German Aircraft Converted to Bells and Other Memories

Michael Nichols's WWII memories.

Okay, this is a recording for Michael Nichols, on the 11th of November, 2023 in Bognor Regis. I am Phillip Hank. I will be conducting the interview. Michael's ID number is BOG054 and what Michael has is an extremely interesting bell. So would you like to describe the bell?

Yeah, it looks as though it's been cast. I'd, because it says it's on the side where I'm reading off. I'll read, read what it says. It's cast with metal from German aircraft shot down over Britain between 1939 and 45. And this is for the RAF Benevolent Fund, so obviously I would have thought that they actually sold these, to make money for the Benevolent Fund.

On it, it's obviously got a V on the top, so it's victory, so it's obviously made after the Second World War. It's got three faces of the three presidents. Churchill, sorry, Prime Minister Churchill, Stalin and I think it was Roosevelt on there so they've been cast into the bell and that's about it.

I Inherited it from my father, his name was Alfred William Nichols. During the war, he was, working for a German company. That was taken over, because of the war. He was in munitions because most of the engineering firms were Converted to make stuff for the war. So during the war, he was in munitions. When he wasn't working, he was on fire watch and that meant that he would be located on a bit of high ground, I suppose, or somewhere. Where they would actually look over an area. This is in North Oak, Greenford area in London. He would have been in that area with binoculars. They would be looking with maps as the bombs dropped looking for incendiary bombs and things like that, which obviously flamed up. Quite a lot. Fires were spotted, he would look at where they were, working from a map. He would be able to send the fire crews, and the fire engines to put out the fire.

Today, with modern telephones and everything, it's much easier. They used to use Boy Scouts on bikes. Yeah, I'm sure to actually go from where the spotters were. To, inform the fire brigade of where to go. They used Boy Scouts. It doesn't ring true, does it? They might have had a phone system that ran through to the fire station, perhaps, but then they could go anywhere, and of course, it's dark, and they probably recruited people like my dad, who knew the area quite well.

They would say, you know, there's a fire, bomb's been dropped, here or there, the fire's going and it's in Witten Avenue for example, wherever it was, and they could locate it. So the fire crew could get there as quickly as possible, or the ambulances as well, because obviously of being injured.

I cannot remember any specific stories of my dad from that time, just about the fact of what he did. No, the only story that I recall is the fact that when I was a very young baby, a doodlebug, whether it was a V1 or a V2, I don't know, but that landed within probably 100 metres of me, blowing all the windows out and all the fences down in the garden and blowing all the window glass into the house. I was under a table. You know, in a metal cage, I don't remember that, but I was told I was to protect myself from obviously falling masonry and things like that. That didn't happen, the glass was, all the windows in the back of our house were blown in and the fences were put down and my mum went to the council offices, with me as a little baby and asked them to actually put the windows back and, and to re-erect the fences. They did do. I mean, after a good conversation, my mum being a very strong person said, you need to move out with your baby into the countryside somewhere, you know, they were doing quite a lot. But with my mum being as strong, she didn't want to leave my dad, who was working in the area. She didn't want to leave him on his own. So basically, she said, you put the windows back for me and did it. When you think about it, the Second World War, you don't think that these things would happen.

Although the men were away, I suppose they still had a lot of, quite a lot of workers really. As compared to today. With the ladies doing it? Anyway, I think that's about it.

So your dad made this cage in which you climbed in. I think you actually bought them. I think they might have supplied them. I don't know. I mean, obviously again, not being able to tell him, you know. Whether they bought them.

So you did evacuate to an air aid shelter?

No, there was one at the top of the road, but I don't know why we didn't go there. So it's again, it's one of those things, I mean, I had pictures, now lost, showing where the air raid shelter was in the road. Right on the curb, so to speak. There was this air raid shelter, like a brick building, that people would run to. But we did not. Perhaps he was cooking the meal at the time.