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WARTIME MEMORIES

I was born in July 1923 in Shropshire but my family moved to Cheshire in 1930 to take over a farm at Wrenbury.
I left school when 16 years old in July 1939 and started work on my father’s farm. As was the case in the war years I registered for my national service for which I would be called up in 1941 when reaching the age of 18. However a few days later I received a letter advising that I was in a ‘reserved occupation’ (farming) and that I would not be required for military service.

I then decided that I would join the Local Defence Volunteers (LDV) which subsequently became the Homeguard (Wrenbury).
It was not quite like ‘Dads Army’ on television and we had to do a duty period of one night per week, sleeping on the hard floor of the Hall with just two blankets for warmth. Part of our work was to patrol the railway line and other significant buildings and places in and around Wrenbury to make sure all was well and no one was, for example, breaking the ‘black out’ regulations.

In addition to our patrols we also had to report for training on a Sunday morning in the Schoolyard at Wrenbury and Combermere Abbey Park and many other locations where we carried out the manoeuvres to prepare us for action in the event of an enemy attack. During this time I rose to the rank of Corporal.

Farming was particularly hard in those years with little of the modern equipment we take for granted on today’s farm. Not only did we have to produce extra food for the nation but also we had to do this without tractors and horses were the only source of power to pull the ploughs, drills, harvesters and carts. Our farm had no electricity and all the milking was carried out by hand. Having said that I look back with a great deal of satisfaction on the part we played in winning the war.

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