Book - Birthday book captures life of Sheffield institution

SHEFFIELD folk shared their memories of a city institution at the launch of a new book all about it.


Neil Anderson launched his book celebrating the 80th birthday of Sheffield City Hall at the popular venue this week.

The title shares some of the hall’s fascinating past and stories, including some ghostly goings on.

As well as being the home of ballroom dancing and concerts, the hall is thought to have had at least three resident ghosts during the decades.

Author Neil, who is also the founder of a PR firm in Dronfield, gave a talk and signed books for fans at the launch on Wednesday.

He said: “It was fabulous.

“It was great to meet a lot of people and it was said I had shown how important the hall has been to different people over 80 years.

“I was quite nervous about taking the project on because the hall does hold such an important place in the hearts and minds of decades of Sheffielders.

“It was really nice to get positive feedback from people who said I had captured it totally, that was great for me.”

The book celebrates all that has happened under the City Hall’s roof since it opened in September 1932.

From hosting megastars such as The Beatles, to surviving World War Two air attacks and promoting peace concerts, the hall’s history is laid bare.

The birthday book costs £12.95 and is available to pick up from the city hall, by calling 0114 2233740, at The Star bookshop and from book retailers.

Tell us your memories of the City Hall in Sheffield?

Email: nancy.fielder@thestar.co.uk

From: http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/birthday-book-captures-life-of-sheffield-institution-1-5189822

Article - Oldest RAF veteran meets memorial campaigners (Halam)

A 99 year old RAF veteran has given his seal of approval to a memorial erected to seven airmen killed in a plane crash in Nottinghamshire during World War Two.


The crew of a Lancaster bomber died in 1943 when their plane crashed in the village of Halam near Southwell. Last year a granite memorial was unveiled in their honour after two locals - Andrew Paris and Tony Denyer - campaigned for the crash site to be recognised. Relatives of the crew from Australia, Canada and the UK were present at the blessing.

Jim Flint is the oldest and most decorated surviving RAF war veteran and Bomber Command pilot. He flew 56 missions and became a Commanding Officer. During his career he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO), the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC), the George Medal and the Aircraft Efficiency Medal (AE). Jim received the George Medal for bravery after his plane ditched in the sea off the coast of Norfolk. His navigator was trapped and Jim swam back to rescue him.

Today he spoke about the need to remember the war dead.“"There was many a mission I flew that I honestly didn't know if I would return home from. I lost so many dear friends during the Second World War and to have colleagues recognised with these special memorials is marvellous."

The memorial at Halam is one of a number of RAF crash sites that have been recognised by Nottinghamshire County Council through their Local Improvement Scheme. Over the last eight years the Council has spent around £500,000 to fund the restoration and creation of more than 35 war memorials across Nottinghamshire, including the village of Staunton near Newark, and Milton near Retford.

From: http://www.itv.com/news/central/2012-09-25/oldest-raf-veteran-meets-memorial-campaigners/

News - New South Yorkshire WW2 memorial planned for heroes (Rotherham)

the names of servicemen from Rotherham killed during World War Two will be listed on a monument in the town’s Clifton Park if enough funds can be raised.


The Friends of Clifton Park have raised £8,500 so far to help pay for the monument, but need a total of £30,000.

The group says although most villages in the town have their own war memorials there is not a central one in Rotherham bearing the names of everyone killed.

Members have contacted the War Graves Commission and have a list of 1,217 names they want included.

To make sure everyone from the town killed in the line of duty is included, and all named are spelled correctly, the list of servicemen is on display in the Garden House in Clifton Park between 9am and 5pm daily.

Friends of Clifton Park want relatives to check the list so that any mistakes can be rectified before the monument is commissioned.

From: http://www.thestar.co.uk/community/new-south-yorkshire-ww2-memorial-planned-for-heroes-1-4436171

News - Final salute as Sheffield Woman of Steel Vera Shaw dies, aged 102

ONE of Sheffield’s oldest Women of Steel – who kept the city’s steelworks alive during wartime – has died, aged 102.

Vera Shaw worked in Stanley Works, Woodside Lane, Neepsend, during World War Two, inspecting bullet casings.

She died in Sheffield’s Northern General Hospital on Monday, after falling ill at Christmas.

Until then, she had lived in her own home on Granby Road, Norton, leading a fairly independent life for her age.

Son Derek, 77, said she still enjoyed seeing friends.

Mr Shaw said: “Everybody has said that they will miss her because she was the life and soul of the party.

“She was 102, so it’s just one of those things.

“She was in her own home until Boxing Day and more or less looked after herself. She was with it right until the end.

“I think she may have been the oldest woman left who helped keep the home fires burning during the war.”

Vera, who featured in The Star’s Woman of Steel campaign for official recognition for their work, originally made shirts.

Her family – Vera, her husband Fred and a young Derek – had only recently moved to Sheffield when war broke out and Fred was sent away with the Royal Navy.

And Vera’s wartime job meant that she had to send Derek, then aged just four, to live with her mother in Macclesfield, Cheshire, for his safety.

During an interview as part of the Women of Steel campaign, Vera said everyone had been kind and welcoming when she arrived at Stanley Works and she had gone on to build strong friendships with her colleagues.

She said: “We used to have to look in the bullets and make sure the rings were perfect.

“It was all women. I had a big family and all my sisters worked hard like that.”

The campaign succeeded with a permanent plaque at Balm Green, off Barker’s Pool, Sheffield city centre, unveiled last year.

A fundraising drive to pay for a statue honouring the women is also planned.

Derek, of St Aidan’s Road, Arbourthorne, said: “Mum thought the Women of Steel campaign was the right thing to do to recognise the women who stepped up.

“I think everybody does and I certainly do, because I know how hard they worked.

“I remember women still doing a lot of the jobs when I was a steelworker before becoming a HGV driver.

“When I was going through all her things I found the articles about her neatly put away.”

From: http://www.thestar.co.uk/lifestyle/the-star-says/final_salute_as_sheffield_woman_of_steel_vera_shaw_dies_aged_102_1_4218688

Article - A tale of amazing bravery from one of Doncaster’s finest heroes

IF I should die, think only this of me: That there’s some corner of a foreign field that is forever England.

The words of the famous Rupert Brooke war poem could have been penned specifically for Corporal John William Harper.

Of course, the harrowing reality is that he was just one of thousands of gallant British soldiers whose final, tragic moments were played out on World War II battlefields across Western Europe.

But Cpl Harper’s story is one that lives on, thanks to a dedicated team intent on keeping his memory alive.

Over the coming days, Hatfield Colliery Band, members of Hatfield Town Council and family relative Gordon Harper will visit the compact, rural town of Merksplas in Belgium, a stone’s throw from the border with the Netherlands for a series of remembrance events.

For it was near here on September 29, 1944 that the married, Hatfield born and bred peat worker, was fatally gunned down by German soldiers as the trench warfare of World War Two raged across Europe.

He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry that can be awarded to British forces and remains the only Doncaster-born soldier in the medal’s 155 year history to pick up the honour.

Gordon said: “John’s story is an amazing one, one that should be preserved and told to future generations. Acts of bravery like his should not go unnoticed and forgotten and that’s why we are keeping his memory alive.”

The story begins nearly 100 years ago with John’s birth in the then small and mostly agricultural village of Hatfield Woodhouse. From his home in Slay Pits Lane, young John and his father George worked the land as peat cutters on the fertile fields in and around the village.

He married a local girl, Lily, and the pair moved to a house in Thorne. But the couple’s lives were to change with the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 and in April 1940, John, like thousands of others, was enlisted into the war effort as the menace of Nazi Germany spread rapidly across mainland Europe.

Signed up to the York and Lancaster Regiment, Cpl Harper’s finest hour, but sadly tragic final moments, came in 1944 as the battle to liberate Belgium and Holland entered its final bloody stages and the platoon under his command battled to seize the Depot de Mendicitie near Antwerp from enemy hands.

In a handwritten memoir passed to the family, Geoff Cooper, a former comrade of Cpl Harper takes up the story: “At about 4am on the day of the attack, we left the copse and advanced about a mile towards the depot.

“After climbing over a fence, we were told to fix bayonets and at the order, charge. We had to gallop over this open area, about three hundred yards or so to the moat bank where, unbeknown to us Germans were dug in. We flattened ourselves with Cpl Harper at the helm.

“He motioned to us to be quiet - you could see the Jerry helmets. But thinking it may be part of the Polish Armoured Division, he called across, heard the name Fritz and that’s where the main attack began.”

Under a hail of grenades and gunfire, Cpl Harper rampaged through the German troops, taking prisoners, shooting the enemy and seizing their dugouts in a violent and fearsome firefight.

“Cpl Harper went to investigate, bringing another prisoner. Then he went a second time with our section’s left over grenades and took out a machine gun nest, allowing our supporting back-up to move through.

“But unfortunately he was killed while returning to us, his section. He was kind, thoughtful and considered us 18-year-olds as if we were his siblings.”

In the days that followed, the area, including the nearby town of Merksplas fell to the Allies, largely thanks to Cpl Harper’s selfless courage - and so began another chapter in the story.

The soldier was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his valour and buried at the nearby Leopoldsburg war cemetery - and then the story of his bravery remained untouched for another quarter of a century - until a chance discovery by Gordon unearthed the tale once again.

For one morning in 1968, while himself stationed in the military in Libya, Gordon was idly leafing through a copy of The Victor comic and became fascinated by the story on the front page - The Stubborn Tyke - which told Cpl Harper’s story in stirring comic book fashion.

And when Gordon recounted the story to his family, he was amazed to find that Cpl Harper was actually his dad’s cousin.

“No one had ever mentioned it,” he said. “But the whole amazing story came out. I was fascinated.”

Since then, Gordon has set about helping to keep the story of his brave relative alive and was instrumental, along with members of Hatfield Town Council, in establishing a permanent memorial in Hatfield Woodhouse cemetery while his medal is now on show at the Y&L Regiment Museum in Rotherham.

A memorial has also been erected in Merksplas and over the next few days, members of Hatfield Colliery Band will mark Cpl Harper’s life with a series of remembrance concerts and services in the Belgian town, now officially twinned with Hatfield.

“He is treated like a real hero over there,” added Gordon. “Children are taught about John and what he did - they have a real reverence for him.”

“We have built up strong links with Merksplas to organise cultural exchanges such as this one,” he added. “John’s sister Joan is still alive and she is extremely proud of her brother.

“She told me that he was a very humble man who would rather walk away from confrontation rather than get involved. It is hard to believe that he had that in him to do what he did. His is a truly remarkable story.”

And at the going down of the sun in a small corner of Belgium this weekend, the courageous deeds of one man will be well and truly remembered.

From: http://www.thornegazette.co.uk/news/local-news/a_tale_of_amazing_bravery_from_one_of_doncaster_s_finest_heroes_1_3966998

News - Veterans sound final Last Post (Sheffield)

A WORLD War Two veterans’ association has sounded its final last post - after its numbers dwindled to just a handful of members left.

For more than three decades the Coastal Forces Veterans’ Association has held monthly meetings in Sheffield and Rotherham to keep alive the bonds and camaraderie that kept servicemen going through the war.

At its peak the group - who from 1939 to 1945 patrolled Britain’s coastline in motor torpedo boats, keeping Hitler’s forces at bay - numbered more than 200 veterans in South Yorkshire.

But now there are only eight of the naval heroes left - old men now in their 80s and 90s.

The group marked their last ever meeting, at the Outokumpu Social Club in Tinsley, surrounded by friends and family, with a meal, a sing-song - and their habitual tot of rum.

The club’s longest-serving member, Syd Farrow, aged 87, said: “Unfortunately we are a shrinking group.

“We started in Wickersley in 1979 at The Companions Club, and we moved here when that building was turned into flats.”

Syd, who lives in Chesterfield where he was born, joined the war effort when he was 17.

“I really enjoyed those years,” he said.

“We had some hair-raising experiences, but we made wonderful friends.”

Ted O’Brien, aged 88, from Parson Cross in Sheffield, said: “When I came back from the war I didn’t want to think about the experience at all.

“It was only later, when I was retired, that my mind really wandered back to it.

“It has been good to meet people who had the same experience.”

Group secretary Colin Severn, 64, from Doncaster, whose father Ernest served in the coastal forces, took over the running of the club to help out the veterans. He said: “It’s heartbreaking that the group is closing.

“But people are getting older, it’s getting harder for people to get here, and the building is being sold, so it’s probably the right time.”

Hilda Anderson, 84, from Rawmarsh, Rotherham, had continued to attend the meetings since her naval veteran husband Arthur died.

Hilda said: “We meet once a month to chat about old times and we go on trips.

“We always open the meeting with a tot of rum - they say that’s what keeps the Navy going.

“I will really miss it.”

From: http://www.thestar.co.uk/community/veterans_sound_final_last_post_1_3871531

News - Blazing a new trail (Sheffield)

INSIDE, it’s not unlike like Steptoe’s yard – if Steptoe had had an unhealthy obsession with the emergency services.

Here there’s a Chesterfield fire engine from 1710 sitting next to a couple of 1960s police motorbikes; over there are two uniforms worn by New York City firefighters on September 11 2001; and through that door is a cell crammed with assorted Charlie Peace memorabilia.

On the walls are hundreds of police badges; in cabinets are matchbox models of world fire engines; and out the back, past a 1920s desk sergeant, is a World War Two Anderson shelter.

Welcome to Sheffield’s charming – and charmingly chaotic – Fire and Police Museum, West Bar.

Here, more than 30,000 rotating exhibits are crammed into the 29 rooms and courtyard of what was once the city’s combined police and fire station.

There’s just a couple of issues: since being set up in 1983 the centre has only opened Sundays, and until six months ago had faced falling visitor numbers.

Now, however, bosses have announced a £13.5 million plan to reverse its fortunes and transform it into the National Emergency Services Museum. It would be the first of its kind in the UK.

The five-year proposals would see the grade II* listed building completely restored, and expanded into land at the rear.

And the ball was started rolling yesterday with the museum now opening for six days for the first time in its history.

“We have one of the world’s biggest private collections of emergency service memorabilia here,” says director Matthew Wakefield, the only full time member of staff. “But because this is a volunteer-run charity, we’ve had no means of showing it off as it deserves. We’ve not been able to open during the week or even advertise. We once asked the council for brown road signs and they said we’d have to pay for them.”

The new proposals would change all that.

Trustees decided in April to run a one-off six-month advertising campaign to see if it attracted more visitors.

It did. Numbers shot up from an average of 90 each Sunday to about 400, with people coming from across the north. Among them were representatives from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

“It’s a listed building being used sympathetically so we thought they might be interested in what we’re doing,” says Matthew, a 21-year-old former Fire Cadet who had volunteered at the centre for eight years before being appointed director.

Turns out they were.

Matthew again: “They estimate it would cost £13.5 million to rennovate and they say in theory, if we can meet certain criteria, they would look to provide significant funding. Firstly, though, we have to prove the place will work as a six day operation. It’s early days but if we can do that, then I’m sure we’ll make quick progress.”

That attracting people shouldn’t be a problem.

Among the museum’s vast rotating collection – started by retired firefighters who wanted a place to house their private memorabilia – are 42 fire engines, five ambulances and 10 police vehicles. They include Sheffield’s first fire engines from 1884 and a 1960s engine from German twin town Bochum.

“Kids love it,” says Matthew, who previously worked at Magna in Rotherham. “It’s great fun because they can sit in the vehicles but it’s also interesting for adults. It’s educational. It’s amazing there isn’t a combined emergency services museum in the UK already. This would take advantage of that gap. I’m certain it can become a destination venue.”

The museum opens Monday to Friday 10am - 2pm until December 2 and Sundays 11am - 5pm.

A brief history of the museum

1900: The purpose-built combined Police and Fire Station is opened in West Bar in the city centre. It’s state-of-the-art facilities include a police camera and stables for the horses which pull the fire engines.

1929: The fire service moves to a new base in Rockingham Street.

1965: The police move to a new base, also West Bar.

1980: The derelict building is acquired by the South Yorkshire Historical Society to house firefighting memorabilia being stored at Rockingham Street.

1983: The museum opens one Sunday a month in just two rooms of the building.

2011: Two rooms have grown to 29. More than 30,000 exhibits, including 57 historic vehicles, are displayed on a rotational basis. It opens for six days a week for the first time.

2016(?): The museum is renamed the National Emergency Services Museum after a £13.5 million expansion and upgrade...

From: http://www.thestar.co.uk/community/the-diary/blazing_a_new_trail_1_3858139

News - Sheffield Fayre 2011: History comes alive

THOUSANDS of people flocked to the annual Sheffield Fayre for a summer extravaganza of history, horrors and horticulture.

More than 600 historical re-enactment enthusiasts have been camped out in Norfolk Heritage Park since Friday, living in authentic period camps and recreating dramatic battles.

The 11th annual Fayre, a two day event - Sunday and Monday, August 28 and 29 - also features a large gardening show and competition, 1950s illusions such as ‘the horrific Monster Girl’, and dozens of stalls and funfair rides.

Around 25,000 people are expected to attend the free event over the two days.

The actors’ mission is to recreate famous battles from Roman times through the Middle Ages to World War Two, wearing authentic costume and living in period tents.

John McConnell-Smith, from Halfway, visited with with wife Rachael and six-year-old son Thomas.

“It’s a great day,” he said. “This is much better than I thought it would be. The re-enactments are really good.”

Jane Ibbotson, from Stannington, had brought along her grandson Finlay, five.

She said: “It’s the only event I come to in Sheffield, and it’s very good.”

“It’s great for the lad. It’s a nice day and it teaches him something different.”

Christian Sprakes, a telesales worker from Bentley, Doncaster, was among the re-enactors attending the event with the American Civil War Society.

He said: “We do about six or seven major festivals every year and Sheffield is very good, because you get lots of different period groups here.

“Our members come from all across the country, from every walk of life.”

William Brown, a tattoo artist from Edinburgh, was playing the role of the commander of the Confederate Battalion.

He said: “We go all over the country but this is a great event, it has a great atmosphere.”

In the horticultural show tent, green-fingered residents entered competitions in more than 100 categories, from best chrysanthemum to largest marrow to finest homemade wine.

Horticultural show steward Gill Capewell said: “This show is a celebration of all things home-grown. We want to celebrate the community spirit in Sheffield, and welcome more entries next year.”

But organisers raised concerns about whether there would be a Sheffield Fayre next year.

Event organiser Claire Taylor, the council’s parks area officer for east Sheffield, said: “It’s been going really well. The weather has helped - at one point we thought it would be very wet.”

She said there were doubts as to whether the council could afford to run the event next year because of funding cuts, but added: “We think it’s very good for this area, there’s not a lot else that happens like this.”

Arbourthorne ward councillor Jack Scott said: “It’s been a fantastic day and it’s great to see so many people here.

“I think events like this really put Sheffield on the map. We want to do everything we can to support it.

“However, the massive government cuts have an impact on everything the council does, so we are going to have to look really hard next year at all our priorities.”

From: http://www.thestar.co.uk/community/sheffield_fayre_2011_history_comes_alive_slideshow_1_3724008

Article - First Women of Steel (Sheffield)

well done for supporting the campaign for a statue to the Women of Steel, who made an often forgotten contribution to the war effort between 1939 and 1945. However, campaigners should not forget the hundreds of women steelworkers who worked during World War One in conditions that were certainly far worse.

My grandmother, Phyllis White from Rawmarsh, was one of them.

As a teenager between 1916 and 1918, she travelled to Templeborough day after day to make shell casings. The work was hard and the air often filled with sulphurous fumes that affected the women’s lungs and coloured their skin yellow. They were sometimes known as ‘the canary girls’.

She rarely talked about those days but I suspect the emphysema that finally killed her was a legacy of that time.

If Sheffield erects a statue which exclusively recognises the women steelworkers of World War Two, it will, in my view, be an everlasting insult to the memory of the female workers of World War One.

Just because that generation is long gone doesn’t mean this city should overlook their vital contribution to the Allies’ victory in 1918.

In 2010, I corresponded with Andrew Skelton, the city’s Public Art Officer, on this matter. In reply, he said: “You are right to point out that women made a significant contribution to manufacture in Sheffield in both World Wars and you are justifiably proud of your grandmother’s contribution. As we envisage it the statue will commemorate both generations and the wider contribution of women to the war effort during both wars.”

And yet as the erection of the Women of Steel statue draws closer, it seems we remain in danger of cruelly ignoring the women steelworkers of World War One.

Neil Theasby, S11

News - Help us build our Women of Steel statue (Sheffield)

Our Women of Steel could be honoured with a city centre statue within a year - and Sheffielders are being asked to show their full support.

The Star’s campaign for the women who kept the steelworks running during World War Two received massive backing last year.

The move won recognition from Downing Street, the Ministry of Defence and Buckingham Palace.

Hundreds of families from across the area came forward to add the names of their mums and grandmothers to our roll of honour, thrilled to see action decades after the women were unceremoniously fired when the men returned from the front line.

Sheffield Council pledged to install a permanent monument in the city centre - and today revealed they will launch a fundraising appeal by unveiling a brass plaque, inlaid in the pavement in Barker’s Pool.

A total of £28,000 was earmarked for the statue in a cabinet report last year - but around £150,000 will be needed to pay for the statue.

There are more than 100 surviving Women of Steel, aged between 85 and 101, and campaigners are stressing time is of the essence.

Great-great-grandmother Ruby Gascoigne said: “It is about having a statue there after we have gone and for those who have already gone. We are not getting any younger and we would love to see the statue finished.

“We didn’t work for thanks but now we know what we did was vital to the war.

“We released a lot of men to go into the forces to fight and my whole family, as well as hundreds of other families, feels very strongly that nobody really appreciated what Sheffield women did before The Star’s campaign.

“My life was ruined working 13-hour nights, coming home see to my baby and then spending the rest of the time in the air raid shelter while my husband was away, for four years.”

Council leader Julie Dore said the plaque should be unveiled no later than November, with the statue hopefully arriving in a year’s time.

But she added: “I don’t know how long it will take to raise the money. You’ve got to recommend about three sculptors with a reputation for this kind of work, and ask the women what they want.

“Then you have to go through the process of designing the statue, and also raise awareness among members of the public. That will take at least 10 months just to do that.

“We’ll unveil the plaque and at the same time say we’ve identified a sculptor and launch the appeal. It’s going to be really nice.”

The Star has agreed to support the council’s fundraising campaign and will be urging readers to help make the dream a reality.

The commemorative plaque will be near an oak tree in Barker’s Pool, by the City Hall steps.

Coun Dore revealed the first £5,000 has already been raised for the appeal, adding: “Hopefully it’s not just going to be an appeal for money from the public - we’ve got ideas about how we might get other organisations involved.

“We’re going to have a statue but we can’t produce a statue in three months. We’re in a period of recession and worry about funding, but I feel positively hopeful. All I can commit to is our aim of having a statue.”

Kathleen Roberts, aged 89, sparked The Star’s campaign which won national recognition last year.

She said: “We know the financial situation that everybody is facing but it would be wonderful to see a statue in a year’s time.

“We really want to see this to the end, not just for ourselves but for the thousands of mums, grandmas, sisters and aunts who died before being thanked. When you get to our age you are on borrowed time.”

From: http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/local/barnsley/help_us_build_our_women_of_steel_statue_1_3667430

News - Women of Steel will get lasting memorial (Sheffield)

COUNCIL bosses have allocated funding towards a permanent memorial for Sheffield’s Women of Steel, after a successful campaign by The Star.

Despite funding squeezes, councillors say they have found £28,000 from efficiency savings to pay for a monument in Barker’s Pool.

They are now asking businesses to donate funds to make up the estimated £150,000 total cost of the memorial.

The announcement follows a long Star campaign to win recognition for the hundreds of women who braved Nazi bombing raids to keep the city’s steelworks going during World War Two.

As part of the campaign, last year the women received thanks from former Prime Minister Gordon Brown during a visit to Downing Street, as the Government finally officially recognised their contribution to the war effort.

Kathleen Roberts, Kit Sollitt, Dorothy Slingsby and Ruby Gascoigne, each aged between 87 and 90, were received at Number 10 after working with The Star to give the campaign momentum. The whole campaign was triggered after Kathleen contacted The Star and it met a fantastic response, with hundreds of women calling in to tell of their wartime experiences.

Now Sheffield Council has decided there will be a permanent, lasting monument to their heroic work.

Paul Scriven, Liberal Democrat leader of the council, said: “I’m delighted that through making efficiency savings in-year, we’ve been able to locate these funds for this vital project. We’re confident that the commitment we’ve made will encourage donors to come forward.”

Originally four ideas were proposed for the monument, including an abstract, contemporary sculpture at the top of Howard Street, commemorative plaques as part of the seating on Howard Street, and a garden of remembrance.

But after consultation with the former foundry workers, it was decided a memorial in Barker’s Pool would be the best way of marking the women’s efforts.

Designs have yet to be finalised, but the council has launched a fundraising drive to get the cash together, and hope their initial pot of £28,000 will soon swell to the total amount.

Coun Scriven said: “These women made great sacrifices for the war effort and it’s important that, as a city, we recognise their contribution.”

From: http://www.thestar.co.uk/lifestyle/the-star-says/women_of_steel_will_get_lasting_memorial_1_3301128

 

Article – Changing lives in the aftermath of war (Sheffield Star)

Seventy years ago thousands of South Yorkshire men were sent off to fight for their country. But what happened when they came back? Rachael Clegg looks at life in the immediate aftermath of World War Two and discovers how families coped

RUBY Gascoigne barely recognised her husband when he walked back through the door after the Second World War.

He had been away for four years, fighting in every theatre of war. He had experienced frostbite, he’d been marooned, he’d seen his friends die and starve, he’d fought and he’d seen suffering on a dramatic scale.

So when the war was declared over, things could only get better.

Surely?

Ruby married Frank - two years her senior - when she was 18.

She fell pregnant during Frank’s one-week leave home over the Christmas period 70 years ago.

But within just 12 months of being married, the young, happy couple were thrown into the darkest depths.

Suddenly, they were parents, workers and fighters, as well as a young and inexperienced husband and wife.

Frank fought abroad for most of the war, and his only contact with Ruby was through the letters he sent home.

She had no idea where he was, her only vague clue a postbox number on each note. She went through her entire pregnancy alone and raised their first child single-handedly, while also working in Sheffield’s steel mills and running a home, until Frank returned.

“It was dreadfully strange when Frank came home,” admits Ruby, now 88, and one of The Star’s Women of Steel.

“We started going out with each other when we were 16 and 18, but it wasn’t a romance. We used to go to the pictures and our families presumed we were courting but it was nothing serious. We did a bit of snogging but that was it!”

Frank was called up to fight - first in Dunkirk - and at the same time Sheffield was heavily bombed. As many as 660 people were killed, including Frank’s parents. Ruby was all he had left.

“Frank lost his mother and father,” said Ruby, who now lives on Duke Street. “He came home on leave and said, ‘Should we get married?’. I cared well enough for him so I said yes.

“We were married on the Easter Saturday and we had one week together. Then he was off to Northern Ireland and, later that year - during his week’s leave - I fell pregnant and he told me he was going abroad.

“He was issued with a tropical kit - and I didn’t see him for four years.”

Ruby and Frank changed enormously as people throughout their four years apart.

“I withstood the pregnancy on my own and when Frank came home our little son Graham was three-and-a-half years old,” said Ruby.

“I had led a sheltered life before the war, I knew very little about the world really. But by the end of it I had worked in the steelworks and had seen a different way of life.

“It was very strange when he came back. His skin was dark, his shoulders had broadened, he wore glasses and he looked like a different person. It was 3am when he came back in, and he was covered in khaki and laden with stuff that he’d looted. Graham didn’t want to know him.”

Though Ruby was pregnant again with their second child, she also found Frank was jealous of the male acquaintances she had from work.

“Men would say, ‘How do you do, Ruby?’ and Frank would say, ‘Who’s that?’. I told him he couldn’t expect me not to have spoken to anyone over those four years.”

But they ironed out their problems.

“We had a really good debate and we started again,” she said. “We decided that whatever had happened during the war we’d write it off.

“So many girls had affairs and pregnancies - men came home and divorced them - but I decided to settle down to a new way of life.

“I became a housewife and I haven’t regretted a single day ever since.

“We had five beautiful boys together, Frank was a brilliant father and we had a wonderful marriage in the end.

“But that first week of real married life was torture.”

Frank took early retirement at the age of 62. Until then he never talked about his experiences in the war. And then, one night on holiday in Spain, when Frank was 64, he told his daughter-in-law’s mother about his experiences.

Ruby said: “She said to me, ‘Ruby, I want to stay and listen to Frank - he’s telling me what he’s been through’.”

“I was amazed,” said Ruby, “Frank hadn’t told me anything about his experiences. But she said to me, I shall never forget what that lad has been through. It must have been hell’.”

During the same holiday a friend of Ruby’s was reading palms in the bar. Ruby, in true holiday spirit, volunteered to have hers read.

“It was the night before we were coming home,” she recalls. “The lady took one look at my palm, closed my hand, and said, ‘Go home and be happy’. I said, ‘What do you mean?’ but she said, ‘Just go home and be happy’.”

The Monday after returning home from holiday, Ruby and Frank were getting ready to go out. Frank came out of the bathroom and said he felt dreadful.

“I offered to make him a drink so he came in the kitchen, put his arms around me - I could feel he was sweating profusely - and he said, ‘Ruby, you’ll never know how much I love you’.”

Moments later Frank sat down in his chair, in his finest going-out clothes, and died of a heart attack.

Ruby and Frank had been married for 42 years, the couple had five boys together, bringing them 14 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren and one great-great granddaughter.

From: http://www.thestar.co.uk/lifestyle/features/changing_lives_in_the_aftermath_of_war_1_3126559