Bombs over the Humber

In 1942 the Creeks were living at number 4 Newton Street, off the Boulevard, in Hull close to the docks. Most of the family were away in the forces. One evening Mary, the youngest of the children at fourteen, was round at a friend’s house when the sirens sounded and the flak started to go up. It was decided that she ought to go home. She remembered the surreal atmosphere as the flak and the explosions lit the night sky. As she approached the rear of the house she could not understand why she could see the front street. The house had vanished.

Polly was in the house with just the dog Spot for company when the bomb landed just outside the front door. The explosion blew the door inwards off it’s hinges. It came to rest wedged at an angle with Polly and the dog under it. A mirror had shattered and she was badly cut but otherwise unharmed. The remains of the house was on top of the door.

When Charles returned he found that the house was just a pile of rubble. With help from neighbours they started to move the house brick by brick. When they called out they could hear Polly under the house. Charles remembered that when he had left Polly had been wearing a pinafore. She always kept a box of matches in the pocket. He called to her to light a match to help the rescuers locate her. Eventually, after many matches, Polly and the dog were rescued.

Meantime in the deserts of North Africa, on the eve of the first battle of El Alamein artilleryman Oliver Creek got a telegram informing him that his home had been bombed and that his mother had been in it. He was given compassionate leave and sent home to Hull hence missing the battle. When he got home Oliver remembers looking up at the remaining wall of the house and seeing a pair of his brother Albert’s boots still hanging on the wall where an attic bedroom used to be.

Hull in 1942

The last Fines of the 19th century

The Owls have it