Saved by Luck and a German Surgeon By Harold Cunliffe It can be a time consuming task to unearth interesting material to fill a weekly newspaper column relating to days gone by. Remembrance coverage could be difficult when looking for first-hand accounts, relating first hand experiences from those who did their bit, because for some reason many people did not relate what they did during the war.
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ocal and national newspapers were not allowed to publish stories made by servicemen who were home on leave and wanted the press, especially local, to publish their story, but what we do find is a list of those who never made it back home, those who lost their lives. It is always interesting to hear what happened in a Lancashire town during the time of conflict, tales detailing day to day events during the Second World War from a survivor. It was a number of years ago when the thoughts of putting together a feature for Remembrance that an interesting story came knocking at my door, so to speak. Initially Mr and Mrs Fred Simpson decided to call in the newspaper office while out shopping to leave a message for yours truly, both wondering if their wartime experiences would be of interest to the readers of the local newspaper which I was contributing material. Naturally I was keen to document any new source of material for posterity then arriving at the Simpson’s Middleton Junction home it was Edith Simpson who greeted me, and made me most welcome. Within minutes I discovered that she once lived at a “Battlecruiser,” a Lancashire term for ‘boozer’ or pub. This public house was the “British Queen,” a pub I knew well, this being the place where my late father spent time propping up the bar. Edith (nee Boardman) related that at the time she lived at the pub she was still at school, Parkfield, which was a short distance 122
British Queen pub
away. It was at this period she spotted a young boy named Fred Simpson, who she later married. Next I was handed a collection of items known as Ephemera, invoices and receipts which related to the British Queen, strangely it had the licensee of William Boardman? The items of ephemera it transpired were stored in the loft by her late granddad that also held the licence to the pub, so two generations had lived and held a licence at the British Queen public house. During our conversation I discovered that the pub, now demolished, was located in a prime spot, it was on the main road from Manchester to Rochdale, which became a popular watering hole for passing customers. Many of those who dropped in were American servicemen from Burtonwood, the American base located in Warrington. At the time Edith was to marry Fred, one of the American G.I’s enquired if she had a wedding dress, being wartime the answer was negative. “Leave it to us,” replied the American customer.” A
LANCASHIRE & NORTH WEST MAGAZINE
couple of days later a group of the boys from Burtonwood arrived, entering the British Queen sporting smiles on their faces, “A wedding present for you Edith,” they announced, then upon opening the packet she found inside a silk parachute. Cutting the top and trimming the bottom section, adding a belt, Edith then had a white silk wedding dress. The cake however was not edible, just a cardboard box which had been covered with plaster to look like a wedding cake. Mrs Simpson had an interesting collection of family photographs, and best of all, she knew who the people were and could identify them individually. Closing the album, she looked in my direction with an air of sadness, then related the tale of a family member who served in the First World War, she said that she would dearly love to visit his grave at the local cemetery but she had no idea where it was located. Edith remembers Joe Partington from her childhood, he stood out because for many years he wore a white cotton hanky over his left eye to conceal a wartime injury, then as technology moved on he had www.lancmag.com
