Bombs and bulldozers - part 1

BY DAVID BROWN

Some of us may remember bomb sites in Dennison Street or next to St. Peter's Hall!

Within a half mile radius at least fourteen Heavy Explosive Bombs and numerous Incendiaries were dropped around Richard Hind Schools during World War Two yet the Senior Boys School escaped unscathed... unscathed so that others could benefit from an excellent Richard Hind schooling... yet by 1980 the school had been reduced to piles of rubble. Here is a brief glimpse of some changes and events that took place during the war years.

When war was declared on 3rd September 1939 Richard Hind School for Boys had to close for more than a month.Workmen started building air raid shelters during October which enabled some classes to restart normal lessons albeit working double shifts with Bowesfield Lane Boys School three weeks later... then by 20th November sufficient shelters had been built so that the whole school was almost back to normal hours again... for those pupils volunteering to attend. It was not until 14th May 1940 that HM Government ordered that ALL pupils had to attend lessons with the 9.00 a.m. start time being delayed for those boys living in areas affected by enemy activity the previous night.

The FIRST warning of an air raid at school was at 9.30 a.m. on 29th January 1940 which lasted for one hour. Children living nearby were sent "running" home... whilst others were marched off to the inadequate shelters.

By June 1940 air raids became very regular... the first raid in the area took place on 6th June on Thornaby airfield when an airman was killed. Then come summer Norton Mill was seriously damaged and Victoria Bridge was hit. On 16th September it was noted that sirens sounded twice on that day and children went orderly and quickly to the shelters... two days later the school was emptied in one minute flat! But in February 1941 during an alert, children had to be returned to school because shelters were too wet (probably flooded)... not until 6th May 1942 did council engineering staff make improvements which whilst being carried out necessitated digging up newly laid out vegetable patches... "Digging for Victory" was very much in evidence as ground over the new shelters next to the railway was cultivated with potatoes and vegetables under the care of Mr. Charlie Charlton.

The nearest miss happened on the night of 11th/12th May 1941 when the school premises narrowly missed being hit by bombs which dropped in St. Peter's Road and at the far end of Dennison Street... wiping out the family who lived next-door to St. Peter's Hall though the hall and Church remained intact, demolishing Ferris' Ice Cream Shop and killing the Ferris family. Water supplies were disrupted throughout Teesside for a week. This was one of the worst raids suffered in the vicinity. At least six bombs were dropped and eight people died during the raid which also affected Grays Road and Bromley Road and damaged the hospital in Bowesfield Lane. Across the river four bombs dropped alongside the riverbank.

Apart from gas mask inspections... instruction on dangers of handling strange objects... as enemy action escalated so did the school become more prepared for air raids. The realisation that the school was less than a hundred yards from being wiped out on the night of the twelfth and how devastating raids by the Luftwaffe could be, no doubt prompted a decision for boys to be "gas tested" the next day, with eighty boys at a time being processed in room seven, overlooked by the school nurse in case of mishap.

In January 1942 Mr. Johnny Rosser took charge, replacing Mr. Rawlinson who had been headmaster for the last eight months after Mr. Purdey left.

To part 2...