Tag: Leith

Historical, Old Edinburgh, Wartime Memories, World War2 Comments

How Rationing came about

Johnny Jones - Nonagenarian Author

Wartime Memories No. 5 The following are my experiences and memories growing up in Leith, Scotland during the Second World War. It felt as though the war had been going on for ever. It was Saturday again and for me it meant an early morning trip to join the queue outside the Leith Provident bakery shop in Bangor Road. Bread and other bakery items were not rationed, and Saturday was the day that the ‘Store’ bakers fired up the oven and made a few cakes, buns and tea-bread from the rationed ingredients, necessary for the job they had managed to … Continue reading How Rationing came about

Historical, RAF, Scotland, World War13 Comments

The First Air Raid on Mainland Britain in WW2

Johnny Jones - Nonagenarian Author

Wartime Memories No.3 German bomber of the period – (Heinkel He 111 H) CHRONOLOGICAL SEQUENCE OF THE EARLY LUFTWAFFE AIR RAIDS On November 13, 1939 the first bombs of World War II dropped on British soil landed at Sullom, Shetland, (The raid was largely ineffective and failed to hit any of its naval targets.) March 1940 saw the first death of a British civilian when James William Isbister was killed during a German air raid on Orkney. 7.45pm on 18th July, 1940 marked the first air raid on mainland Britain. August 24, 1940 saw the first German air raid on … Continue reading The First Air Raid on Mainland Britain in WW2

General, Historical, Old Edinburgh, RAF, Scotland, Wartime Memories, World War13 Comments

Guns Galore!

Johnny Jones - Nonagenarian Author

Wartime Memories No.1 Not long after the end of the Second World War, under the starlit sky of an early autumn morning, a chuffing, puffing old railway engine, enveloped in a cloud of steam, shunted a clanking train of open topped freight wagons into the railway siding just to the North of Bonnington Toll in Edinburgh. With the wagon’s brakes secured, the engine steamed off to get on with its next task, leaving the sidings deserted, eerily silent and hidden from view behind the high random rubble stone wall that borders Newhaven Road. Later, with the sun creeping over the … Continue reading Guns Galore!