I want future generations to know about the Blitz

AFTER recently seeing Coronation Street alter-ego Ken Barlow turn 80 on the show, actor William Roache (himself actually seven years older) is already looking forward to a bigger bash.

“Who knows… there could be a special storyline when Ken gets his 100-year telegram from the Queen,” he suggests.

Her Majesty would be a sprightly 113 by then…

Annie’s husband John

ANNIE Mckie was just eight when the Second World War started in 1939.

Then Annie Desmond, she and her siblings were evacuated from London twice.

Now 88 and married to John, Annie felt it was important to tell her story for the younger generations of her family.

She said: “We were evacuated early on when the bombings began across London and we boarded the train to Buckinghamshire with just the bags on our backs.We stayed there for a few months before going home, but during the Blitz we were evacuated again, this time to Newton Abbot, Devon.

“In London, the bombing worsened and one exploded in the block of flats opposite ours, blowing out windows.

“When the heaviest part of the Blitz came to an end, we returned to the estate, though the trouble was far from over. It was the time of the doodlebug bombs.”

But she added: “When the war ended in June 1945 the joy was palpable across the city and me and my brother Dickie walked all the way to Trafalgar Square.

“Along the walk, flags were flying from every window, music blasted into the street, and people danced and sang and splashed in the fountains.”

Evacuee Annie Mckie