大象传媒

This story has been entered on to the site by Michael on behalf of Ray and they fully understand the conditions.

Harry was a pitman who wanted to join the Navy instead of the army. But because he worked in the pit which was an essential service, he wasn鈥檛 allowed to leave. He was then called up to join the local Home Guard but he refused to do this as well as keeping his normal job because they hadn鈥檛 allowed him to join the Navy, where all his friends were.

They still wanted him to join the Home Guard but he still refused to join. So, the rest of the Home Guard surrounded the house near Sunderland Road in Gateshead, with their rifles to force him to join. He wasn鈥檛 in the house because he was at the pub and only his sister and her friends were in the house and they wouldn鈥檛 open the door.

Ray, his younger brother who was only 11 at the time had been at the cinema and returned to see all the Home Guard soldiers surrounding the house. He waited until they had realised that Harry wasn鈥檛 in the house and they had left.

His sister and her friend were still too scared to open the door and so he had to shout through the letterbox for about 10 minutes to get into the house.

Eventually Harry had to join the Home Guard and still keep his job as a pitman.

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