The Scarborough News

‘Sky was black with bombers off on raids’

- Louise Perrin louise.perrin@nationalwo­rld.com @thescarbor­onews

A Scalby man has shared his recollecti­ons of growing up in Scarboroug­h during the Second World War.

In the week that we remember those who served our country, Tom Pindar, former boss of the Pindar printing company, has recalled what life was like in the town during the war.

Mr Pindar, 94, said: “In the 1930s Scarboroug­h Hospital was new. The Duke of Kent opened it as soon as the war began. I started at the boys’ school when I was 11 years old, and we were sent to the hospital to put in sandbags, that was at the start of the war.

“In Scarboroug­h during the war there was plenty going on. I wasn’t keen on swotting and we did a lot of gardening and played some games.

“The garden was at what’s now the Scarboroug­h Sixth Form College Westwood building, and there were a lot of vegetable patches there.

“We grew cabbages, cauliflowe­rs, potatoes, carrots, and there was also a piggery where we bred three or four pigs for meat. Everybody took some home.

“I was the only child of elderly parents, my dad was a special constable during World War One and he had a medical card. He did all sorts of other voluntary jobs during both wars.

“There was an old chapel on Castle Road, it was a tall building, with a big roof and we had to firewatch the big gutter.

“Various people used to take turns to, maybe two nights per week, but mercifully we never had any trouble.

“We lived in Manor Road and I was very proud to have a tiny shrapnel hole in my bedroom window from the 1914 bombardmen­t.

“The nearest the World War One shells fell was the bottom of Wykeham Street.

“During World War Two, the houses along Commercial Street near the railway line were damaged.

“We only went to school half the time. Schools from Hull and North London evac

uated to Scarboroug­h and the schools did half for those visiting and half for the resident children.”

Mr Pindar’s wife, Margery, grew up in Hull and was evacuated to Selby during the war. She said: “We went to school from 9-12, that was the pattern across the country.”

Mr Pindar said: “We had relatives in the States and my parents gave me the choice of whether or not I wanted to go there, so I declined the offer.

His wife added: “One girl came back with an American accent, short skirts and lipstick. The following week, all our skirts went up. The week after that, they all went down again!”

Mr Pindar continued: “In Scarboroug­h we had a great time, there were a great number of service bodies in town. There were three main hotels where they stayed, The Grand, The Royal and The St Nicholas. They had air crew in training there – the lads who were doing basic training before they went flight training.

“They brought a lot of life and vitality to the local dances.

“The Royal Marine band was evacuated from Deal, Kent. There was lots of music.

“There were lots of Air Force and Army and the Wrens were here too, they were codebreake­rs listening to Japanese broadcasts up on the Racecourse.

“On top of all that, there were all of the army units in the build up to D-Day.

“I remember the A64 on the eastbound side became an ammunition dump in the build-up to D-Day.

“It was stacked with shells and ammunition along the length of the dual carriagewa­y, from Whitwell Hill all the way to York. It seems almost incomprehe­nsible now.

“For a young boy, it was an immensely exciting sight, and then it all vanished overnight as they went off to DDay.

“We used to have 1,000 people at Queen Street on a Sunday evening, lots of canteens for service people, we

made lots of friends and acquaintan­ces, some of the friendship­s lasted for years.

“It was all very vibrant. But then, for young people, there was the sudden shock that someone you knew or had played with was dead or missing in action.

“One young man I was at school with signed up as soon as he was old enough. He was killed in action as an air gunner.

“You couldn’t believe that someone you had played marbles with was dead.

“Whitby had an ammunition depot and I used to go to Robin Hood’s Bay and Whitby and watch the boats, they would come in very close.

“The bomber raids came from the far side of York right to the coast.

“When the 1,000-bomber raids were going on, the sky was black with planes and we would go and watch and listen anxiously for them to come back.

“At the Hole of Horcum there was a mock village, built to give the impression

of an urban area.

“They would wave the searchligh­t to attract German bombers and they dropped their bombs on it.”

Mr Pindar did his National Service almost as soon as the war ended.

“There was still rationing and we were still largely on a wartime footing. I joined the RAF. I did a wireless fitters course because I had done physics at A-level.

“I was at parachute school and Transport Command places.”

Mr Pindar was demobbed in 1948. He said: “My father was mayor at the time and he took the salute from the Green Howards when they came back from wherever they were.”

He met wife-to-be Margery at Queen Street Central Hall while she was working as a teacher at Friarage School.

The couple married in May1953,theweekbef­orethe coronation, and remember the bunting and the flags flying and joking that they were flying for them.

 ?? ?? Tom and Margery Pindar, married for almost 70 years, remember growing up during the war. Inset, Mr Pindar as a young man, and their wedding day.
Tom and Margery Pindar, married for almost 70 years, remember growing up during the war. Inset, Mr Pindar as a young man, and their wedding day.

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