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Living on a small-holding with my family during the war, we (the children) had to help in running the business. This story relates to delivering milk to local people.

It was a Sunday morning and I was delivering the milk to a lodge of Warwick Hall near Warwick Bridge. It was a time when the Home Guard were in full flow and our village was the area’s H.Q. In this lodge’s garden was a large concrete pill-box (I suppose to defend the bridge) and out came troops wearing German tin-helmets (if not, something very alien, certainly not the usual British helmet).

I immediately thought the place had been taken over through the night. Still walking slowly to the lodge to deliver milk, I could hear that these troops had a ‘Geordie’ accent. My fears were allayed when it turned out that they were ‘Home Guard’ troops from the North East on night exercise and had overtaken our local Home Guards. I carried on and delivered the milk.

Our Home Guards at Warwick bridge would usually turn up to report at about 6pm at the village hall. The sergeant would muster the men and detail them off to their posts. Although they had good overcoats, they were sent to man trenches which were dug right along the high ground; they had no protection against the rain. Some of these troops would be in their 60’s and 70’s. However, it was said, the sergeant on visiting the trenches on many occasions found them empty only to find the men had drifted into the local hostelry and enjoyed a pint and a game of dominoes!

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