War Years
Like everywhere in the world, every war had a massive impact on Harlaston Village and it’s villagers. Here we try and capture the impact it had in photos, historical facts and anecdotal recollections.
Both WWI and WWII will be explored and will cover the impact on individual families; the changes to working practices; food and rations; blackouts and bombings; evacuees and Prisoners of War.
We will look at how everyone was affected and the changes they all had to make, some changes were imposed and some were out of sheer necessity to stay safe and to make ends meet.
The Home Guard
The Home Guard (initially Local Defence Volunteers or LDV) was an armed citizen militia supporting the British Army during the Second World Ward. Operational from 1940 to 1944, the Home Guard had 1.5 million local volunteers otherwise ineligible for military service, such as those who were too young or too old to join the regular armed services (regular military service was restricted to those aged 18 to 41) and those in reserved occupations. Excluding those already in the armed services, the civilian police or civil defence, approximately one in five men were volunteers. Their role was to act as a secondary defence force in case of invasion by the forces of Nazi Germany.
The Home Guard were to try to slow down the advance of the enemy even by a few hours to give the regular troops time to regroup. They were also to defend key communication points and factories in rear areas against possible capture by paratroops or fifth columnists. A key purpose was to maintain control of the civilian population in the event of an invasion, to forestall panic and to prevent communication routes from being blocked by refugees to free the regular forces to fight the Germans. The Home Guard continued to man roadblocks and guard the coastal areas of the United Kingdom and other important places such as airfields, factories and explosives stores until late 1944, when they were stood down. They were finally disbanded on 31 December 1945, eight months after Germany’s surrender.
Men aged 17 to 65 years could join, although the upper age limit was not strictly enforced. Service was unpaid but gave a chance for older or inexperienced soldiers to support the war effort.
Harlaston Ladies Home Guard Royal Observer Corp (Unofficial)
During the years, not to be outdone by the men folk of the Home Guard, Observer Corps, etc. the ladies of the Parish formed an unofficial unit to do their ‘bit’ as a precaution against air raids and enemy parachutists. Among them were Alice Dugdale, Nell Fox (Air Raid Warden), Maud Statham (District Nurse), Kate Winter (now Mrs Cox), Dorothy Newbold, Mrs P H Mercer, Mrs Dorothy Grove and Mrs Wallis. They used to carry out ‘observations’ in an old car which had been abandoned in a field down Manor Lane in two shifts 5 am and 7 am and between 5 pm and 7 pm, The reasons for these times was apparently to provide a ‘defence’ when the Home Guard were not on duty.
As one can imagine, the ladies did not sit idly during their watch. They took their knitting, sewing and darned socks of members of their families. Mrs Dorothy Grove recalls “The socks were woollen in those days and there were great big holes in them every day”. She also remembers ……….”Mrs Mercer used to pluck chickens in the car”.
Mrs Wallis remembers ….”They were all keen, especially Nell Fox. We lived in the Council Houses then. I remember one day she came rushing down the road with her tin hat on, blowing her whistle and telling everyone to go inside. The trouble was it turned out to be the “All clear” and not the warning!”,
Evacuees
During World War 2 evacuees came to Harlaston. Some stayed a short time, others stayed much longer making Harlaston their home.
One evacuee family were the Rayners who lived for a while in an old unused barn in the middle of a field on Fishpits Farm. Gradually they made the barn a habitable home. Unfortunately, not long after they moved to Harlaston, Mr Rayner died. Later, Mrs Rayner married the local farmer Mr Jack Pennington. Their son, Maurice, lived in Harlaston until he got married, returning to bring up his family with his wife Val.
Margaret Rayner moved to Cannock.
John and Jean Lewis came from Liverpool to live with their aunts (the three Miss Lewises) after the war Jean moved home, but John stayed and made his home locally.
Scarlett Fever
In 1942 there was an outbreak of Scarlet Fever in the village. Many children were affected. The ambulance was a regular sight coming nearly every other day to pick up one or two of the youngsters.
They were taken to the Isolation Hospital near Lichfield and some were away from home for a month. Visitors were only allowed on a Sunday afternoon and then only to speak to them through a window. Some of the children were very homesick.
See also Christine Mercer's memories for more on how this affected her family.
The Harlaston man at the back of Lloyd George.
This is a newspaper excerpt of a Harlaston man supporting Lloyd George at the height of his influence.
The late Mr. Howard Carter dedicated one of his poems to the Harlaston Ladies Home Guard Royal Observer Corp (Unofficial)
‘Harlaston Light Infantry.’
With this village fair and broad,
The fair sex now have drawn the sword,
They are pure and free from sin,
At 5 o’clock these guards fall in.
With chest expanded – shoulders square,
Across the fields these soldiers stare,
Their eager eyes behold the sky,
These fair, sweet soldiers never die.
With skin like velvet – Pond’s cold cream,
And rosy lips – Oh, what a dream;
And mortal man denotes their charm,
And loves them best presenting arms.
With biscuits, lard and bully beef.
The bedding flowers – the yellow leaf;
They sit inside the car to dine,
Enjoy serene a Wild Woodbine.
Some matrons proud, some sweet, young girls,
The soft wind wafts their pretty curls,
There’s Alice, Nell, Maud and Kate,
Keen on parade and never late.
If passing by they see the huns,
These girls know how to use their guns;
With steadfast reason firm of feet,
Their watchword “Forward – No retreat”.
No mortal male allowed to join
These female soldiers of the line
Of England’s Army, just a fraction,
But hoping soon to see some action.
Tragic Accident August 1940. William Trevor Betts Age 13 Years. Exploring the fields with a friend. Accidently shot a gun, he died of gun shot wounds.