'Bombs rained down on parachutes and you kept your fingers crossed'
THE bombing raids of the Second World War struck fear into many as wave after wave of planes would take aim on targets far below.
Air raid sirens rang out as people scurried for safety, dashing through streets and into shelters or taking sanctuary in cellars, underground stations - anywhere they could.
As planes roared overhead, one Muir resident, who asked not to be named, was among those seeking sanctuary.
She vividly recalls the experience of German bombers targeting sites in and around Liverpool.
“You had to take it in your stride or you would just go crazy,” she said.
“You kept your fingers crossed that the bombs wouldn’t fall near you. You knew that if they did then you would get it.”
The 92-year-old was just 19 when she lived in Runcorn, and recounted sitting on the steps of the cellar in her home with her mother and father during the bombing raids of World War Two.
“It was a nasty time,” she said. “We were close to the railway bridge at Runcorn which helped serve the Liverpool to London line.
“The River Mersey was also at the bottom end of where we lived with its transporter bridge.
“The bombers used to try and hit the line and the ship canal nearby.
“Bombs used to come down on little parachutes. I remember lots of them, I have very clear memories of it.
“One came down on a house not far away from the area near Halton Village. Fortunately, our street never got hit.
“We used to keep the blinds drawn to stop the light from escaping.”
The resident, who has lived in a Muir Group Housing Association property in Frodsham for the last 14 years also remembers the rationing that took place and compared it with what is now available in the modern day.
“You would get about 2oz of cheese per month,” she said. “Some people eat more than that on a sandwich now.
“But people grew their own vegetables to help themselves on small patches of ground.
“The man who became my father-in-law used to grow his own vegetables during the war.
“He had been a Quartermaster Sergeant during the First World War and experienced a lot of awful things.
“He wouldn’t ever relate a lot of them,” she added.
