Individual results

Interviewee: Alan Tyrell
Logged by Maurice Rattigan

Track 1
Born 24 Aug 1934. Mum died when I was 4 years old and I was brought up by my paternal grandparents, my brother stayed with my maternal grandparents. Remembered sheltering under stairs during bombing. Uncles were like my brothers. Went to Briton Road School, from infants through to seniors. Evacuated for short time, two months, to Stoke-on-Trent, but couldn't settle. Remember carrying gas mask, smell lingered. Issued from centre in Grange Road. Baby type with bellows.

Track 2
Also Mickey Mouse types, but I changed to conventional ones. Had gas drills at school. Bomber dropped five bombs at Walsgrave Road. One landed on teacher's, Mrs. Rushworth, house, another by the Old Ball Hotel, one near what is now Sky Blue Way, one in Swan Lane, another in Gosford Street. Vaguely remember it. Teacher's house was just a gas pipe sticking up. Collected shrapnel. Binley Bertha was a gun at Binley Colliery. Box barrage. Had Anderson shelter.

Track 3
Sunk into ground. Allotments on railway embankments. Saw first orange when Alf Wood, Coventry City goalie, gave me a piece. Brought up in Field Row. Alleyway still there, between Brays Lane and Walsgrave Road (opposite Briton Road). That was our back entrance. Six families to a tap, three to each loo (toilet). I collected water.

Track 4
Bath night, Friday. All used same bath water. Eighteen cottages in a line. Joined Navy at 16 years old. Family poor. Granddad was a ploughman. Country born. Rabbiting

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and cooked hedgehogs. Taught me wrinkles. On pilgrimage walk for Charity. No health service. Food good then, although rationed. Only went to doctor's once as a child. Done sums in head. People then knew people.

Track 6
Rationing lasted well after the war. Had allotment and had thirty-four rabbits. No one had cars then. Collected dandelions. Chickens, taught how to pluck them. Jerry (chamberpot) was called Gusunder. Emptied it on vegetables.

Track 7
Everything utilised. We helped each other. Dad worked at Tipton on aircraft work, travelling every night on the bus. Dad was in and out, and I didn't see him much. Had stepmother. Grandmother had been in service with Lord Leigh. Gosford Green railings went. Shot down German plane was at Stoneleigh.

Track 8
Gran was religious. I went into Boys Brigade. Stoke Council School was a good school. Boys Senior School was built in 1937. Great Rugby team. Last game I was carried off, took up boxing and became captain of school team. Later boxed for Stoke Ex-service Club and reached the ABA finals. No 11+ examination. Stepbrother went to Bablake. I wasn't interested. I was machine fodder. Plenty of jobs.

Track 9
Went to GEC at Stoke as machine minder, then moved to Helen Street. Wasn't the life for me, so joined the sea cadets, forged Dad's signature to get into the navy. Plenty of sailors locally at Bramcote. We went to Wolvey at nights to escape bombers. One night saw plane hit. I picked a boot up and there was a leg inside it.

Track 10
Village Hall at Wolvey. Never seen bodies. Moments fade with time. By the Forum Cinema there was an AFS fire station, and there was a big air raid shelter there. Another large shelter was on Stoke Green, German Prisoners of War blew them up after the war. POWs (Prisoners of War) used to walk around

Track11
and there were thousands of American troops at Stoneleigh. Saw plenty of them when I was over there, would give us gum. My class was opposite girls cookery class and got free cakes and got to know a few young ladies. We had smashing teacher, Burma veteran.

Track 12
Listened to radio. Took accumulator to be charged. ' Dick Barton, Special Agent'. Went to Forum Cinema. Twenty-seven cinemas in Coventry pre-war. Black and white was normal. Saturday morning matinees. 'Flash Gordon'. Had old bikes, 'ASP's, all spare parts.

Track 13
Speedway cycle tracks. Some still about. Couldn't afford a new bike. No brakes. Odd wheels. Collected golf balls from the River Sowe to get picture money. To school in winter wore boots with skegs in, woollen socks, short trousers, underwear and a jumper. Never had a coat until I joined the navy.

Track 14
Scars on knees where I fell over. Weren't molly-coddled. Went into navy for eight years, stayed away for another two and half years, then back to my roots. As a kid (child)got a clip if I broke gas mantle. Became navy boxing champion. Naval electrician.

Track 15
Was in Egypt for five months, Port Said, Suez. Service was good and got education. Became Leading Hand. On carriers. Ark Royal. Remember OwenOwen when it was an hole in the ground.

Track16
Proud to be 'Coventry Kid'. Coventry Boy statue opposite the new Cathedral. Coventry never changed fast enough. On eight hundred and thirty-four mile walk I took Cross of Nails. Not keen on Precinct. Greyfriars Green was a picture. No loos in Coventry

Track 17
The green men. Gents toilets where you could see the men's feet. There was one in Ford Street. Worked in Mental hospital at Portsmouth, then became maintenance fitter and learned to drive breakdown lorries, with the Co-Op, around Southampton. Would have stopped there if the money had been any good.

Track 18
On ships it's all DC and had to learn AC. Worked at Warwick for fourteen years, then at Nuneaton. Rented a house in Bramble Street, then had council house in Wood End and bought it. As a Christian I've decided to stay and improve the environment. Deprivation exists here. Have had a good life. Two sons and two daughters.

Track 19
Lads apprenticed. Opportunities now. I wanted to be a plumber but couldn't get an apprenticeship. Told to write a book about my life.

Track 20
Drug problem in Wood End. Problems for kids. People won't stand up and be counted. I get harassment locally for telling the truth. Am a marked man. Threaten to arrest me. Wrote to Tony Blair. Spoke at Synagogue at Bedworth and was introduced as being famous because I was on front of Church Times.

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Had priviledge of speaking in St. Martins-in-the-Field. I retired four months early to go on long walk. Had to do training.

Track 22
Welfare state was abused. I've got twelve grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. People go to hospital for minor things. I had a stroke at 29 years old. I thought I was super fit.

Track 23
I was on nights and my weight had gone up. Told I had three days to live, but on the Monday I went back to work. Never had a day's sick pay in my life. When a kid we went scrumping and I got caught in Roman Road. He took me to granddad. I got helluva clip around the ear-hole. I hated football, but I got a clip off a copper for playing, but I didn't tell him it weren't me.

Track 24
£2 fine for riding bike without lights. Different now. Criminals now only get there hands smacked. Neighbour had break in and he died. We work with Wood End kids (children). Some kids here only eat when they have school dinners.

Track 25
Natural disasters are now normal and they wash over us. I worked forty-six hours as normal. Saturday working was normal. Out of factory and straight into city football ground. Started fishing club here at Wood End.

Track 26
'Bubble Club'. Interest kids with my experiences in the Holy Land. Everybody is equal in this world I believe. We can make oneself a better person. Employment is a basis of a good society.

Track 27
On the walk I was walking for people who couldn't walk for themselves. I would like to see full employment. We've got to show the young there is a way forward. Social exclusion is a word of the devil. If we could get rid of poverty here in Great Britain we could show others the way. Job sharing could be the answer. I was lucky to keep in work

Track 28
I do electrical work for the elderly community and never charge a penny. Some kids around here have never seen a live cow. Get back to basics. Education is a great thing

Coventry Lives Oral History Project, date of birth: 24/08/1934