Memories of Aberdeen During WWII

FG, one of Ella’s first cousins who also grew up in Aberdeen (their common ancestors are George and Charlesina Findlay), shared over email some of his first-hand memories of life and specific experiences during World War II. Thanks, FG!

As I read through these memories and found related information online, I again was overcome by what a sobering time this was (for lack of a better adjective), and impressed by how daily life routines just carried on, despite the circumstances. As Grandma Ella likes to say, "The Scots are tough." Indeed they are!

In addition to this blog post, see these other posts on WWII:
The War Years: Air Raids, City and Countryside, and Strength in the Gospel
At Home and Abroad: Family Members' Military Service in WWII

……….

On 12th July 1940 Hall Russell's Boiler Shop took a direct hit and 32 shipyard workers were killed and 100 were injured. The men were having their lunch break when the bomb struck….the men were working that day as all holidays were cancelled during the war….In normal circumstances all the men would have been on holiday at that time of the year. Of course, I was five years old at the time but I still remember it happening and the sense of shock among the adults. (1)

Hall Russell Shipyards after the bombings of 12 June 1940
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In another air raid, the primary school that I attended, Victoria Road School, received a direct hit and was extensively damaged. Luckily, it was a night air raid and the school was closed when it was hit. Eventually, temporary classrooms were erected but until then we all attended school for half days only - half the pupils in mornings and the other half in afternoons. (2)

Victoria Road School after the bombings of 12 July 1940
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For a while, when the air raids were quite frequent, we lived with Grandma Charlesina at 4 Ferrier Crescent, Woodside, as my Mum and Dad felt that our house in Torry was too close to Aberdeen harbour. During that time I attended a school near Grandma's house. When the air raids stopped we returned to our house in Torry.

4 Ferrier Crescent in the Woodside area of Aberdeen (on the second story),
where Grandpa George and Grandma Charlesina Findlay lived.
Photo taken May 2017. Note that this is not the original building, but similar in design.

I remember when a German bomber was shot down. At the time it was generally accepted that the pilot made efforts to avoid landing on houses in the Ruthrieston area of Aberdeen (very close to Holburn Street, where Ella lived). The plane crashed into a building which housed the town's public ice rink. I think that all crew members were killed. (3)

During those war years we all had to carry gas masks around with us. They were in cardboard boxes, held with loops of string round our necks. Very young children and babies had special gas masks, made of rubber and styled as Donald Duck masks.

School children with gas masks in boxes on a string. (These children were actually being evacuated.)
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Boxes containing gas masks, with a long string to wear around one's neck.
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Every home was provided with an air raid shelter by the local authority. Most were free-standing concrete buildings located in back gardens or other areas near the house. They were known as Anderson shelters, presumably named after their designer. We had a different type in our garden, again made of concrete but partly sunk into a hole dug in the ground and covered with earth and grass turf. I remember spending many hours in that shelter.(4)

A family entering an Anderson shelter.
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A diagram of the exterior of an Anderson shelter.
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An example of an interior of an Anderson shelter.
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Additional images of Aberdeen after the bombings of 12 July 1940

Notes:

1. This is an excerpt of an email from FG to KF on 11 June 2017. I found this related information: “At 12:45, the first bombs began to fall on the Hall Russell shipyard. There was no air raid warning when the bombers approached the city from the sea. Indeed, the first anyone knew was when around sixteen high explosive bombs exploded in quick succession. The boiler shop was worst hit with around ten bombs exploding in and around it….The bombing continued unabated with the Neptune Bar on the waterfront receiving a direct hit. In those days it had an upper floor which collapsed on to the lunchtime drinkers below, killing 40. A fragment from the bomb cut the end off the tail of the bar’s cat who went around with a shortened tail for the rest of its days.” Source: https://aberdeenvoice.com/2013/07/the-july-1940-blitz-in-aberdeen-part-2/. Here is a map that shows all the streets bombed in Aberdeen during WWII: https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/fp/news/local/new-map-shows-every-aberdeen-street-bombed-germans-ww21/.
2. This is an excerpt of an email from FG to KF on 24 May 2017. More information on the bombing of Victoria Road School here: https://doriccolumns.wordpress.com/ww2-1939-45/black-friday-40/.
3. This is an excerpt of an email from FG to KF on 24 May 2017. More information on the bomber crashing into the ice rink here: https://aberdeenvoice.com/2013/07/the-july-1940-blitz-in-aberdeen-part-2/.
4. This is an excerpt of an email from FG to KF on 24 May 2017. More information on Anderson shelters: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_raid_shelter#Anderson_shelter. And more images of the shelters: http://mashable.com/2015/07/24/wwii-backyard-bunkers/#wxPr5v9GgZql.