Friday, March 6, 2015

Paterson air raid shelter a piece of history

From the Maitland Mercury report:
In 1941, Paterson man Bill Ingram built an air raid shelter to protect the town's public school students.
Originally, the bunker was for everyone in the area to shelter from the threat of Japanese bombs during World War II, but the major concern was for the safety of school children.
The original school building in Church Street backed onto the main northern railway line which also runs through the town of Paterson.
It was a real and terrifying threat in war time that the railway line and bridge in the centre of town would be targeted.
The children would march across the road to practice getting inside the shelter for 20 minutes, once a week.

Full article available at Maitland Mercury, Feb. 26, 2015.