My name is Marguerite Ada Mavin. Having seen the website referring to the Wilkinson’s Factory Air Raid Shelter Disaster I would like to add what I know of the disaster and also to correct an entry which already exists on your Web site.
My mother’s name was exactly the same as mine: Marguerite Ada Mavin. She and my brother, James (Jimmy) and my sister Rosalie were in the shelter when it was bombed. I have found their mortuary records on the Web site. My mother is actually listed in the records as “Margaret� not “Marguerite� which was her correct name.
At the time of the air raid, I was in hospital having yet another operation, following a road accident which I had suffered approximately two years earlier. I was approximately seven and a half years old at the time of the disaster. My leg had been badly damaged in the accident and I had already been operated on several times before then. Had it not been for the accident, therefore, I would have been with my mother at the time of the air raid. I do remember being in the air raid shelter before this incident, when I was still living at home. I remember this especially because it was a very dramatic incident. As it was pitch black, my mother was having difficulty in coping with myself, my brother and the baby in a pram and was calling for help. A policeman helped us all to the air raid shelter.
My father was in the army and was based in Newcastle at the time of the fatal air raid. All leave had been cancelled the weekend of the air raid. I discovered afterwards that the telegram from him, telling my mother that his leave had been cancelled, was actually still on the table at home after the accident, even though the front of the house had been demolished. We lived in Church Street, but I cannot recall the number.
It was many months afterwards that my aunt, Millie Moore, took me home from hospital and told me what had happened. I lived with my aunt for a short time after this until my father was given leave to look after me. Clearly this could not last long as it was necessary for him to return to the army. I then lived with my aunt Dolly for a short time before going back into hospital. After this I was sent to live at a Children’s Home in Earsden until dad left the army. I was twelve years old by this time.
Finally, I would like to correct the mistake which appears on the Web site. At the moment it states the following:
“Millie Moore
Mrs Millie Moore lost her father's brother, wife and children: the Mavins. Mrs Moore identified the bodies.�
As is clear from the facts I have given above, this is not the case. It was actually Millie Moore’s sister in law and her children who died. Millie Moore was my father’s sister. Mrs. Moore’s father and uncle were both killed in the First World War at Ypres. Sadly, Millie Moore herself died just over two years ago at the age of 92. I had kept in touch with her and her sons since leaving North Shields in 1953. I now live in Leicester.