Memories of the War - Trudy and Edward Mellor

Edward Mellor was born on the 4th of July, 1914. When he was 15, his parents both died. He had two brothers who were in the Army. He was living on the streets and his brothers helped him lie about his age to get into the Army. Because his parents died there was no one to step in and get him out.

He was a gunner in the Army and in the early part of the war, he was based on the Isle of Wight. His wife, Trudy, who was my great-grandma, went down to the Isle of Wight with my Aunt Sheila who was then a baby. She did this so that he would see his daughter just in case he didn't make it back.

During this time, the Allied troops had been driven back to Dunkirk and were under fire from the German forces with no means of escape. Ted was on the beach at Dunkirk and was taking his fellow soldiers and putting them on small boats to help them get back to England safely. He stayed longer to try and help more people before coming back.

He always said that football saved his life because he played for the England Army team and won a World Cup kind of medal. This meant that he didn't get sent back to Europe as often as he maybe could have after Dunkirk.

When he finally came home after the war, he never spoke of the war ever again. The only way we found out was through Trudy. Trudy had two brothers who were in the RAF (Royal Air Force); they were both killed in battle. They were called Joe and George and were buried in military graveyards in Belgium since that was where they died.

After the war, Ted wouldn't eat corned beef in the house again as that was all they ate in the war. We couldn't get a picture of Ted because he hated to get in his war uniform.

Trudy was moved down to a farm in Bridport in the south regions of England, which is where my grandma, Pat, was born. The farmer's wife couldn't have children and was always taking Pat away and asking if they could buy her. Trudy was frightened that someone would take her so they moved back to Manchester and lived in Moston.

Pat can remember hiding in the cellar when the Manchester Blitz happened - such a coincidence that when Pat moved to Manchester, the Germans started bombing. They were bombing Boggart Hole Clough as there was an aircraft factory in New Moston.

Ted passed away on the 22nd of April 1985. It was only when he died that people started talking about his work because he wouldn't have let it happen since he hated the Army so much.