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15 October 2014
WW2 - People's War

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Jimmie's War

by conmartin

Contributed by听
conmartin
People in story:听
James Connor
Location of story:听
Willington County Durham
Background to story:听
Civilian
Article ID:听
A4009970
Contributed on:听
05 May 2005

Jimmie 1944 Willington

Jimmie's War

I was a ten-year-old altar boy at Willington Catholic Church and I reported for duty for the 11am Mass on September 3rd 1939. The altar servers and the choir were surprised when our parish priest, Father Francis Holmes, invited us into the presbytery before Mass, in order to hear Mr. Neville Chamberlain make his historic announcement that our country was at war with Germany. I remember being excited, for there had been gossip concerning the evacuation of children to America, in the event of an outbreak of war.
Soon my brothers John and Tom were in the Royal Navy and the Royal Marine Commandos respectively and I was very proud and pleased when they came on leave in their smart uniforms. However there was one very nasty moment when the postman left an official letter concerning brother John. My mother saw the words 鈥渘ext of kin鈥 on the document and immediately jumped to the conclusion that John had been killed. She threw the letter on the floor and moaned with grief. I remember trying to be sick in the chamber pot at the top of our staircase. Fortunately brother Tom was at home at the time and he picked up the letter and quickly calmed everyone by telling us that the letter was a communication naming my mother, as John鈥檚 next-of-kin. John was OK. He and Tom survived a very busy war; I鈥檓 pleased to say.
Early in the war, the air raid siren sounded in the afternoon and the headmaster must have panicked, for he sent the whole of the school home. I remember playing with a tortoise at the back of Nelson Street, along with several other boys. Eventually we heard the "All Clear" sound and we went home. Afterwards, an air raid shelter was built in part of the priest鈥檚 garden, which adjoined the school. Subsequently, when the siren sounded, we were quickly moved to the shelter. I remember that the teachers passed the time by encouraging the children to sing the popular songs of the day. Toilet arrangements in the shelter were provided by placing two large buckets behind a walled area at the end of the building. I left the school in 1941, to attend St. Mary鈥檚 Grammar School Darlington. There were no shelters built in my new school. As the school had deep cellars, perhaps this is the reason why.
Travelling to school in Darlington during the war was laborious. My memory of the buses in the morning and in the evening was of 鈥減acked humanity鈥. One perk that we had at the Darlington Bus Station was that all schoolchildren had priority over casual travellers. It was very satisfying, on Market days, to be able to go to the front of a very long queue.
Memories of happenings are still vivid. Gas masks were issued to all, including babies in prams. Shortly after they were issued, everyone had to have the masks adapted, presumably to make them more efficient. The town at the beginning of the war was alive with soldiers, who were billeted in any available halls. Even the Working Men鈥檚 Club was used to house the soldiers. Unfortunately, the club was destroyed by fire early in the war. Thankfully, there was no loss of life in the fire. However the club was razed to the ground. It was interesting and quite exciting to watch the platoons drilling in Willington Main Street, although some mature ladies occasionally made adverse comments about the bullying commands of the NCOs. As the war proceeded, the soldiers in the town were gradually posted elsewhere, until the only contingent was in the Army Camp at Brancepeth. These men used the area around Willington for training purposes and regularly came into the town in the evenings to visit the many public houses. During the war, a number of variety shows were presented by the military in the Empress Cinema. These productions really excited the locals and there was always a full house on these occasions. The soldiers at Brancepeth also ran a very successful football team and often played on Willington AFC field. There were many international players among them. I remember several names, Nicholson of Tottenham, Sherwood of Huddersfield, Green of Queen鈥檚 Park, Laidman of Sunderland and Taylor of Middlesbrough. The latter player was killed in a road accident during the war. It was said that he would have had a successful international career.
A good number of miners joined the Home Guard because of the threat of invasion. A local teacher, Mr Oliver Holmes, exempt from military service, seemed to be one of the leaders of this group.
The two cinemas, the Empress and the Empire were very well used during the war. I realise now that the general public were buoyed up by the propaganda of Movietone News. On one occasion, the Empress Cinema was host to a lady from China, who was raising money to help her country. I remember the posters inviting people to support the 鈥淎id To China鈥 appeal. There were other money raising events in order to help the war effort. I remember a 鈥淲ar Weapons Week鈥 and the town adopted a naval ship 鈥淗MS Clarkia鈥. I never knew anyone who saw the ship.
For ordinary folk, rationing was a problem. It was known that the wealthy could buy on the black market. My mother had ration books in more than one shop in order to take advantage of buying any available food not on ration. As soon as war was declared my father took over an allotment. His growing of potatoes and cabbages were a great help to the family during the war.
In 1940, there was excitement in our extended family, when a cousin from New York, who had joined the Canadian Air Force, was posted to an airfield in the North of England. He was always keen to stay with his grandmother, who lived in Willington, when he was not on operations. His openness, his Yankee drawl, his exciting life style and his friendliness made him a very attractive figure to an eleven-year-old boy. He always had a plentiful supply of 鈥淪weet Caporal鈥 cigarettes and occasionally, he would supply me with a few. When he was staying with his grandmother, there would often be family parties, when beer would be flowing and songs would be expected from all present. We received one food parcel from the United States relatives during the war. It arrived just before Christmas and contained, among an assortment of confectionaries, a large tinned chicken. It was delicious. I鈥檝e never tasted anything nicer in the whole of my life.
One aspect of the activities during the war, which I detested, was the amount of drunkenness in our town. People seemed to be living for the day. I lived in close proximity to three public houses, The Lion and Unicorn, The Railway Hotel and The Commercial. It was always said that there was a shortage of beer during the war. There did not seem to be much evidence of the shortage in these three pubs.
As the war drew to its close, we became more and more excited and relieved. We were longing for the return of our brothers and for the downfall of Hitler. When it was announced that May 8th was to be Victory in Europe Day, people prepared to celebrate. My strong memory is of a musician in Rosedale Estate, a Mr George Burleigh, moving his piano on to the road outside his home and playing for hours while his neighbours danced and sang. The war was over, to the relief of everyone.

Written By James Connor
[personal details removed by moderator]

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