1941-02-04 — Page 29

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THE CHINA MAIL, FEBRUARY 4, 1941.

HEROINE

L

WILL BE HOMELESS

In a few days' time Gran-Mrs Selina Payne, sixty-four-year-old widow and a double heroine-wili be sufficiently recovered from her wounds to leave a war emergency hospital near London,

But she has nowhere to go. Shr has lost everything she possessed in an air raid..

Two months ago she crouched in an uncompleted Anderson shel- ter in the garden of a house in which she had a two-roomed flat in a south-east town.

With her a young mother nur- sed her baby.

Raider planes encled overheart,

bombs screamed down on the dis- trict.

her

TAFFY WAS A BARBER... CRIPPLED,

...TAFFY WAS RAID HERO

(By A Special Correspondent)

BUT DOING HIS BIT

Although crippled since the age of three with infantile paralysis, TAFFY DAVIES doesn't look like a hero, per-twenty - seven - year- old Henry James Ruddick, of Parkside haps because in his former profession he was a Avenue, Romford, Essex, was de- hair dresser before the war it pays to be self-termined to make some contribu effacing.

But mention his name to anyone in the London district where he lives, and no doubt wil be left in your mind that he's the real thing.

An A.F.S. man, Taffy John He tried to get to him by mov- Llewellyn Davies-was off dutying the fallen debris, but the heap one night when a heavy bomb ex-¦ of rubble began to cave in. ploded in his street, seriously į Even then he would have gone

But on.

"the other chaps damaging a number of houses.

Leaving his wife and two child-insisted on pulling me out," said "I was nearly all in and ren in the air-raid shelter,

Mr. Taffy. Davies rushed out and, not trou-had to let them." bling about the fact that his own He was given a glass of water, and a stretcher party got him back to his house. But he was out again within five minutes.

house had the roof off and

Suddenly the young mother's nerve cracked. Clutching baby, she tried to force her way windows broken, made for a raging about 100 yards away.

out into the open,

Gran barred her way. With desperate strength she threw the mother and baby down on

deck chair. to a

At that mo ment another bomb whined down. Gran threw herself on top of the other two, shielding them with her slight body.

"I Can Stand It”

The bomb struck their home. It crumbled into a heap of rubble.

And when they picked Gran up. she had been pierced by several bomb fragments. One splinter was her lung.

so weak

An operation was vital to savej her life, but Gran was that it was feared an anaesthetic! might kill her.

all

fire

As he ran down the street ai girl called to him, "Please get my Mum and Dad out!"

Dashing into the wreckage of a partly demolished house, Taffy managed to reach Mr. and Mrs. Firth and got them cicar.

He had only just done so when he heard shouts from the other side of the road, where a house had collapsed

see

Crawing into the debris. he forced his way to where he could a father, mother and three- year-old boy- Mr. and Mrs. Tay- lor and their son Ronnie lying) on beds unable to move,

With Bare Hands

"We Are Lucky"

where-

He helped to free three more people.

Then he went through the whole street checking up the abouts of all the residents in case any might be still beneath wrecked buldings.

the

Some people wrote to the town council expressing their admiration,

The Mayor called to thank Taffy. When Mrs. Churchill, the Premier's wife, visited the dis- trict a few days later, she asked to be introduced to the man all the people were talking about. Said the Mayor: "We are lucky to have such it

in chap

the

"Luckily the wreckage had be- borough come wedged, and, although they The doctors told her of their were held down, they were not fears. They told her that they would perform the delicate oper- ation with only a local anaesthetic if she was brave enough.

Gran just smiled. "Please do what you like." she whispered "I can stand it."

During the long operation Gran was fully awake. She talk. ed to the doctors, now and then she joked with them,

Her forutude and pluck brought her through.

And now Gen is ready to leave

the hospital

To where”

ARE

and

badly hurt," Mr. Davies told me,

"I dug my way through eventually got them out."

Actually, he hacked away with his fireman's axe and fought with bare hands to clear the debris. sufficiently to make વા tunnel through which he could crawl,

After working for an hour, later with the help of wardens. he got to the tapped family and pulled them out into the open air.

GIRL, 15,

tion to the war effort.

Since he has the use of only one