Norman Alan Birch (20)

Decades later, Norman Birch’s sister, Betty Doig, re-lived the raid of May 9th 1941 which threatened homes and workplaces in Nottingham’s inner city. ‘It started,’ she recalled, ‘as my younger brothers and myself went to bed. We heard the drones of planes… there was a flash that lit the living room although the black-out curtains were closed. Then a bang as a bomb dropped… Someone banged on the windows to tell us the back door was burning and they were removing a bomb. My dad was on night duty at the G.P.O.; my eldest brother was on the night shift at the Co-op Bakery… Dad came home as he was reluctant to go to the air raid shelter, which was under the garage where the GPO vans were parked. He didn’t like being near all the petrol. My brother wouldn’t go into the shelter at the bakery as it was under all the ovens. Whether he went into the shelter of his own accord we will never know as the shelter was demolished when the bakery took a direct hit. My parents were told he was the fourth person to be found…The bodies of victims were taken to the Victoria Baths for identification. My father had to go to the baths on the Sunday morning to identify clothing or items found. My brother was identified by his jacket and initialled cigarette case.’ (Nottingham Evening Post, Letters 9/9/1998)

Grave Reference: Wilford Hill: E20/41 Buried May 16th 1941. PS Nottingham Evening Post, 9/9/1990, p.20 ‘In Memoriam: Birch – Norman. Killed air raid 1941. Deep are the memories, precious they stay, no passing time can take them away. Loved and remembered always. God bless – Joyce, Nancy, Betty, Bob and Brian’