage years I regularly had contact with Uncle Jim when he visited his older brother Joseph who was my maternal grandfather. If I recall correctly, he lived within walking distance of Eric St when he visited his brother Joseph in the late '40s arriving at the same time every Wednesday evening.

Both men were not given to idle chatter but they clearly derived much brotherly companionship while seated on each side of the coal fire burning in the old fashioned black iron fireplace in Eric Street, Clarksfield. I knew that my grandfather did not serve in WW1 as he was married and in his late 30s in 1914 but I was quite unaware at the time that his unmarried brother James had served in the army during the conflict."

Ray went on to tell us that,

"I can clearly remember the address of my maternal grandparents (Joseph and Martha Ann Green) in Clarksfield, it was 52 Eric Street. I was staying there when the V1 fell on Abbeyhills Rd, Glodwick at Christmas 1944 with devastating results and still have a vivid memory of the flash/bang while we sheltered under the stairs. Granddad Green (brother of James) took me to see the damage a few days later.

I was born in Greenacres Maternity Home on the 25th June 1938. My earliest recollections are of our home in Repton Ave, Hollins where we were not immune to the WW2 Luftwaffe bombs intended for the Avro factory in Chadderton, some landing nearby in farmer Horrocks' fields. Our air raid shelter was at the junction of Repton and Lyndhurst, it was close to home but not close enough as I sustained blast injuries while being transported there in my push-chair leaving me totally deaf in my right ear for life."

Contributed by Ray Oliver

Memories & Family History Stories