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List of those who served with the Home Guard during the Second World War.
- Cecil Adams. Feltwell Btn.
- Sgt.Mjr, Thomas Alton. Durham 18th (West Hartlepool) Battalion, Elwick Platoon
- Warren Back. Feltwell Btn.
- L/Cpl. J. Bacon. Workington Btn. Signal Sect. Read their Story.
- Alec Banham. Feltwell Btn.
- Sgt. A. Banks. Workington Btn. Signal Sect. Read their Story.
- Flt.Sgt. Joseph Thomas "Jock" Barclay. 466 Squadron Read their Story.
- Reginald William Barks. Read their Story.
- S/Sgt. Nowell Royson Rex Bashford. Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers 71st Line of Communication Workshops 2/1 (NY) KAR Read their Story.
- William Battle. 58th Battalion, Surrey Regiment (d.18th August 1940) Read their Story.
- George Baxter. Feltwell Btn.
- Lt. T. Bell. Workington Btn. C Coy. Read their Story.
- Capt. John Pugh Benson. Home Guard 12th Cheshire (Macclesfield) Battalion Read their Story.
- Sgt. Stanley Zealley Bird. Home Guard 6th Ox & Bucks Btn. Read their Story.
- CQMS. James Birkett. 4th Wiltshire (Trowbridge) Btn. (d.1st Jun 1942) Read their Story.
- Pte Thomas William Birtle. Durham 19th (Stockton on Tees) Battalion, Thorpe Thewles Platoon Read their Story.
- Sgt. Thomas Wybert Birtle. Durham 19th (Stockton on Tees) Battalion Read their Story.
- Pte. H. Boswell. Workington Btn. Signal Sect. Read their Story.
- Thomas Bradley. (d.23rd February 1944) Read their Story.
- John Brinsmead. Rifle Brigade Read their Story.
- Walter Brown. Feltwell Btn.
- George Burton. 3rd. C.O.L. Battn. Read their Story.
- Pte. A. Byers. Workington Btn. Signal Sect. Read their Story.
- Sid Carpenter. Feltwell Btn.
- 2nd Lt. W. R. G. Carter. Workington Btn. C Coy. Read their Story.
- Capt. A. J. Caterer. Workington Btn. E Coy. Read their Story.
- 2nd Lt. S. Caux. Workington Btn. C Coy. Read their Story.
- Pte. Walter Jack Champion. Dorsetshire Regiment 5th Btn. Read their Story.
- Tpr. Arthur Gerald Chester. North Irish Horse Read their Story.
- Mjr. J. G. Chicken. Workington Btn. D Coy. Read their Story.
- Capt. A. E. Church. Workington Btn. C Coy. Read their Story.
- Cpl. W. Cockton. Workington Btn. Signal Sect. Read their Story.
- Sgt. Joseph Colgrave. DCM, MID. 4th Berkshire Battalion Read their Story.
- Trpr. Frank Cooke. King's Dragoon Guards 1st Btn., 2nd Troop Read their Story.
- Alan Cooper. Feltwell Btn.
- Pte. T. H. Cowan. Workington Btn. Signal Sect. Read their Story.
- Pte. W. Coyle. Workington Btn. A Coy. Read their Story.
- lt. Crellin. Workington Btn. D Coy. Read their Story.
- George Crichton. Windsor Btn.
- William Frederick Crosson. Windsor Btn.
- Lt. Ambrose Henry Thomas Crowson. 3rd Warwickshire (Nuneaton) Btn. Read their Story.
- Lt. L. L. Cunningham. Workington Btn. B Coy. Read their Story.
- Frank Curtis. Feltwell Btn.
- Sgt. Alec Edwin Davies. Highland Light Infantry 6th Btn. Read their Story.
- Thomas Dawson. 11th (West Newcastle) Battalion, Northumberland
- William Frederick Dear.
- lt. F. Dempster. Workington Btn. D Coy. Read their Story.
- Arthur Dennington. Feltwell Btn.
- Pte. Clayton Henry Watkin Dight. Middlesex Regiment Heston Home Guard Read their Story.
- Col. T. Dix-Perkin. Workington Btn. Read their Story.
- lt. Dixon. Workington Btn. D Coy. Read their Story.
- Lt. J. Doggart. Workington Btn. B Coy. Read their Story.
- Mjr. C. A. Donnithorne. DCM. Workington Btn. B Coy. Read their Story.
- CQMS. Miles Dracup. Home Guard Read their Story.
- Pte. William Dryden. Greatham Btn. Read their Story.
- Lt. W. Edgar. Workington Btn. A Coy. Read their Story.
- Pte. J. Edwards. Workington Btn. Signal Sect. Read their Story.
- Gnr. William Edwards. Workington Btn. E Coy. LAA Bty. Read their Story.
- William Henry Edwards. MM. Read their Story.
- Capt. W. G. Elliot. Workington Btn. A Coy. Read their Story.
- William Eyres. Feltwell Btn.
- Pte. Horace Chadwick Fairclough. MM. Read their Story.
- Lt J. Ferguson. Workington Btn. C Coy. Read their Story.
- Lt. J. S. Ferguson. Workington Btn. B Coy. Read their Story.
- Pte. Thomas Fisher. Durham Light Infantry Home Guard 23rd Btn.
- Pte. R. Fishwick. Workington Btn. Signal Sect. Read their Story.
- Charles Fletcher. Feltwell Btn.
- Len Fletcher. Feltwell Btn.
- Lt. T. Fletcher. Workington Btn. Signal Sect. Read their Story.
- George Nicholas Fondos. Home Guard Read their Story.
- George Nicholas Fondos. 7th Durham (Jarrow) Btn (d.10th Apr 1941) Read their Story.
- Mervyn Gardiner. Durham 23rd (Washington) Battalion
- Jack Garner. Feltwell Btn.
- L/Cpl. James Gill. Durham 23rd (Washington) Battalion Read their Story.
- Russ Godwin. Royal Engineers Read their Story.
- Sgt. Mjr. George Goss. 562nd Coast-Regiment 406th Coast-Battery Read their Story.
- Thomas James Graves. Wiltshire Home Guard Read their Story.
- Capt. F. Gregory. Workington Btn. Signal Sect. Read their Story.
- Joseph Edward Grime . ARP (d.3rd August 1944) Read their Story.
- Joe Grindale. Sketon Btn.
- Lance Sgt. Alfred Hall. 562nd Coast-Regiment 406th Coast-Battery Read their Story.
- Lt. N. Hambler. Workington Btn. B Coy. Read their Story.
- Mjr. Patrick J. Hammond. Workington Btn. E Coy.
- Drmr. Robert Alphonsus Hannan. Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers 2nd Battalion Read their Story.
- Lt. H. Harper. Workington Btn. B Coy. Read their Story.
- Lt. R. W. Harrison. Workington Btn. A Coy. Read their Story.
- William Harvey. Feltwell Btn.
- Mjr. K. W. Hawker. 4th Billingshurst Btn.
- Robert Haylett. MC & Bar Read their Story.
- Gnr. Tom Hetherington. 562nd Coast-Regiment 406th Coast-Battery Read their Story.
- Lt. G. Heyworth. Workington Btn. B Coy. Read their Story.
- Hicks. Feltwell Btn.
- Pte. Henry Alfred "Harry" Hodgson. Read their Story.
- Mjr. M. S. Hodgson. Workington Btn. C Coy. Read their Story.
- Alfred Joseph "Dutch" Holland. Read their Story.
- Lt. J. Houghton. Workington Btn. C Coy. Read their Story.
- Pte. Dennis James Houston. Royal Berkshire Regiment 2nd Btn. Read their Story.
- Stephen Howlett. Feltwell Btn.
- Sgt. H. Hubert Bayliff. 562nd Coast-Regiment 406th Coast-Battery Read their Story.
- Lt John William Hulme. Read their Story.
- Pte. J. Hunter. Workington Btn. Signal Sect. Read their Story.
- Cpl. Ned Hunter. Workington Btn. A Coy. Read their Story.
- Capt. Irving. Workington Btn. D Coy. Read their Story.
- Edwin Irving. Sketon Btn.
- Mjr. L. R. G. Jenkins. MC. Workington Btn. A Coy. Read their Story.
- Henry Johnson. Feltwell Btn.
- William Johnston. Read their Story.
- Sgt. William Alexander Kay. RAOC Read their Story.
- George Frederick Keen. Read their Story.
- Ernest King. Feltwell Btn.
- Lt. G. Kirkbride. Workington Btn. D Coy. Read their Story.
- 2nd Lt. Tom Lacey. MID Royal Horse Artillery 12th Regiment HAC Read their Story.
- Cpl William Lake. MiD. Royal Signals 102 HQ Sub Area Beach Signals Read their Story.
- Ken Lambert. Feltwell Btn.
- William Land. Feltwell Btn.
- Roy James Earnest Lang. HMS Europa Read their Story.
- Lt. W. L. Laurie. Workington Btn. B Coy. Read their Story.
- Gnr. R. G. Lawson. 562nd Coast-Regiment 406th Coast-Battery Read their Story.
- George Henry Leach. Read their Story.
- Kenneth Lemon. Feltwell Btn.
- Percy Lemon. Feltwell Btn.
- William Lewins. Durham 23rd (Washington) Battalion
- Lt. J. E. Little. Workington Btn. B Coy. Read their Story.
- Tommy Llewellyn. Feltwell Btn.
- Corporal William Patrick Logie-Robertson.
- Abe MacInroy. Durham 23rd (Washington) Battalion Read their Story.
- Charles MacInroy. Durham 23rd (Washington) Battalion Read their Story.
- Frederick Thomas March. Read their Story.
- Harry Marriner. Durham 23rd (Washington) Battalion
- Sgt. John William Marshall. MM. West Yorkshire 1st (Bradford) Battalion Read their Story.
- Pte. James McEwan. MM. Home Guard Read their Story.
- Bernard McIver. Staffordshire Regiment 18th Btn. Read their Story.
- Capt. T. G. McKeating. Workington Btn. D Coy. Read their Story.
- Lt. W. McKeating. Workington Btn. D Coy. Read their Story.
- Pte. A. McMullen. Workington Btn. Signal Sect. Read their Story.
- Pte. R. McNarry. Workington Btn. Signal Sect. Read their Story.
- T. Mitchell. Black Watch Read their Story.
- Capt. J. Moffatt. Workington Btn. A Coy. Read their Story.
- John Moor. Durham 18th (West Hartlepool) Battalion Read their Story.
- Henry Grosvenor "Alec" Moorcroft. Read their Story.
- Mervyn Morley. Feltwell Btn.
- Lt. J. Mounsey. Workington Btn. Signal Sect. Read their Story.
- Gnr. Will Muscott. 562nd Coast-Regiment 406th Coast-Battery Read their Story.
- Pte. B. Needham. Workington Btn. Signal Sect. Read their Story.
- Pte. H. G. Neill. Workington Btn. C Coy. Read their Story.
- Capt. S. Ogilvie. Workington Btn. B Coy. Read their Story.
- Jack Orange. Feltwell Btn.
- Able Sea. Raymond Arthur Osborn. HMS Howe Read their Story.
- Lt. T. Ousby. Workington Btn. C Coy. Read their Story.
- Pte. R. Park. Workington Btn. A Coy. Read their Story.
- William Arthur Parkes. South Lancashire Home Guard Read their Story.
- Sid Payne. Feltwell Btn. Read their Story.
- Thomas Peacock. 11th (West Newcastle) Battalion, Northumberland Westerhope Platoon
- PO. John Charles Leonard Poe. Fleet Air Arm 774 Squadron Read their Story.
- Fred Price. Durham 23rd (Washington) Battalion
- Cpl. S. Price. Workington Btn. Signal Sect. Read their Story.
- Sgt. Ronald George Frederick Prowse. 158 Squadron Read their Story.
- Maurice Pryer. Feltwell Btn.
- Geoffrey Pylon. Feltwell Btn.
- Pte S. Ray. Workington Btn. Signal Sect. Read their Story.
- Herbert Reeve. Feltwell Btn.
- Col. Reid. Windsor Btn.
- Frederick Richardson. GM. Read their Story.
- Hardy Robert. Durham 23rd (Washington) Battalion
- Sgt. Francis John Roberts. Devonshire Home Guard 5th (St. Austell) Btn. Read their Story.
- Major. Lewis Arnold Philip Roots. D.C.M. 28th Kent (1st Southern Railway) Battalion Read their Story.
- Mjr. Rose. QC. 3rd. C.O.L. Battn.
- Rothery. Henfield Btn. Read their Story.
- Harry Ruddock. 6 & 7 platoons Merrow and the Downs 4th Guildford Battalion, Surrey Read their Story.
- Pte. Kenneth Maurice Ruddock. Royal Norfolk Regiment 1st Btn. A Coy. Read their Story.
- Edgar Harry Rutterford. Feltwell Btn. Cook Read their Story.
- Sid Ryan. Feltwell Btn.
- Sandbash. Woodmancote Btn. Read their Story.
- Pte R. Simpson. Workington Btn. Signal Sect. Read their Story.
- Lt. E. Small. Workington Btn. D Coy. Read their Story.
- Lt. H. Smith. Workington Btn. B Coy. Read their Story.
- Raymond South. Windsor Btn. Read their Story.
- Jack Southgate. Feltwell Btn.
- Les Spencer. Feltwell Btn.
- Jonty Stalker. Sketon Btn. Read their Story.
- Lt. R. Stevenson. Workington Btn. B Coy. Read their Story.
- Phillip Steward. Feltwell Btn.
- Ernest Stoker. 11th (West Newcastle) Battalion, Northumberland
- F. J. Swan. 3rd (West Leicester) Battalion No 1 platoon Read their Story.
- Pte. Jack Taylor. Durham 11th (Durham) Battalion Read their Story.
- Edmund Thomas. MM. Read their Story.
- Albert Tombling. Read their Story.
- Pte. James Tough. Home Guard Read their Story.
- Sgt. Sidney Twigg. Home Guard Read their Story.
- Lt. E. W. Usher. DCM. MM. Workington Btn. C Coy. Read their Story.
- Billy Vale. Feltwell Btn.
- Brian Campbell Vickery. Royal Ordnance Factory 37 Chemist Read their Story.
- Ernie Vine. Feltwell Btn.
- Stan Walker. Feltwell Btn.
- Wilfred Wash. Feltwell Btn.
- Pte J. Watchorne. Workington Btn. Signal Sect. Read their Story.
- Sgt. Lionel Joseph "Whacker" Watkins. 5th Gloucestershire Battalion Read their Story.
- Charles Watson. Durham 18th (West Hartlepool) Battalion Read their Story.
- Norman Watson. Durham 23rd (Washington) Battalion
- Pte. John Joseph Henry "Topper" White. Home Guard Read their Story.
- Bert Wilkinson. Durham 8th (South Shields) Battalion
- Jack Wilkinson. Durham 23rd (Washington) Battalion Read their Story.
- Mjr. Tommy Wilkinson. Sketon Btn.
- Bdr. Ernie Wilson. 562nd Coast-Regiment 406th Coast-Battery Read their Story.
- Douglas Wing. Feltwell Btn.
- Jack Wing. Feltwell Btn.
- Dan Wortley. Feltwell Btn.
- Charlie Wright. Feltwell Btn.
- Ken Wright. Feltwell Btn.
- Raymond Wright. Feltwell Btn.
- Cpl. Ernest Wylie. Durham Light Infantry Read their Story.
- Thomas Young. Durham Light Infantry 13th Battalion Read their Story.
Records of the Home Guard from other sources.
If you have any names to add to this list, or any recollections or photos of those listed, please get in touch.
Col. T. Dix-Perkin Workington Btn.
Col Dix-Perkin was the Sub-District Commander of the Home Guard in Workington, Cumbria
Pte. William Dryden Greatham Btn.
My great uncle, William Dryden was farmer from Greatham in County Durham. He was a member of the Home Guard and an Auxiliary Unit which formed part of the ring around industrial Teesside. If anyone has any further information please get in touch.
Angela
Brian Campbell Vickery Chemist Royal Ordnance Factory 37
Making explosives
I was in the middle of studying at Oxford University for a degree in chemistry when World War 2 was declared. Oxford became crowded, as the government moved several civil service departments there. Our only direct contact with military matters was watching for firebombs at night on the roofs of laboratories (in fact, Oxford was never bombed). Just before my final exams in 1940, there came the evacuation of our army from Dunkirk, and for some reason troops of exhausted rescued soldiers came tramping through Oxford on their way to camp. Preoccupied by these glimpses of reality, there is little wonder that my exam results were poor!
In the summer of 1941 I finished my research year, and received an official letter: report to the Royal Ordnance Factory 37 near Bridgwater, Somerset, to work there as a 'plant chemist'. The factory was in the countryside, a few miles outside the town. It was just starting up, to make two explosives, tetryl and RDX. I had never been in a factory before, let alone an explosives factory, and the same was true of 95 percent or more of the staff, many drawn from the towns and villages of Somerset. Only a few senior chemists and foremen had any experience. RDX was a new chemical, designed by a government laboratory, and had never been made on an industrial scale. So we all had everything to learn. I was assigned to the RDX plant. On arrival, I was told to put on overalls. 'Have you ever seen an industrial pump?', I was asked. 'No'. 'So here is a spanner, here is a pump, take it to pieces and see how it works'. My first lesson in industrial chemistry.
The factory made explosives 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, throughout the rest of the war (bar a few grand shutdowns for major maintenance). So there were three shifts of work each day. Apart from the two explosives plants, there were others making acids and other ingredients. Altogether there were employed about 50 plant chemists, a similar number of foremen, and the total workforce approached 3000. Between 1941 and 1945, about 20,000 tonnes of RDX were produced. In a chemical factory, it is the chemicals that do the main work, by interacting between themselves to make new ones. The people have the job of lugging the chemicals from one place to another, putting the right ones together in the right quantities, and watching thermometers and other indicators to see that the process is not getting out of control - a boring but vital job. Because RDX was so new, there was much not known about it, so the factory also had its own laboratory with another substantial group of chemists exploring its behaviour and checking on its quality.
What does a 'plant chemist' do? While the foreman allocates workers to jobs and supervises the work, the chemist is there to see that technically things are going as they should, and to give technical instructions on what to do when they aren't. We had many an emergency to cope with. Once on my shift, the temperature of a reaction vessel started to climb. We increased the flow of cooling water, brought in extra hoses, even stopped the inflow of chemicals into the vessel - all to no effect. The temperature went on climbing. I felt in my guts that something nasty was going to happen, so I got everybody out of the reaction room. The liquid in the vessel boiled, and scalding hot acid was spewed and sprayed about the room. Thank god no-one was caught by it.
RDX itself was a very safe chemical, a white powder. You could hammer it, even burn it without danger of explosion. The big problem for us was the very strong acid used to make it - the liquid acid itself, or even its fumes. From time to time acid tanks were emptied, and we would go inside them to clean them - and often come out gasping and choking from the fumes. We ate, in the middle of each shift, in a works canteen. Changing shifts and meal times each week, on canteen food, was not very good for the stomach. Every so often I was employed on a 'yield' test. This involved supervising the measurement of the input of all chemicals, and the output of explosive, over a period of 24 hours - working three shifts in a row. The worst feature of this exercise, apart from the lack of sleep, was eating the same canteen meal three times in a day!
From the raw RDX explosive we made two products. If you mixed RDX and TNT together, heated and stirred them, you got a toffee-like material. This was broken up into slabs and shipped out to shell-filling factories. There it could be remelted and poured into shells - they became the 'blockbuster' bombs used by the RAF. On the other hand, if you mixed RDX with the right sort of oil, you got a product like plasticine. This became the famous plastic explosive now known as Semtex, used not only by the Resistance in France but by many a terrorist since.
The manufacture of this plastic explosive gives an interesting picture of the realities of chemical production at that time. The oil was made from three materials: 'mineral jelly' (a petroleum byproduct), chunky sheets of crepe rubber, and slabs of beeswax (the product, we were told, of large African bees). These last two were chopped into small pieces, and heated together in a vat with the jelly and a little lecithin (a vegetable protein). They were rendered down into an oil, and heating was continued until the oil was 'the right viscosity' (stickiness). Viscosity was tested by taking a small sample of the oil on a dipstick, and touching a plate with this to see if it seemed 'sticky enough'. A batch of freshly made RDX was stirred into a large container with water, and heated. A dose of oil was poured in. If you were lucky, granules of RDX coated with the oil were formed, and these could be filtered off through a tap at the bottom of the container. If out of luck, the oil and RDX formed a single glutinous mass that had to be dug out. Oily granules were next loaded into water-jacketed vessels, heated and stirred – the vessels were in fact dough-mixers used in bread-making. Then the 'dough' was forced through heavy rollers. This was continued until the plastic was 'the right plasticity'. Plasticity was measured by taking a sample, cooling it, rolling it into a small sausage, and trying to stretch the sausage to see how quickly it broke. Unusable plastic was too crumbly, and broke too quickly.
At one time, we were getting too many unusable batches of plastic. For each batch of RDX, the works laboratory routinely made an analysis of the distribution of particle sizes. We had the idea that particle size might affect plasticity, and I looked back over our production records to seek some correlation. At first, no success, but then I speculated that the very large particles in a batch of RDX might be aggregates of small particles, that would break down during plastic production, so in the analysis we should add them to the count of small particles. This was successful – poor plasticity seemed to be correlated with an excess of small particles as now counted. We set a threshold value, and in future used for plastic explosive only RDX batches with the amended small-particle content below that threshold (other batches went into RDX-TNT toffee). Now most batches of plastic proved to be usable.
As well as the danger from acid, there were always mechanical accidents, and I was the victim of one. A process in making Semtex was to squeeze the plastic between big spring-loaded rollers. One day a fitter and myself were cleaning the rollers. The start button was on the other side of the machine, and he went round to switch the rollers on to test them. 'Are you clear?' he called. 'Yes', I replied, but I reached to pull out my cleaning rag. The rollers sucked in the rag and me, and took off the top of a thumb - luckily not the whole hand.
I went to Bridgwater hospital. Most of the regular staff had been drafted into military service, and those who remained were not the best. Because of inadequate antiseptics, a swelling crept up my arm, and the nurses desperately put the arm into a heated box to drive out the infection - happily successfully. One night the head (or perhaps only?) surgeon and the matron got drunk together, and at midnight decided to 'do the rounds', waking up the whole hospital.
Apart from working on the plants, men in the factory served in a unit of the Home Guard - and Dad's Army was not too far from the truth. German aircraft did not come near Bridgwater, let alone German troops, so our activities were mainly training for the action that never came, and sleepless nights guarding local bridges. We had one significant engagement. We were training with dummy mortars (no explosive) outside the factory. A shell was accidentally launched towards the factory, sailed in, hit and smashed the main steam-line, and closed down the whole works.
Working daily together on our RDX plant for four years led to close friendships - even though we scattered after the war and few of these friendships were maintained. One man I greatly admired was our senior plant foreman, Geordie Perkins. He was indeed a 'Geordie'. As a youth he had followed his dad into the Durham coal mines, but he soon had enough of it. If he left, it would put his father in a bad light. So they staged a fist-fight in the mine, Geordie shouting that he wanted out, his dad shouting that he would make him stay. The mine superintendent was so disgusted that he sacked Geordie on the spot. For some years he drifted doing navvy work on the roads, but eventually - because he was a very capable organiser - got more responsible work.
I lived in digs in Bridgwater at first, and came into contact with an amateur dramatics group. We had a lot of fun putting on plays for the local populace - probably more fun than the audiences had. In 1944 it was the centenary of the Cooperative movement (started at Rochdale a hundred years before). A playwight wrote a pageant, telling the history of the movement over the century, and every local cooperative society was encouraged to stage it. Printed copies of the play were provided, together with a 'production manual', and gramophone records of music and songs to be played during the show. The Bridgwater co-op decided to have a go, and asked the director of our amateur group to produce the pageant, with me as stage manager.
The characters in the pageant were to be played by those connected with the local co-op - employees or members - so it was indeed an amateur show. There was one problem - it was an historical display, so it needed period costumes. The only source was the theatrical costumiers of London. So I was despatched by train up to the big city to seek out the required outfits. Since co-ops all around the country were doing the same, costumes were in great demand. After a lot of searching, I found a costumier who could provide what we wanted, but rental prices were soaring by then. I had to telephone to Bridgwater for permission to clinch a deal. There was no subscriber dialling in those days, and the telephone system was very overloaded, so I rang the exchange and asked for the number, waiting long for a connection. During the wait, the Germans were sending over their little powered bombs - 'doodlebugs', as we nicknamed them. You would hear their engines chugging, then they would cut off and start to fall, and you waited breathless for the bang. Both the operator and I could hear them and we exchanged comments: 'ooh, that one sounded close'.
Eventually we got our costumes, did our rehearsals, and the big day arrived - a good turnout from local co-op supporters. Though once again it was like Dad's Army, the sight of local characters on stage went down well with the audience. The co-op butcher, due to play some historic role, became gloriously drunk and incapable. We got him into costume, pushed him on stage, told him to wave his arms, and I spoke his words from behind a screen. And that was our pageant.
During the last year of war I moved to the factory hostel, and made new friends. The summer of 1945 was hot, and I spent happy hours with the Irish girl who would later become my wife, cuddling in the sunny fields when we were off work. At last came the day of Victory in Europe. Everyone, of course, went to the pubs to celebrate. In the pub where my girl and I went with English friends, there was a contingent of Irish workers from the factory. They started singing Republican songs, leading up to 'The hanging of Kevin Barry'. At the end, there was a shout: 'That's what the bloody English did to the Irish' and all hell broke loose. My girl and I ran. Thus World War 2 in Europe ended, and an older one broke out again.
Brian Vickery
Alfred Joseph "Dutch" Holland
My grandad was Alfred Joseph Holland, alias Dutch or Dutchy. Born in 1900, he was a chippy, but worked in a foundry and built plane cockpits with his eldest son of the same name, my dad. I know he served in the Home Guard in Coventry and was a fire watcher on one of the factories. Does anyone know how I can find out which Home Guard Battalion he was with?
Tina Holland
Frederick Thomas March
Don't know much. I know he was quite important in the home guard in Northamptonshire.
Judi Pickering
William Battle 58th Battalion, Surrey Regiment (d.18th August 1940)
I have been researching my family tree for the last few months. I knew that my great grandfather, William Battle, on my mother's side had been killed during WW2, but that was all I had been told. I have discovered that he was a platoon commander with the 58th Battalion, Surrey Regiment of the Home Guard. He was killed during the raid on RAF Kenley on the 18th August 1940 (the hardest day) age 61. He is on the roll of honours. He left a widow, Elizabeth J. Battle (my great grandmother) who I remember as I was 7 when she died. I would love to know (very long shot) whether anyone knew him and was a survivor of that day at RAF Kenley.
Another point of interest, William Battle had a nephew called Sydney Battle, Bedfordshire who died in 1917 during the Battle of Ypres, age 20, he is buried in France.
Marcelle Williams
2nd Lt. Tom Lacey MID 12th Regiment HAC Royal Horse Artillery
Immediately on joining in July or August 1942, Tim Lacy's CO said 'I'm going to sack the worst performing subaltern every month', which was a mighty motivation tool. This ended when they were send overseas, as a part of the First Army, to North Africa.
My dad's chief memories (he didn't talk about his wartime experiences a lot) seems to have involved food or drink - getting extremely drunk on hooch made from potatoes by his gun crew to celebrate New Year's day in 1944; eating a meal with an Italian family and eating so much pasta that he literally could not get up afterwards; and staying at a Doge's palace in Venice. He was involved in (or led?) a patrol that captured the first Tiger tank knocked-out in North Africa. Is this why he was mentioned in dispatches? I have always assumed so. He remembered Monte Cassino with bitter feelings.
Previous to joining the regular army, he was in the Home Guard. As it was obvious he would be called up (being physically fit and the right age), he was made a sergeant, to give him command experience, of a squad of very old soldiers. They wend on strike - this must be 1940 - as they refused to obey someone so young and inexperienced. He was hastily given a squad of younger soldiers until Sept 1941, when he was 21 and old enough to join the regular army.
Clive Lacey
Edgar Harry Rutterford Cook Feltwell Btn.
I am told by my mother that her father, Edgar Harry Rutterford, was in the Home Guard, Feltwell Btn.
Lionel Badcock
Able Sea. Raymond Arthur Osborn HMS Howe
My father Raymond Osborn, volunteered to join the Royal Navy just before his 18th birthday in September 1941. Prior to this date he had been a member of the Home Guard. His service dates from 17th December 1941, when he was posted to HMS Collingwood for basic training, which he completed in February 1942. After his basic training and after 3 weeks officially attached to HMS Victory, he was posted to the commissioning crew of the new battleship HMS Howe which had been launched in August 1941 and was being fitted out on the river Clyde. He remained with HMS Howe until March 1946, when he returned to the UK from the Far East. After another month or so attached to HMS Victory he was de-mobbed in May 1946.
On the Howe he was an Anti Aircraft Gunner on a bank of Pom-Pom short range anti aircraft guns. After HMS Howe was commissioned she was sent immediately to escort support duties on the Arctic convoys to North Russia and later to Iceland for Atlantic convoy support and more Arctic convoy work. In 1943 the Howe was attached to the Mediterranean fleet and took part in Operation Husky, the Allied landings on Sicily. Where she took part in the bombardment of the island of Favignana (just of the western end of Sicily) and the nearby Italian naval base of Trapani. Following this the Howe and her sister ship HMS King George V escorted two captured Italian battleships to Alexandria.
After a brief trip back to the UK for a refit, the Howe was posted to the Pacific. The voyage to the Far East was via the Suez Canal. At that time the Howe was the largest ship to pass through the canal. The passage was not without excitement, as she went aground in the shallow Bitter Lake. The journey was via the Seychelles and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka)to Sidney, Australia. Dad told me a story about Christmas Day 1944, which was spent chasing a Japanese submarine out of Sydney Harbour (I still don't know if that was true or not).
Next stop was Ackland, New Zealand, where the ships company took part in a march past. In 1945 the Howe was attached to the US Pacific Fleet and took part in the American island hopping campaign. Her last action was in the Battle of Okinawa, April to June 1945, where the Howe was one of the ships to lay down the initial naval bombardment and used to bombard the Japanese defenders throughout the battle. It was here that dad received a slight wound due to Kamikaze action. After Okinawa the Howe started her voyage home. First stop was Singapore, where the ships company marched past at the official signing of the surrender documents by Lord Mountbatten, in September 1945. The Howe then returned to the UK via he Cape of Good Hope, with stops at Ceylon, Seycheles, Mombassa, Durban and Cape Town then straight back to the UK for February 1946. Dad was de-mobbed on 1st May 1946.
I have all Dad's service documents, photos and medals, including the Russian Arctic convoy medal, the British Arctic Star brooch and (as of 18 October 2013) I am awaiting delivery of his official British award, the Arctic Star, which has been a long time coming.
John Osborn
George Nicholas Fondos Home Guard
George Fondos was killed by an incendiary bomb at the Mercantile Dry Dock in Jarrow. It was George's night off but a friend asked if he could work that night. George had a brother, John Fondos who was taken prisoner at Dunkirk who survived the war. George was the youngest of 7 children and was my mothers brother.
Frank Duke
Drmr. Robert Alphonsus Hannan 2nd Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
Bob Hannan joined up as a drummer boy in 1926 and was stationed at Holywood Barracks, Co. Down until 1933 when he moved to Aldershot. He went on to serve in Shanghai, Singapore and returned to Catterick in 1938 vefore he was demobbed. He was recalled for the duration of WW2 and in 1940 was wounded at Dunkirk and moved by mine sweeper to Mansfield Notts Hospital. After recuperation he was sent Crieff in Scotland to train members of the Home Guard.
Robert Hannan
Russ Godwin Royal Engineers
I joined the LDV, Home Guard, and then the Royal Engineers. I served in India, Ceylon and Singapore.
Russ Godwin
George Frederick Keen
George Frederick Keen and George Henry Leach, were members of the Auxiliary Fire Service and the Home Guard. They attended a bombed munitions train in Tongham, Surrey around 22nd of August 1940. Read more.
George Henry Leach
George Henry Leach and George Frederick Keen, were members of the Auxiliary Fire Service and the Home Guard. They attended a bombed munitions train in Tongham, Surrey around 22nd August 1940. Read more.
John Brinsmead Rifle Brigade
I served in the Home Guard for a short spell, then as a Bevin Boy underground. Finally, I served with the Rifle Brigade in Germany. My father was a POW in Stalag XXB having been captured at Dunkirk. He also served in WW1.
John Brinsmead
Bernard McIver 18th Btn. Staffordshire Regiment
I was a member of the 18th Btn Staffs (ROF Swynnerton) Home Guard in WWII.
Bernard McIver
Albert Tombling
Anyone remember Albert Tombling from West Hartlepool who served in the Home Guard and then the RAF?
Gaynor Greenwood
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