"The Tower" by Keith Dyon

It was the first of April 1944. I had just been posted to Blackpool from Thornaby on the East Coast. So I was sent from east to west coast, but that isn't a great distance in Old England.
Soon we were to learn that we were being outfitted for somewhere in the tropics. We were given a tropical kit, yellow fever inoculations, & various other needles. I recall where most of our indoctrination took place ~ a former Woolworth store taken over by the R.A.F.
Blackpool was a holiday city for midland people and was situated on the west coast. It was a city of hotels, movie houses, dance halls, amusement rides, & hostels, etc. One of Blackpool's noted structures was its famous tower on the sea front. I slept one night in that tower.
We were actually billeted in private homes and we had to be in by 11 o'clock or we were locked out for the night. One evening another chap and myself met with this fate. We sat on the step for awhile but it's pretty cool in Blackpool in April so, after chilling for awhile, we struck off down town to see if we could find a place to stay.
We went to the old "Sally Ann" but they were filled to over-flowing. We tried the Y.M.C.A. but they were also full. We headed for the the Police Station as a last resort when we met a "Bobby" on the street. We told him our predicament but he didn't think we would have much luck at the station either. He did however tell us to go to the one side of the tower, and when we encounter a dim light on the sidewalk, that there was a door right nearby. That door led to the night watchman's office. He said there would be a couple of older fellows in there and to slip them a couple of "bob" apiece and they will give us a place to stay the night.
He was right. I think they had a thing going including the policeman. Anyway, one of these fellows took a flash light and said to follow him. He first took us to the washroom as he said we would have to stay where he was taking us until 6 in the morning when he would come and rouse us. He also said that we had to get out before the important blokes arrived. We followed him and he took us in the lift up two or three floors to an observation deck. This was a floor of setees around the tower where you could sit in the daytime and look out to sea or over the city. It was dark but there were guys on a lot of the seats. He did however find two more for us. There we were in all out blackness for the night. The main floor of this tower contained pubs, shops, and the like, but a floor either above or below was a menagerie and all night long animals kept roaring. Having a few pints earlier though, we managed to sleep very well.
At 6 a.m. this old boy came with his torch and led us back down and out of the tower. We then went across to the nearby Winter Gardens and had some breakfast. And that was our highlight while in the fun town of Blackpool, England during the spring of 1944.