Fred Witchell -  life before and after the war.

The earliest photo of Fred, seen here at the age of one sitting on his mother Rose's knee.

Fred's father Harry is standing at the rear with sister Joan Elizabeth. Sister Phyllis Irene is sitting at the front. This photo was taken sometime during late 1923.

                                A superb photograph of Fred's father Harry Witchell.   

Fred was born on 22 October 1922 to parents Harry and Rose Witchell, who were already

parents to his older sisters Phyllis Irene and Joan Elizabeth. His father was no stranger to conflict, for he had fought alongside countless others on the battlefields of WW1 as an officer in the 11th Hussars.

Fred spent most of his early life living at 30, Taunton Road, Wallasey, The Wirral, Cheshire.

The following  are Fred's own words.

'I first started to walk out with Edna when I was only 12 years old. She lived with her auntie and uncle just across the road from us at number 33 Taunton Rd. Edna's mother had died soon after she had  been born. 

We used to go to the pictures in Wallasey on Saturday afternoons and when my parents 

and Edna's guardians allowed, we would walk around together in the evenings. Edna took up piano lessons which meant that on some evenings I had to wait around for her while she practiced, all in the hope that it wouldn't be to late to go for a walk. I got to know Edna's family really well and spent a lot of time with them.

It was about a year before the outbreak of the war that Edna started to take a keen interest in dancing. It was an interest that I didn't share with Edna, for my interests were football, cycling and sport in general. During this time, Edna met a lad called Bill, and she began to regularly go dancing with him. Eventually Edna and Bill started to go out together, I  was heartbroken of course.

Soon after the war began, Bill was called up and went into the RAF, his posting was to South Africa. I eventually joined the RAF myself and after training, was posted to Holme on Spalding Moor.

On the few occasions that I was off duty in the evenings, I would write home to my parents in 

Nantwich, Cheshire. After a time, I started to wonder about Edna, did she still live in Wallasey and how was she? I wrote her a letter in the hope that she would  receive it. Weeks went by with no reply, but I  waited  patiently, eventually I received a letter from Edna. 

She wrote that she was well and enjoying her life in spite of the war and that she would be pleased see me on my next leave. My leave duly arrived and I could not wait to get to Wallasey to see her.

When I eventually arrived, Edna's family greeted me with open arms. I remember thinking how well she looked and that she was as pretty as ever. During the course of the evening, Edna appeared to get quite agitated and disappeared into the kitchen to help with the dinner. Her uncle took this opportunity to tell me the reason for Edna's distress, for she had only that morning, received a letter from Bill saying that their relationship was off  because he had met someone else in South Africa. 

 I was secretly glad for myself, but sad for Edna who was obviously distressed by the news.

From that night onwards, my relationship with Edna began again. I was to spend the rest of the war knowing that Edna was waiting for me at home.

We married just after the war and set up home in a bungalow at Ormskirk, 9 miles north east of  Liverpool. I went back to work for the Automatic Telephone Company in Liverpool who were  obliged to offer my pre war job back to me on discharge from the RAF in November 1946, a job which I came to hate. I persuaded my father to let us move into his large house with him in Nantwich, where I started to work for myself as, would you believe it, a pig breeder. This didn't please my father, but I continued for 3 to 4 years and I had over 200 pigs.

The time then came for my father to retire which meant that the house was to large for us to 

maintain. By this time we also had our young daughter Diana to consider.

I gave up pig breeding and went into the world of insurance. We would move over the coming

years to Crewe and then to Nantwich to be wherever my work took us.

It was during 1982 that  Edna passed away. 

I decided to move after had Edna passed away and bought the house Long Lane, Harriseahead,  North Staffordshire where I still live today.'

We would like to thank Fred for sharing his memories and allow  us show his photo collection .