大象传媒

This story has been contributed to the People's War by the 大象传媒 Learning Centre, Gloucester, on behalf of Cynthia Dickens with her permission.

Whenever the war gets spoken of there is rarely, if ever, any mention made of the Messenger Service. This, I feel, is rather a pity as in some parts of the UK the Messenger Service played a vital role in our defences.

Set up as part of the Home Guard, it used volunteer boys and girls between the ages of 15 and 18 and some of these teenagers, particularly in London, lost their lives in the course of carrying out their duties.

I was living in Nailsworth at the time and along with my younger brother I joined the Messenger Service and was attached to the Nailsworth Home Guard. We had training in how to convey a verbal message from one Home Guard post to another and also took part in some of the Home Guard exercises.

On reporting for duty one Sunday morning at 6.00 hours, I was sent with a couple of lads to a disused shop in the Cossack Square area of the town. Here we found an elderly gentleman. on Home Guard duty, sitting in front of a field telephone. The only chair having already been claimed. we turned up some empty beer crates and sat on those. Then we waited, and waited, and waited for the phone to ring and give us something to do.

Nailsworth, Tetbury and Avening Home Guards took it in turn to 'invade' each other, often two corps working together against the third. On this occasion it was Nailsworth which was under 'attack'.

Towards 9.00 hours a message came through saying the 'enemy' had broken through. Tetbury had apparently gone via Avening where it doubled its strength, then proceeded on to Minchinhampton, down to Woodchester and entered Nailsworth by crawling up the railway line.

This message had to be conveyed to Shortwood, and although none of us young volunteers had any idea of where in Shortwood we would find the relevant Home Guard we all jumped up, eager to 'do our bit.'

One of the lads had brought his bicycle and almost before we could get up off our beer crates, the old man had taken the bike and saying "I'll go. It's much too dangerous for you young'uns to be out there" he pedalled off across the square leaving us to wonder what we should do if the field telephone rang again.

We need not have worried. Within a couple of minutes he was back. Thinking the 'enemy' was about to take us all prisoner we looked anxiously at our Home Guard who informed us "It's all right, it's nine o'clock, and we always go home at nine o'clock on Sundays."

Just one of the lighter moments of life during the Second World War, and one which is still so very clear in my mind. The TV series Dad's Army was very true to life!

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