My name is Eric Rennie. I was born in 1932 and I lived in Fraserburgh for 21 years.

FRASER ANDERSON

My name is Fraser Anderson. I was born in 1985 and I’m 14 years old and I live in Glasgow and I’ve lived there all my life.

ERIC

I had more fun as a child than kids of today. At that time had more variety. Now everything is geared to television, computers.

FRASER

I think that there’s a lot more opportunities open for younger people now than there was then. I have done a lot to do with music and acting and I think a lot of these things were things that maybe the older generation wouldn’t have had in their time.

ERIC
If you take the average child now, he doesn’t know his district at all. He knows where the sweet shop is, but you tell him where the nearest rabbit hole or bird nest is, he’d no idea.

FRASER

When I used to live in Ayr, I used to go fishing out in the countryside. I don’t know anything about catching rabbits but I do remember my dad used to come home with a rabbit and he used to skin it out in the back garden and I could never watch it. Revolting sight, it was horrible.

ERIC
What I can remember 1939 when the war broke out. Went to the pictures and saw it on the movie news, the Pathe News, bombing in London. We used to think, "They’ll never bomb Fraserburgh, little wee village like us, a town." And I think it was about a year later the Heinkels appeared, they started bombing. This was exciting, this. The bombs got nearer the house and the house started shaking, "Oh my Goodness. This is terrible."

FRASER

The only war that I can really remember is the war that just happened recently in Kosovo. The people who are watching those planes coming over, and their houses and other houses being bombed, it must have been a terrifying experience. I would never like to go through it myself.

ERIC

You look back on that year and says, "I’ve come through something that I’ll always remember."

FRASER

Any tips for fishing, line fishing? I’ve been rod fishing before when I was younger, but I’ve never been line fishing.

ERIC

No line fishing? The only people that did rod fishing here would be affluent people because it weren’t expensive. This was our fishing rod really, just a piece of string and a few hooks.

FRASER

Did you catch a lot of fish?

ERIC
Thousands.

FRASER

What age were you when the Second World War began?

ERIC
Seven. Seven years old.

FRASER
What could you see coming in to the shore when you were fishing?

ERIC
The bombers used to come in after having a go at the convoy, they used to sweep in, skimming the water - I’m exaggerating but you could see the bombs coming in. Used to watch the Heinkels coming in, that’s a Heinkel German bomber, you’d see a gunner right in the nose, used to lie flat on the stomach - and just machine-gun the pavements.

FRASER
So it was civilians they were after, it wasn’t the...

ERIC

They were just shooting anyone, as long as it was people - then they’d go back to Norway again.

FRASER
So were there no defences in Fraserburgh, air defences?

ERIC

Yes, what you called Bofor guns.

FRASER
Did you used to see ships exploding?

ERIC

Yes, it was quite... I would say it must have been exciting, for a young laddie. You felt as though at that age, nine, you are invincible, you couldn’t get killed.

FRASER
Did people get hurt?

ERIC

Quite a few killed.

FRASER

I just saw a big fish underneath there.

ERIC
It’s a conger.

FRASER

Have you got one?

ERIC

No.

FRASER

No.

ERIC

It’s a conger eel.

FRASER

Did you see it?

ERIC
Must be coming in on the tide. In another hour, we’ll get a catch.

See the house there? That’s where I was brought up during the war and this was my area with a few mates. I think it was way back in 1940, 5th November Guy Fawkes Night, we had the biggest blaze I think in Europe. I wasn’t exactly sound asleep, I must have been just on the verge of sleeping and I noticed something, a glow coming through the curtains. And during the war no lights should be shown coming out of the house, and the best light was coming through. And a rap comes to the window, you can see the window from here, second window on the ground floor. And I’m not sure if it was George Ironside, but I’m sure it was, he says, "The town’s on fire." So I climbed out of the window, got dressed, come out the window, cut across the gardens. By the time we got down to the bottom it was all cordoned off with soldiers, police. And we got through, worked our way through the crowds to the front and we saw the Commercial Bar obliterated and this soldier turned round and asked us, "What are you two laddies doing out here at this time of night?" And we said our house was bombed and of course he was so apologetic and he says, "I’m sorry, laddies." We realised we’d better get home and it wasn’t long after that the police came up and said there was an unexploded bomb across the street, so I was evacuated to a house down in Pennyduff Road. They were snooty people, they had banisters on the stairs. I used to enjoy sliding, but this sister - I won’t mention her name - hated my guts.

FRASER

But you had a good time there, up to lots of mischief?

ERIC

They had a lot of good food as well. They had bigger cheese than we ever had, more milk than we ever had because they were very rich. And they never talked like me saying, "fit like" and "howydoin" and "wh’y’doin", she would say "How are you?" I always avoided them, kept away from them. I was always by myself, I had no-one to back me up.

FRASER
Your brother was too young?

ERIC

He’d run to his mummy, hide round behind her. If it was with my mates, it would have been different - but not with two big strapping lassies.

FRASER
So were you pleased to get back to the freedom of your own house?

ERIC

Brilliant. It was like being released from prison.

All this area was blasted, flattened. You couldn’t see the street for rubble. Where Woolworth’s stands now was the Commercial Bar with a few shops alongside. Of course the German Heinkel one-eleven bombers came in, bombed the Commercial Bar here, there was 34 people killed and over 50 injured. It was the night I sneaked out...

FRASER

To watch it?

ERIC

It was down there I saw things going on. People being taken injured, out of the rubble and laid on wooden stretchers.

FRASER
Why was Fraserburgh such a target? Why would they want to bomb these shops?

ERIC
The Toolworks produced the Merlin engines, the Rolls Royce engines for planes plus parts for the Bofor guns and it was never hit once.

FRASER
So that’s why they bombed the town then?

ERIC
Exactly.

***************************************************

SENA TAYLOR

I’m Sena and I was born in 1921.

HELEN NOBLE
And I’m Helen and I was born in 1924 and we both worked in the Toolworks during the war.

SENA
We had some very good times and we’ve got a lot of happy memories of what we’ve done.

FRASER
How did the Second World War change your life?

HELEN

When I was 15 and a half I left school and came to work in the Toolworks, which was a lot different from sitting in a classroom and then you thought you’d be earning a wage.

FRASER
How much did you earn?

HELEN

I think my first week’s pay was five shillings.

FRASER
What’s that now? What’s the equivalent? Is it about 25p?

HELEN

25p, that’s right.

FRASER
What about you, did you work? Were you at school as well?

SENA
No, I worked in a fish and chip shop, then you had to do something - war work, so I went into the Toolworks as well.

FRASER

So what did you make in the ammunition factory?

HELEN
It was parts for the Rolls Royce engines that went into the planes. Of course most of the men that worked the machines were away at the war so a lot of the women had to take over and operate the machines.

FRASER

They’d never done that before?

HELEN
No, that was never done before.

FRASER
So what was it like working there?

SENA
Fine. You met a lot of people. I enjoyed it. It was fun.

FRASER
Was there ever any bombs or anything?

SENA
It wasn’t directly bombed, but there was a lot of times down to the shelters.

HELEN
Some nights we had to take turns firewatching for the incendiary bombs.

FRASER
The bombs that set things on fire?

HELEN
This night we were firewatching and we were getting a bit bored so Sena said to phone the lady and ask if she could put on a record.

FRASER
Some music.

HELEN
So tell him the record, Sena.

SENA
I Don’t Want To Set The World on Fire.

HELEN
We thought that was hilarious.

FRASER
So you had good times as well?

HELEN
Yes.

SENA

Did a job that you wouldn’t have had if there hadn’t been a war.

HELEN
There wouldn’t have been enough work here, but because of the war they were employing everybody...

SENA

The modern generation.

HELEN
I think we better get one of those.

ERIC

You won’t believe it but this area here was where the swimming galas were held. This was our swimming pool, same for galas.

FRASER
So you swam in the sea? You didn’t have a proper swimming pool?

ERIC
No, never had a swimming pool.

FRASER

Did you not?

ERIC
No, never. It was cold going in to the water, but once you’re in...

FRASER
Was it fine?

ERIC

It was OK.

FRASER
But wasn’t it dirty the water, no?

ERIC

There’s all diesel and everything now here and a lot of flotsam going about here. There’s no respect now going into the sea.

FRASER

But it was clean then?

ERIC
Pollution and everything. I think it’s all wrong. The biggest thing about the gala was Mr Paterson jumping off the sheerlegs, that’s what you call them, positioned over there.

FRASER
What were the sheerlegs?

ERIC
Lifting mechanism with three legs, a crane lifted equipment from the boats onto the pier and vice versa.

FRASER

He jumped from that?

ERIC
That’s where the traction was. I see this man jump from there.

You wouldn’t like to live here, would you? Get off my line!

FRASER
Sorry. I don’t think I could do it. See if I was born in Fraserburgh and that’s what I was used to, I’d be able to do it. But I’m used to living in Glasgow where I have loads of friends and...

ERIC
Noise.

FRASER

Noise.

ERIC
Artificial noise, not natural noises.

FRASER
When I go anywhere quiet, I can’t sleep.

ERIC
No?

FRASER
Because I’m so used to background noise, I can’t sleep.

ERIC
Got one!

FRASER
All through your life, there’s been one constant thing. Fish.

ERIC
Fish and the sea.

END