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In 2004, with the approach of the 60th anniversary of D-day in June and of the end of World War II next year it’s important to record for posterity how life was in wartime and of the contributions made by local people on the home front to the war effort.

There are probably still many people in the Petersfield area who will remember the Home from Home Canteen which was situated in College Street from 1941 to 1946, and which provided the welcome that its name suggests to the thousands of servicemen and women who were stationed in the area or who passed through on their way to the beaches of Normandy and beyond.

I was only a boy at the time but I well remember the town becoming increasingly thronged with servicemen in all colours and types of uniform, all looking for a short breath of civilian air and relaxation from service discipline and uniformity. It was mainly because of their growing need for something more than the many pubs and the one cinema in the town could offer that my Mother, Kathleen Money-Chappelle, conceived the idea of a special canteen for the forces which she initially organised in 1940 in the Drill Hall in Dragon Street with the assistance of many willing helpers from the town and locality.

Standing alone against Hitler’s Germany as we did at that time, it soon became necessary for the Home Guard to take over the Drill Hall for training purposes. A new site for the now-established canteen was urgently needed, and my Mother and her organising Committee set out to raise money by public subscription — supported by the War Office, Southern Command and many local patrons. Land for the purpose on the site of the old brewery in College Street was loaned for the purpose opposite the White Hart and the site stretched back — under what is now Tor Way — to the open-air swimming pool behind the Town (now Festival) Hall and the plan was to erect a purpose-built timber-framed single-story structure as quickly as possible to be known as the Home from Home Canteen.

Response for the appeal for funds was gratifying, and in June 1941 the first foundations were prepared: specially inscribed commemorative stones were formally laid by representatives of all the fighting services including those from the Commonwealth — these have since been re-erected as a memorial against the wall of the Festival Hall to the left of the front entrance — and the Canteen was officially opened on 28 August 1941 by the then Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire, Lord Mottistone, with a ceremonial parade of detachments from all the services.

From this point, the ’Home from Home United Services Canteen and Social Club’ — as it was called — went from strength to strength, and the continuous fund-raising activities soon allowed extensions to be added to the original structure to provide a billards room, library and quiet room.

Regular, locally produced entertainment — lectures, dances, concert parties, musical recitals and evenings of community singing - were offered in the main hall, at one end of which was a full stage with lighting and PA facilities, and the Canteen also boasted a wide range of imported, morale-boosting entertainments as time went on, including dance bands, comedy turns, concert parties, magicians, ukelele players and tap dancers.

The Home from Home Canteen offered a full cafeteria service in the main hall with hot meals, drinks and snacks prepared and served by a dedicated staff of helpers — many of whom gave their time on a voluntary basis, with opening hours from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. There was also a wide range of donated comforts for the troops from benefactors as far afield as the US and Canada — providing such items as regular subscriptions to newspapers and magazines like the New Yorker and Toronto Daily Star to make visiting servicemen feel at home.

As the war progressed, the military presence became overwhelming in the area, with huge concentrations of troops and equipment at Longmoor, Bordon and the many other military establishments in Hampshire and the neighbouring counties. To this was added the build-up of weapons and men — many living temporarily under canvas - all over the South as D-Day approached: the Portsmouth area was a major embarkation point for the Normandy landings in June 1944 and many of the military units, tanks, bren-gun carriers, DUKWS and lorries etc had to come down the old A3 and pass through Petersfield.

There was no one-way system then, and all this traffic followed the road down Ramshill, turning left into College Street past the Good Intent and then stopping for rest and refreshment at the Canteen before continuing on down Dragon Street and up the Causeway on the way to the coastal ports. As a boy I can remember this seemingly endless procession of men and materiel — everything from motorbikes to huge American Mack trucks, little ‘Tillies’ and Bedford lorries - all grinding ceaselessly though the town, and troops in uniforms from all over the world.

I expect many people will remember those days, and the wartime spirit of pulling together: certainly for many years after the war Mother was still receiving letters and visits from servicemen all over the world who had visited the Home from Home Canteen — and sometimes from the relatives of those who did not return, to whom the thought that their loved ones had experienced a moment of kindness and warmth so far from home was a comfort.

The Home from Home Canteen closed on 14 July 1946, but its spirit lingered on through many of the relationships forged in the wartime years: after the furniture and fixtures were sold the building was knocked down for redevelopment, but my Mother preserved the foundation stones which went with her to her next venture — the Petersfield School of Music which was at our home in 24 High Street, where they were erected in the garden - and then to her last home in Station Road, where she died in 1979.

My Mother always used to say that this was her own way of ‘doing her bit’ for the war effort: undaunted by the logistics of feeding and entertaining hundreds and thousands of servicemen, she and her team gave generously of their time and energy throughout the war to help the service ‘boys and girls’ many of who were far away from home, and their tremendous efforts were gratefully appreciated not only by the recipients but also by Sir Winston Churchill himself. She would want everyone who was involved to be remembered at this most appropriate time — and for this to be recorded as one of Petersfield’s great achievements of the war years.

‘Lest we forget’

by David Money-Chappelle

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