Arthur Colburn and family pictured at home on the occasion of his grandmother's 95th birthday, 4 May 1940
Item Reference : cny03474

Description

Arthur can be seen on the far right, and his grandmother, celebrating her 95th birthday, is pictured seated in the centre. On the wall is a map with pins to mark the Allies' progress in Europe. Getting his grandmother out of bed to go to the air-raid shelter across the street could be a problem. Arthur recalls an occasion when she stopped half-way across the street, looked up at the sky, with shells flying all around, and declared 'What a lovely night!' Arthur Colburn grew up in Port Talbot during the Second World War. His father owned a garage and bicycle shop, and also worked as a despatch rider, and had a Matchless motorbike, which woke the whole street when he kick-started it. It acted as an early warning, as invariably his messages contained news of air raids. As soon as people heard the Matchless start up, they would get out of bed and make their way to the air-raid shelter across the road.

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