Aged 88 years old when interviewed in 2001, Mr Layzell's memory of that evening at Wilkinson's remained crystal clear. It is an evening he naturally cannot forget. He was first at the scene with Inspector Joseph Stuart.
Based at the Police Box on Washington Terrace (about 500 yards from Wilkinson's), Mr Layzell and Inspector Joseph Stuart had set out on patrol. Walking up Tynemouth Road, Mr Layzell heard the plane and moments later the bomb hit.
Reaching the scene, he remembers:
"It was completely still, silent. There was a mist. We were first at the scene and I knew immediately that many people had been killed in the Shelter. The ARP people came very quickly. I was detailed to check on the surrounding houses. The ARP worked through the night trying to rescue survivors. Many of the men were traumatised by what they saw and were off work for weeks."
Mr Layzell knew Robert Westall's father who was an ARP warden at the time.
The Duties of Special Constables
Special constables were recruited in the years before the War. Only those with clean records and good physique could become one. When war was declared the Specials took over many of the tasks of those policeman who were called up into the various services.
Many of these officers also worked in exempt occupations (eg doctors, vital industry workers) and performed their duties after a day's work.
The job of the special constable was not only to keep order. In serious air raids the special constable organised parties of bombed out people and led them away from the danger zone as quickly as possible. Another job was to inspect the black-out and see that no bright lights shone in streets or houses. Another duty was to report to a given point as soon as possible after the Alert siren. They then went round the streets having to return to the starting point every fifteen to twenty minutes, to report any incident that had ocurred in their patrol. People were ordered to take cover when shrapnel was flying and falling in the streets from our guns. Very few obeyed this order as they would sooner stand at street corners to see what was going on!
The special constable was also a reporting agent. if anything happened such as a bomb dropping or a fire, the special constable would report it so that help could be obtained as soon as possible.
information from 'Civil Defence': East Modern School, Blaydon: 1946
photos courtesy of Mr Layzell