91热爆

Introduction

This article deals with a few of the wartime experiences of some of my maternal Grandmother, Cecilia McCrickett (n茅e Savage) who lived at Whitehaven, Cumberland (now Cumbria) for most of her life, including the years of World War Two. Although my Grandma passed away in August 1969, when I was a young child we used to spend many hours together, and my Grandma would relate a lot of her memories to me. Sometimes, we used to go look at old photographs, postcards and other items. I have recently looked back through some of these same photographs before writing this article.

Hence, this is an account of some things my Grandma told me about the war. I will concentrate on just a few of these. I have previously posted articles to the 91热爆 鈥淧eople鈥檚 War鈥� website on behalf of two other relatives of my maternal grandmother, John McCrickett and Franklin D. Tyrer, that include some of their personal memories of Grandma during the war. A list of these is included at the end of this article.

My maternal grandfather was Edward McCrickett, known by most people as Ned. He was an coalminer at Haig Pit, Kells, working underground. At the outbreak of World War Two my grandparents were living at 57 Fell View Avenue on the Woodhouse estate in Whitehaven with their two children, my mother Sally and my uncle John. My Grandma also looked after her uncle George Kinsella, who reached the retirement age of 65 in December 1940. All of these had to be fed, and with wartime rationing in force it generally fell to my grandmother to feed the family.

My grandmother鈥檚 widowed mother, Sarah Jane Savage, lived next door at 58 Fell View Avenue. By this time, her mother had been twice a widow: her first husband Michael McCrink had died while still in his 20s and her second husband Francis Savage had died in 1930.

Also living at 58 Fell View Avenue with my Great Grandmother at the outbreak of war were her youngest son, Frank, and one of her daughters, Mary Ann. Frank was married during the war, to Maud McMean, and they then obtained their own house. Another daughter, Susannah Rogan, together with her sons, moved in with her mother when her husband Hugh went away to work. I would like to point out that my Grandma used to help her mother look after these other relatives as well, but space precludes going into much detail here.

Coping with rationing

Some months before war broke out, my Grandma, Great Grandma, other relatives and many of their friends started to buy a few extra items when they did their shopping and put them away in the pantry. These were things like sugar, salt and various tinned foods. So by the time war broke out and rationing came in, they all had various things stashed away that could be used to supplement rations. If one housewife ran short of something, they would send one of the children round to somebody else and ask if they had some in stock, and if could they spare a little. According to Grandma, all the housewives did this and it was 鈥榮hare and share alike鈥�.

Where possible, Grandma McCrickett liked to get fresh food. While things were on ration, Granda McCrickett used to grow some vegetables in the back garden. Another thing they used to do was go to the beach at Whitehaven, St Bees or Braystones when the tide was out and collect bucket fulls of shellfish. Things like crabs, mussels and what West Cumbrians call 鈥榗ovins鈥� were particular favourites. 鈥楥ovins鈥� are small, round, shellfish. They are usually found on or near rocks on the beach when the tide goes out. 鈥楥ovins鈥� are probably better known outside of West Cumbria as 鈥榳inkles鈥� or 鈥榩eriwinkles鈥�.

Once again, any surplus would be sent over to another neighbour, who in turn would reciprocate the gesture another time. The housewife would then put all the 鈥楥ovins鈥� in a large cooking pot filled with freshwater, put it on the stove, bring it to the boil and then left to simmer until the 鈥楥ovins鈥� were fully cooked inside the shell and ready to eat. Grandma then shared out the 鈥楥ovins鈥� in a teacup or a mug to everyone. To eat each 鈥楥ovin鈥� you needed a pin to get it out of the shell and put it in your mouth.

As an aside about collecting 鈥機ovins鈥�, when I was a very young boy in the 1960s my Granda McCrickett regularly took me to the shore and we collected bucket loads of mussels and especially 鈥楥ovins鈥�. My Granda had collected 鈥楥ovins鈥� all his life, as had Grandma. They were freely available at the shore, when there was a letter 鈥榬鈥� in the month, and they are a very nutritious source of food. I remember most of the family, and especially my Granda and Grandma, would eat the 鈥楥ovins鈥� with great relish. Although I liked gathering up the 鈥楥ovins鈥�, they were not a personal favourite of mine.

Grandma McCrickett was lucky in that some of her relatives were traders. Her mother, the redoubtable 鈥楪randma Sarah Jane鈥�, used to have a hand cart and went round selling fish. Another of Grandma鈥檚 cousins was a fish merchant on a slightly larger scale, selling fish from a horse-drawn cart. With Whitehaven being next to the sea, it was always possible to get fish. Other relatives supplied fruit and vegetables, so it was always possible to get these items.

Coping with the Blackout

Before war broke out, my Grandma told me she got Blackout curtains. As most people now know, these were designed to prevent even the merest chink of light coming from a house and possibly helping any German bombers that might be flying overhead. Then of course there were ARP wardens who came round, knocking on doors and telling people to 鈥淧ut that light out!鈥�

There is one amusing tale concerning the 鈥榖lackout鈥� during the war that involves my Grandma. As referred to above, in the early part of the war, my Grandma鈥檚 brother Frank Savage lived next door. Like my Granda McCrickett, Frank worked as a miner at Haig Pit. One of Frank鈥檚 best friends, and a fellow miner at Haig Pit was another fellow about the same age and whose family lived on Fell View Avenue. He was called Jim McGuinness.

One night after dark, my Grandma had put the Blackout curtains up there was a loud banging on the front door and she heard a gruff voice saying 鈥淭his is the ARP Warden, Mrs McCrickett, you鈥檙e showing a light. Put that light out!鈥�. My Grandma rushed to put the front room light out, and then went to the front door to apologise to the ARP Warden, because any light showing was a serious offence. When Grandma opened the door, she found there was no ARP Warden. It was her brother Frank and his friend Jim McGuinness 鈥榟aving her on鈥� and they were laughing their heads off! There had been no light showing. They had really come to see my Granda McCrickett. Uncle Frank and his pal Jim had decided everybody should have a good laugh, which they did do. My Grandma must have seen the funny side of it afterwards as she had a good laugh about it all.

Strangely enough, it was only a few months ago, while researching stories for the 91热爆 鈥淧eople鈥檚 War鈥� project, that I learned for the first time that in the latter part of the war this same Jim McGuinness had managed to stop working as a coalminer as he wanted to join the Army. Jim had then volunteered for the Parachute Regiment, parachuted into Normandy on D-Day, 6 June 1944, and had then been awarded the Military Medal following an attack on the heavily-defended coastal battery at Merville.

Having done some research about the Battle of Normandy, I was familiar with the action at Merville, or so I thought. I have visited the area a number of times. What I did not know until a few months ago was that Jim McGuinness, a close friend of the family, and a neighbour, had been involved in the Merville action. I have since written an article for the 鈥淧eople鈥檚 War鈥� project about Jim McGuinness at Merville (Article Reference ID A4160198).

Coping with the threat of bombing

Although West Cumberland was not an area considered to be at great risk, some German bombers flew overhead on their way to Clydeside or Belfast. My Grandma said she could tell when it was a German plane because the engine sound was different from British planes. They used to go 鈥楤umpity bump, Bumpity bump鈥�.

There was an Air Raid shelter around the corner, near Woodhouse Mansion. There were times when my Granda was either out at work on the 鈥楤ack Shift鈥�, or on 鈥楩ire Watching鈥� duties. She had been told that one of the best places to be if there was an air raid was underneath the large wooden table in the living room. Some people had 鈥楳orrison Shelters鈥� but they just had the strong wooden table. Next door, her mother did the same thing, especially if some of her grandchildren were with there at the time.

Other ways of helping

Although none of my Grandma鈥檚 close relations were killed in the war, either in mining accidents or while serving in the Armed Forces, many friends and neighbours did have relatives killed. When a family had a bereavement, word was passed round to other relatives, friends and neighbours and they would go round to the house and offer practical help.

If someone died at home, it was usually some of the women of the family, helped by their friends who washed the body of the deceased person and 鈥榣aid them out鈥� for the funeral. As my Grandma was from a large family a lot of people used to send for her and her mother when someone had died. They were always ready to do this at any time.

When people died at home, the family had to get their own pall barterers. This would usually be done by the men of the family. As my Granda McCrickett was big and physically strong, he was often asked to act as a pall bearer at funerals, especially for fellow miners. In some cases, because people lived in small houses with narrow stairs, when someone died upstairs at home it was very difficult to get the coffin down to take them to the funeral.

When people heard a family member had been wounded or killed while serving in the Forces or in the mines, neighbours would go round. They might say prayers for the wounded or deceased person, and for the bereaved relatives.

My Grandma used to regularly go to church and everyone used to say prayers for those who were away from home. On Sundays, after going to Mass in the morning, Grandma used to go back in the afternoon for Benediction. A lot of her friends did the same, and after Benediction, when the weather was fine, they would all go for a walk along the High Road towards Sandwith village and they would have a good 鈥榗raic鈥� (friendly conversation) with each other.

Remembering an earlier war

Although my Grandma did not have any close relatives killed or wounded during the Second World War, this had not been the case in the First World War. One of her elder brothers, Tommy Savage, had firstly been wounded on the Western Front and, much later in that war, had died as a consequence.

Only once did my maternal Grandmother talk about her brother Tommy. It was the only time I ever remember her getting upset. My Grandma told me Tommy had been given a 鈥楳ilitary Funeral鈥� and some soldiers had fired rifles over the grave at the cemetery when he was buried. I remember Grandma saying how awful it had been and how dreadful this thing called 鈥榃ar鈥� was where young lads went away and got killed. I never asked her about Tommy鈥檚 funeral again.

After my Grandma died, my Granda took me to the cemetery one particular day and he took me to see where Grandma鈥檚 brother Tommy was buried. By then, the Memorial Vase the family had placed there had disappeared. So, on that occasion we could not find the exact location of the grave.

I had also heard about Tommy Savage鈥檚 鈥楳ilitary Funeral鈥� on one occasion from my grandmother鈥檚 sister, Mary Ann. Additionally, their eldest brother Michael McCrink, who had went away to war in 1914 with his brother Tommy Savage, would talk about the time he had signed up to the army with all his pals in 1914, most of which I only half listened to.

Then in 2005, while attending a training session to help out as a story-gatherer for the 91热爆 Radio Cumbria CSV Action Desk, a request was made on behalf of the Border Regiment Museum at Carlisle asking if they could have copies of any stories or photographs connected to the Border Regiment. Subsequently, I got out a few photographs and other items I had of Tommy Savage and Michael McCrink and, with the help of Tony Goddard, Assistant Curator and Stuart Eastwood, Curator, found such a lot about what my grandmother鈥檚 two brothers had done during the Great War.

I have also discovered that since the visit to the Tommy Savage鈥檚 grave in Whitehaven Cemetery many years ago, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission has erected a headstone. Tommy Savage died on 1 December 1918, after the Armistice Day of the Great War. In fact, when I had made enquiries from other relatives, nobody else had realised there had been a 鈥楳ilitary Funeral鈥� for Tommy Savage. Very little, if anything, had been passed on about Tommy by those who had known him, even more than 50 years afterwards, when my Grandma and other relatives told me a little about him. A little over 20 years after the end of the 'Great War', other families had to endure the loss of loved ones in yet another World War. As my Grandma told me so many years ago when I was a child, war is a dreadful thing.

Conclusion

I would like to dedicate this article to the memory of my maternal grandmother, Cecilia McCrickett. There were many other memories my Grandma shared with me, many of which are outside the scope of a World War Two project.

One piece of advice that I well remember my Grandma and her brother Michael McCrink used to give was 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to be a good listener鈥�. This was a very good piece of advice, and no doubt it is as good today as it ever was. While writing about World War Two for university research or for the 91热爆 鈥淧eople鈥檚 War鈥� project I have been able to draw on the knowledge passed on to me about the war by relatives and other people who lived through those times. 鈥楤e a good listener鈥� has always proven to be excellent advice.

Unfortunately because my grandmother passed away some years ago I cannot ask her to repeat her memories to write down for this project. The information is as accurate as I remember it. The facts I have been able to check out from other sources, have proven correct, and I believe the other details will also be correct. I look back with some fondness at the many things I learnt at a young age from my grandmother.

Thanks!

Related 鈥淧eople鈥檚 War鈥� stories:

1. Remembering the 鈥淪leepy little town of Whitehaven鈥� during World War Two
(Article Reference: A362346, posted 5 February 2005)

2. Staying at Grandma鈥檚 house in wartime Whitehaven
(Article Reference: A6368222, posted 24 October 2005)

3. Some memories of life on the 91热爆 Front.
(Article Reference: A7734260, posted 12 December)

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