'There's a war on you know' book launch
Monday, 18th April 2011
The Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Kingston upon Hull, Cllr David Gemmell OBE and his wife Moira , will officially launch a dvd and accompanying booklet ' THERE IS A WAR ON YOU KNOW -- Life in the Sculcoates area of Hull through the eyes of children during the Second World War ' in the Edwardian Room at the Royal Station Hotel in Ferensway,Hull on Wednesday 4th May from 12 noon until 2pm.
The event will mark the 70th anniversary of two nights of heavy bombing of Hull on May 7th and 8th 1941 when 420 people were killed and 325 injured and many buildings destroyed in two nights of terror.
Twenty former residents of the area have contributed their personal stories of that time including time spent in the communal air raid shelters, being machine gunned down Beverley Road, memories of being in the National cinema when it received a direct hit, happy and not-so-happy memories of being evacuated , meeting up with a German forty years later who admitted bombing the city in the war ,shops and characters of the area and both the booklet and the dvd are illustrated with photographs of the bomb damage in Tunis Street, Sculcoates Lane and Beverley Road. The booklet will cost £3 and copies of the dvd £12, both post free and all profits from the sales will go to the LoveU2 Dove House Hospice ( Hull) Appeal Fund.
Admission to the launch will be by ticket-only and these can be booked at £5 each to include a buffet lunch from Mike Ulyatt at 28 Blackthorn Lane, Willerby HU10 6RD as are the booklet and dvd.
I hope the anniversary might also bring about two things --- a long-overdue statue , perhaps erected by public subscription , somewhere prominent in the city centre commemorating the many civilians who were killed in the city during the Second World War which would inform future generations of the sacrifices made by so many local people and secondly, a light-hearted suggestion of perhaps re-creating the " Five o clock buzzer Cycle Race" when scores of cyclists, male and female, would pedal furiously for home down Sculcoates Lane from Needlers, Sculcoates Power Station, Blundells, Holmes Tanyard, Seatons, Sissons and the North Eastern Gas Board. If Hessle Road can have its 'Fish Dock Pram Race ' each year then why not the ' Scully Lane Cycle Race' with local charities benefitting? !!
