b'My two grandfathersFrank Sparrowactually fought in World War One, and so were both too old for combat in the Second World War. Frank Sparrow was my However, I have often heardgreat-uncle. He was my dad recall how as aborn in Bordesley Green young child he could seein 1909. As an infant, the sky lit up as Germanhis family moved to the bombers rained down theirneighbouring area of ordnance on the ClydesideYardley. From a young shipbuilding areas of Glasgow nearage Frank had a passion where he was brought up in thedropped nearby, and they werefor football and was a town of Motherwell. Obviously, thisgenerally half buried in the groundvery successful youth was an area to be targeted by thewith earth heaped on top. Thereplayer. In 1924, aged German bombers, because theyare even some Anderson shelters14, he was described wanted to restrict and limit thestill standing in parts of the countryin the Birmingham Daily production of ships on the Clydetoday. Gazette as a wonder after scoring 167 goals in which would then contribute to theOne story which may interestleague and cup matches for Church Road Council Royal Navys forces fighting theyounger readers is that in the 1970sSchool, South Yardley. He was selected to play German U-boats in the Atlantic.when I attended a Catholic boysfor England against Scotland in the Schoolboys I dont think that he was scared,grammar school in Bolton, one ofInternational at Burnley in the same year. He stated but probably just looked in awe asmy teachers told us one day aboutthat his only ambition was to represent England in the sky was lit up by the explodinghis wartime experiences. I cansenior international football. In 1928, he was playing bombs raining down on theremember very clearly, as he wasfor Walsall who were in the Third Division (South). shipyards. a young soldier in the British ArmyAlas, his football career petered out a few years near the end of the war. He was onelater and he found himself working for Birmingham As a young child, I can stillof the soldiers who first discoveredCorporation (what we would now call Birmingham remember Anderson sheltersthe concentration camps where sixCity Council). In 1932 he married and moved to which were installed in gardensmillion Jewish people were killed.Pretoria Road, Bordesley Green where he was living around the country to giveHe had been so moved by what heuntil September 1940 when he joined the military to rudimentary protection to peoplehad seen that it made him changesupport the war effort.when bombs dropped. There washis life completely, and he actuallyAfter a series of assessments, Frank was accepted one remaining in my grandparentsbecame a Catholic priest for theinto the 591 Squadron (Antrim) Royal Engineers. This garden. When a siren was heardrest of his life. I can still recall himsquadron was later converted into the parachute warning of an impending bombingshudder as he remembered someand gliderborne engineers and Frank was required to raid, people would hurry to thethe aftermath of the horrors of thecomplete further assessments to remain with them. Anderson shelters while the raidcamps. He completed jump training and he became one of took place. They were designed tothe British armys first paratroopers in the Second give some protection in case bombsMr Conway World War. Over the next few years, Frank and his comrades participated in a range of surgical pre-invasion attacks on German infrastructure.At the end of 1944 and into 1945, Frank was involved in an offensive known as the Battle of the Bulge. On 24th March 1945, Franks glider was shot down close to the river Rhine in Hamminkeln. He did not survive. Shortly afterwards he was buried in a shallow grave nearby. His body was later removed to Reichwald Forest War Graves Cemetery near Kleve.Though Frank lived a relatively short life of just 35 years, he managed to achieve a great deal and left a legacy of accomplishment for his family that many dont achieve in their entire lives. We are very grateful for his ultimate sacrifice, My grandfather was an engineer with 280 Company in the Royalalong with millions Indian Engineers before the partition of India and Pakistan. of others, for their country. This sacrifice He would often tell me stories when I was a child and I was alwayskept his loved ones intrigued with army life. safe at the time, and He was sent into war with British troops to Burma (a British colony at thecontinues to allow us time) when the Japanese invaded in December 1941. I would often touchthe freedoms we still the scar on his left arm from a bullet wound he suffered during a gun fight.enjoy today.This would always get me thinking that if the bullet had been a little bitMr Wardmore to the right I wouldnt even be here!Mr Alishah27'