MEMORIES came flooding back for some of those who lived through the Blitz when they helped relaunch an exhibition at South Yorkshire's Aeroventure Museum.
Some of the survivors of the Sheffield Blitz of December 1940 travelled to Lakeside in Doncaster to see for themselves a depiction of what they witnessed in the darkest days of the Second World War.
Five Sheffield pensioners accepted an invitation from the South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum on Airborne Road, which has marked the 70th anniversary of the devastation with a reconstituted exhibition showing what the city centre was like on the night the Luftwaffe dropped their bombs across a wide area.
The museum purchased a Blitz diorama which used to be housed at the old John Banner building in Attercliffe in the 1990s and it has now been relocated to a more prominent position and with better lighting, recreating the searchlights during the blackout.
Chairman Frank Donnelly said: "Last September The Star published a request from the museum for the memories of people who were children aged six to 16 at the time of the Blitz. We received 15 terrific letters from a variety of boys and girls, each with their own experience to tell.
"Many recall the sheer terror of their feelings in air raid shelters, quite a few recall the excitement of those times, evacuation, and pride in their relatives doing everyday things like being firemen, air raid wardens, and serving in the Armed Forces. All these letters will become a permanent part of the display for posterity."
Museum spokesman Ian Kingsnorth said: "Everyone who turned up for the event had a very good time and it was moving to hear their recollections.
One chap had been evacuated to Melton Mowbray at the start of the war but drifted back to Sheffield because there had been no bombing just weeks before the Blitz. They were getting quite emotional talking about what they saw. I think it also helped people take stock of the fact that they had been spared."
Five Sheffield pensioners accepted an invitation from the South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum on Airborne Road, which has marked the 70th anniversary of the devastation with a reconstituted exhibition showing what the city centre was like on the night the Luftwaffe dropped their bombs across a wide area.
The museum purchased a Blitz diorama which used to be housed at the old John Banner building in Attercliffe in the 1990s and it has now been relocated to a more prominent position and with better lighting, recreating the searchlights during the blackout.
Chairman Frank Donnelly said: "Last September The Star published a request from the museum for the memories of people who were children aged six to 16 at the time of the Blitz. We received 15 terrific letters from a variety of boys and girls, each with their own experience to tell.
"Many recall the sheer terror of their feelings in air raid shelters, quite a few recall the excitement of those times, evacuation, and pride in their relatives doing everyday things like being firemen, air raid wardens, and serving in the Armed Forces. All these letters will become a permanent part of the display for posterity."
Museum spokesman Ian Kingsnorth said: "Everyone who turned up for the event had a very good time and it was moving to hear their recollections.
One chap had been evacuated to Melton Mowbray at the start of the war but drifted back to Sheffield because there had been no bombing just weeks before the Blitz. They were getting quite emotional talking about what they saw. I think it also helped people take stock of the fact that they had been spared."
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