Drew Cochrane on a remarkable Second World War coincidence

No, I jest as usual. Mind you, about three quarters of the way through my reminiscences, one of the gentlemen glazed over and collapsed (what do you mean, you're not surprised?).  My jokes weren't all that bad. I'm pleased to say the fellow seemed to have revived as I made my exit.

However, one of the familiar faces belonged to David Hendry, former owner of William Tyre funeral directors and, as we chatted, he related a remarkable coincidence that happened to him.

His late father, also named David, was a bus driver during the Second World War, taking the daily route from Largs to Glasgow in an SMT Leyland Cheetah half cab (pictured).

On the night of March 13, 1941 David senior was driving through Govan when he heard the distinct wail of the air raid siren. A warden flagged David down and instructed him to stop his bus outside a red sandstone tenement building in Govan Road.

However, he realised he was perilously close to the Stephen's shipbuilding yard, which was a target for the German bombers. His Largs conductress - the old style 'clippie' who issued the bus tickets - Marie Murray, bravely walked in front of the bus, guiding David and their passengers through the pitch black darkness to Linthouse.

On early shift the next morning, David and Marie set off once again from Largs, collecting and dropping off passengers for wartime work in such places as the Torpedo Factory at Battery Park, Gourock, the Royal Ordinance Factory, Bishopton and the shipyards on the Clyde.

As they reached Govan they were stunned and shocked at the mass destruction caused by the air raid bombing. Sure enough, a parachute landmine had targeted Stephen's yard, and the self same red sandstone tenement that had been told to park at the previous night. The bus could have been blown to smithereens.

A small cry was heard from the rubble, and it belonged to the sole survivor, a baby girl called Anne Duthie. She had been blown through a window on to the nearby tram lines.

By sheer coincidence, many decades later David junior, who was a church elder at St Columba's Parish Church, was putting out the hymn sheets when a lady approached him asking about Largs relatives. She wanted to visit the grave of her favourite uncle, Casey McArthur.

She explained that her mum, Rebecca McArthur, had been killed in the Govan Road bombing, and that she had been the sole survivor. She was that lucky baby. What saved her life was that her mum had carefully bound a mattress over the top of her cot, absorbing the worst of the blast.

David, who is a bit of an expert on the Second World War in Scotland, said that because of a lack of shelters, the MoD advised people to stay indoors, put children under beds, and cover cots. He should know, as he was a boy in the 40s and had pals who were evacuated to Largs from Glasgow.

Folk may faint during my talks, but there are fewer and fewer folk who lived through bombing and death...not for the faint hearted.

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Thought for the Week:  You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks.

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A speaker at a recent spiritualist service in Largs told us the uplifting true story of the little brother and sister.

Their mother gave birth very prematurely to her tiny daughter and, sadly, the medics did not hold out much hope for her survival.

However, the excited little brother wanted desperately to see the baby, and after many refusals - and the prospect of her death - they relented and kitted out the boy to enter the intensive care unit.

Looking at his sick sister, he put a finger through to her. She grabbed his finger. To everyone's amazement he started to sing 'You Are My Sunshine'.  Thereafter, he was allowed in again, and the same thing happened.

The baby prospered, was able to go home to the family where they now play together. He's teaching her to sing, 'You Are My Sunshine'.

So, never lose faith, never lose hope.