Richard Hannaway, Bill Watson and the unknown Baby - a story of The London Blitz

The Daily Mirror headline from 9th September 1940 (Kay Evison)

One of the more gratifying aspects of writing this blog is receiving feedback from around the globe and learning about hitherto unknown or forgotten aspects of the Blitz and the Second World War from relatives of the people involved. In the past, I have heard from readers in the USA, Australia, South Africa and Canada, as well of course, from closer to home here in the United Kingdom.

The latest correspondence came via our Facebook page and was from Kay Evison in New Zealand and read as follows:

"Hi there I am new to this group and I am doing some research on my grandfather who was an ARP hero during the Blitz.

I now know my grandfather lived in 34 Pigott Street, Limehouse, for about 5 year from 1936 until 1940 and was an Air Raid Warden. His name was William Watson (which wasn't his real name) and he was in his 40's when she first met him. My grandmother would have been about 19 at the time she first met him, ironically he deserted her before she had her baby in 1935 (my father, he was adopted by his grandmother in Bristol.) My grandmother then went on to work as a short hand typist at the Lewisham NAAFI to help support her family. I have for some time now been trying to find out more about my grandfather as this was the biggest family secret ever and anyone who knew anything has now passed on. I would like to find out his nationality and date of birth to further my research, I couldn't find him on the 1939 register although I found details of him on the Electoral rolls. (I have located the relatives of the boy Richard Hannaway in the story and the attached newspaper clipping has been passed onto his relatives (he died in 2012) and hope to hear more from them. His family lived in 33 Pigott Street.

I would love to hear from anyone who recognises which street the birth occurred in as I would love to find the child of the lady in the cutting but she was only recorded as Mrs R Foster. Her husband was also an ARP Warden."

The newspaper cutting from the Daily Mirror is reproduced above, courtesy of Kay and the story makes remarkable reading. Given the date of the cutting, 9th September 1940, one can easily surmise that the incident took place on the night of 'Black Saturday' 7th September 1940 - the first night of the London Blitz, when the East End bore the brunt of the bombing which killed 448 Londoners and left large areas of East and Southeast London in ruins.

Rose (we are not certain of her first name) Foster was heavily pregnant and in bed when the raid started. She was waiting for an ambulance to take her to hospital but the raid developed and she found herself stranded in bed about to give birth. One of the puzzles from this story is exactly where was she located? 

The location of the horse trough circled - Pigott Street runs to top right of the map (Mick Lemmerman)

There is someone by the name of R Foster mentioned on the Electoral Register but she was located a tidy distance away in Milward Street, close to the London Hospital. We know that Richard Hannaway, the little boy mentioned in the article, lived at 33 Pigott Street, opposite Bill Watson at number 34 and was bringing water from a nearby horse trough in order to wash the baby.

The location of the horse trough was located courtesy of a brilliant piece of local detective work by another follower of the blog, the author  and Isle of Dogs historian Mick Lemmerman, two of whose books on the Blitz have been reviewed here in October 2015 and February of this year. Mick worked out the location of the horse trough as being in the middle of Commercial Road at the junction with West India Dock Road as he recognized the public loos seen in the photograph!

From that piece of deduction, we now know that young Richard had run to the end of Pigott Street to the horse trough in Commercial Road; a relatively short distance but considering the fact that bombs would have been falling and shrapnel flying through the air, this was an incredibly brave act for anyone under fire, let alone a thirteen year old boy.

The extract from the Daily Mirror tells us that despite "never having done anything like this before" Bill brought the baby girl safely into the world and that she and her mother were both doing fine.

The article also mentions a bomb falling about eighty yards from the house which actually blew off the roof. A check of the LCC Bomb Map for Pigott Street reveals that it suffered from what looks like at least one direct hit and that several properties were destroyed as well as more that were seriously damaged. Amongst those properties seriously damaged was Richard Hannaway's house at number 33 (immediately to the right of the church in Pigott Street) as was Bill Watson's house directly opposite. Could it be that Rose Foster was visiting or living with Richard's parents when she went into labour?

The Bomb Damage Map for Pigott Street (Author's image)

It sort of adds up - perhaps Richard Hannaway was sent out by his Mum to get water to boil for the soon to be born baby and encountered his neighbour 'Uncle Bill' Watson and enlisted his help. Sadly, Richard passed away in 2012 and so far, Kay has been unable to trace the family of Rose Foster or to ascertain whether the baby is still alive, which given that she would now be 75, is quite possible.

Kay is also anxious to learn more about her Grandfather Bill Watson, who appears to have had something of a mysterious past. As can be seen from Kay's original communication, William Watson wasn't his real name and his nationality was also something of a mystery, although he was obviously an accepted part of his local community, being known as 'Uncle Bill' to all the local children.

Hopefully, one of our many readers around the world can throw some more light on this puzzle - it would be wonderful if a member of the Foster family could read this, or perhaps someone who knew or was related to Bill Watson. The power of the internet is remarkable, so we live in hope!

I am indebted to Kay Evison for contacting me and also to Mick Lemmerman for his local knowledge and insights into the area's social history.

            

The Tide of Change

Enderby's Wharf 1946 (Dave Wood @liverpoolimages)

Whilst browsing through Twitter the other evening, I came across a photo posted by Dave Wood of the Greenwich Riverside in 1946. More precisely, the photo features the old Telcon Works at Enderby's Wharf, which is nowadays the proposed site of a Cruise Ship Terminal, which would have been unimaginable in those days when London was a working, industrial city. It shows a glimpse of a busier and more industrialised Thames than we are now accustomed to as well as a fascinating panorama of part of the Greenwich Peninsula in the immediate post-war era, when the scars of the Blitz were fresh, both on the ground and no doubt in the memories of those who had experienced it first-hand.

The Telcon Works runs vertically almost along the dead centre of the photograph but a closer look at the image reveals bomb damage in the form of large gaps in the terraced housing, freshly repaired roofs and even from the air, the look of general decay, as well as large areas which were soon to fall under the demolition ball for industrial use and later for the construction of the A012 Blackwall Tunnel Southern Approach.

The excellent Greenwich Heritage Centre has the LCC Bomb Damage Maps for the area and checking the 1946 photo against the relevant map, we can see that it is quite easy to match up the damage on the map with many of the scars on the photo.

The corresponding portion of the Bomb Damage Map (author's image from original held at Greenwich Heritage Centre)

The road running diagonally across the top left hand corner of the photograph is Tunnel Avenue and whilst this road is still largely extant, much of it has been swallowed and overshadowed by the A102. The houses at the top of the map are shaded in orange, which according to the colour coding system in use for them, indicates that the damage incurred was "General Blast Damage - Not Structural" and which would have been relatively easy to repair. Looking at the Civil Defence Incident Logs for the area, it is difficult to ascertain exactly when this damage occurred, given the frequency of the attacks on this part of Greenwich but given the fact that there is a large circle indicating a V-1 Flying Bomb hit, with the smaller circle of a V-2 nearby, it is possible that this was the blast from one, or both, of these weapons. The V-1 involved was the very first one to fall on the borough, indeed one of the first to fall on London - on 16th June 1944, whereas the V-2 concerned was the penultimate rocket to fall on Greenwich, on 9th March 1945, just two months before the end of the war in Europe. No casualties were reported for either incident, falling as they did on largely open ground.

The only other V-1 affecting the area shown in the photograph fell at the extreme bottom left hand corner of the image and was a far more serious affair. This occurred at 19:40 on 29th July 1944 and was reported as falling on the 'Towpath' near the 'Sea Witch' Public House in Morden Wharf Road. This resulted in two fatal casualties, 18 year old Ernest Tinton of Grenada Road, Charlton and Walter Saveall, 39 from nearby Azof Street. Interestingly, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission report Saveall as being a member of the Home Guard but it is unclear whether or not he was on duty at the time of his death. Nine others were sufficiently badly injured to be taken to St Alfege's Hospital. The area was, as could be expected, devastated by the blast and as well as the human casualties, the 'Sea Witch' pub, was lost forever. Local Historian Mary Mills wrote about the pub in her excellent Greenwich Peninsula History blog in 2013 and as she points out, had the pub survived, it would doubtless nowadays be enjoying a new lease of life given the prime location it once occupied.

The two roads running parallel to the Telcon Works are Mauritius Road and Azof Street. Nearly every property in these two roads seems to have been affected in some way. Most of the damage is marked in yellow, which means "Blast Damage - Minor in Nature", although there are some buildings shaded in light red indicating "Seriously Damaged - Repairable at Cost." The buildings do appear to be still standing in the 1946 photograph but it is difficult to see what sort of condition they are in, although in 2016, there are newer properties at this location on the map. In common with the entire locality, the area received the attention of the Luftwaffe on a regular basis during the Blitz, doubtless because of its proximity to the various industries strung out along the Thames. Most notably, the area attracted a large number of Incendiary Bombs during September and October 1940. Most of these were efficiently dealt with by ARP Wardens, the Auxiliary Fire Service and occasionally by members of the public defending their own homes but 14 Azof Street was reported as being damaged by fire on 11th September 1940, as was 63 Mauritius Road later in the Blitz, on 19th April 1941, when one of the occupants had to be treated at hospital. By this stage of the Blitz, the area seemed to be attracting High Explosive Bombs in the vicinity and whilst no direct hits are reported, number 80 Azof Street was seriously damaged on 1st November 1940 by such a bomb and the blast from similar weapons falling nearby was no doubt responsible for the lesser damage to the other properties in these two roads.

Enderby's Wharf in 2016 (Google Maps)

The road leading off to the right of Azof Street is Bellot Street, named after Joseph Bellot, the French Arctic explorer, who perished in mysterious circumstances in 1853 whilst searching for Sir John Franklin, who had disappeared on his own expedition in search of the Northwest Passage. This road, like the eponymous explorer, is shrouded in a certain amount of mystery. A close look at the 1946 photograph clearly shows some fairly catastrophic bomb damage, with 'prefabs' or some other type of temporary buildings appearing in the gaps left by the demolished houses. The Bomb Damage Map confirms this by showing several properties shaded in black, meaning "Total Destruction" and yet on the Incident Log, Bellot Street features only once, on 14th March 1944, with the explosion of an Anti-Aircraft Shell. Such an explosion could not possibly have caused the demolition of what looks on the map like 39 properties but nothing is mentioned. This level of damage could only realistically have been caused by either a Parachute Mine, or by a V-1 or V-2 weapon. The Incident Logs are usually a pretty good indicator of when and where bombs fell but just occasionally, being written up in the heat of the moment, things can go off the rails and this seems to be a case in point. One possible answer to the mystery lies on 9th September 1940 when an Unexploded Bomb is reported in Christchurch Way which is the road running parallel and beneath Bellot Street on the map. No further mention is made of this bomb, whether it was defused, or whether it subsequently exploded. This lack of further information might suggest that an error was made in the initial entry and that the UXB was in fact, in Bellot Street and that it did indeed explode. The only other possibility was the Parachute Mine that fell in the vicinity on 29th December 1940 and is reported as 'Dyson House, Ship & Billet P.H. and 28 Commerell Street.' This spreads the net pretty widely but seeing as the majority of the fatalities emanated from Dyson House (10 from this location), it does seem unlikely that the blast affected Bellot Street whilst leaving buildings in between still standing. We shall possibly never know the answer but the former of the two theories put forward seems the most plausible.

Christchurch Way is the road running at the bottom of Mauritius Road and Azof Street and shows some fairly serious damage on the map, with a long stretch in light red "Seriously Damaged - Repairable at Cost", with similar levels of damage in adjoining Derwent Street, along with some black "Total Destruction" and an area of green indicating a "Clearance Area." As before, the damage in September and October 1940 seems to have been caused more by Incendiaries, with one report on 18th September 1940 stating that "every street in the district" was affected. It must have been a nightmarish scene for those attempting to fight the numerous fires lit by these innocuous looking but deadly bombs. A High Explosive bomb on 1st November 1940 caused serious damage at the Azof Street end of Christchurch Way, whereas a further HE on 17th September seems to be the culprit for the damage at the junction with Derwent Street. 

The roads running at the top of the 1946 photograph also suffered their fair share of damage. The thoroughfare running across the top of the Telcon Works and intersecting Tunnel Avenue is Blackwall Lane and the first road running off this immediately after the green space at Tunnel Avenue is Lenthorpe Road. There is a large empty space both in the photograph and also marked in black on the Bomb Map. This building was destroyed in the early hours of 19th September 1940 by a High Explosive bomb, which not only demolished the building but which ruptured the gas and water main supplies for the area. There was one casualty resulting from this incident but fortunately not a fatality. The next turning along is Glenister Road and it was here, on the  afternoon of 17th October 1940, that a more serious incident occurred. Another High Explosive bomb caused the destruction of numbers 27-35 Glenister Road as well as seriously damaging several others. The destruction is duly marked in black on the map as well as a large swathe of purple, indicating that these properties were "Damaged Beyond Repair." More serious was the human cost, with two fatal casualties, both of whom were children; Ronald Rose, 12 years old of 31 Glenister Road and 4 year old Ronald Finch of 19 Glenister Road. A further 14 people were seriously injured and taken to St Alfege's Hospital. Closer inspection of the 1946 photograph reveals the bomb damaged sites to have been cleared and replaced by Nissen Huts or similar temporary housing.

This part of Greenwich, in common with the rest of London, was to face many years of rebuilding war damage, so-called 'Slum Clearance', demolition due to the 1960s mania for road building and coming into the present day, more development due to that scourge of modern London - "Luxury Apartments." The Google Maps image, when compared to the 1946 photograph and the Bomb Damage Maps, show the Greenwich Peninsula vastly changed, although not perhaps totally out of all recognition to a 1940s resident who was transplanted into the area in 2016. Whether he or she would prefer the modern version has to remain a matter for conjecture!

Unpublished Sources:

Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich Civil Defence Incident Logs 1939-45 - Greenwich Heritage Centre

LCC Bomb Damage Maps for Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich - Greenwich Heritage Centre

Internet Sources:

Commonwealth War Graves Commission 

Dave Wood

Greenwich Peninsula History 

Book Review: Heavy Rescue Squad Work on The Isle of Dogs - Ann Regan-Atherton

Cover to the book - Bill Regan at front, extreme right (author's photo)

Christmas seems a long time ago now but during the Festive Season, several new books arrived at Blitzwalker Towers but only now am I beginning to make some headway with reading them. One excellent addition to my 'Home Front' library comes in the form of Heavy Rescue Squad Work on The Isle of Dogs: Bill Regan's Second World War Diaries, which were discovered by Bill's daughter Ann Regan-Atherton as they were on the verge of being thrown out - indeed Bill had already disposed of some pages. Being a History Graduate, Ann immediately recognised the importance of these diaries, not just as a family heirloom but as a document of wider historic value and originally transcribed them in the late 1980s. This latest version has been edited by local Island historians Con Maloney and Mick Lemmerman, whose recent book The Isle of Dogs During World War II was reviewed in an October 2015 edition of this blog.

Readers of MJ Gaskin's excellent book Blitz: The Story of 29th December 1940 will be familiar with the exploits of Bill Regan and his wife Vi, as their efforts in reaching home on the night of 'Second Great Fire of London' forms an integral part of her book.

Bill Regan was a bricklayer by trade but for the majority of the War, served in the Heavy Rescue Service, which like the majority of the various arms of the Civil Defence network, had been originally regarded by many members of the public during the 'Phoney War' period as a waste of space but with the onset of the Blitz, were now viewed as heroes by those same fickle members of the public. Bill was an intelligent man, widely read and whose inspiration for keeping a diary was Samuel Pepys, whose own journal he had borrowed from his local library. He was also a keen amateur self taught artist as well as an amateur photographer. 

This latter hobby also helps to illustrate this collection of Bill's diaries, as he took many photographs of the bomb damaged local area. This activity was strictly illegal in wartime and was punishable by up to three years in prison. It was ironic therefore, that his photos were developed by a friend who served in the Metropolitan Police!

Bill's Heavy Rescue Squad, like similar teams across the country, were trained to deal with bomb incidents where damage was serious enough to warrant using heavy lifting and excavating equipment in order to reach victims who were trapped in the debris. Like Bill, many of the Squad members were experienced in peacetime as civil engineers, carpenters and bricklayers as well as from other areas of the construction industry, where their knowledge was particularly valuable in understanding the layout and construction of buildings in order to work out the safest and quickest ways to reach trapped people. Like many others in the Civil Defence service, Bill's squad was based at a school vacated by the wartime evacuation of school children. Bill Regan's Squad was based at the former Millwall Central School in Janet Street on the Isle of Dogs.

The diary starts on 7th September 1940, 'Black Saturday' and the first day of the Blitz on London. The first 'rescue' for Bill's squad turned out to be in his own words 'a non-survivor' - an elderly man who was found still sitting in his armchair but totally embedded in rubble. Bill tells us in great detail about the work his squad undertook on that day and night as well as providing fascinating insights into the other events on the Island, such as the Anti Aircraft gun site in the area we now know as Mudchute (the remnants of which can still be seen incidentally). The Squad's subsequent rescues that day proved to be more successful, with people being evacuated alive from buried Anderson Shelters and into Rest Centres, although as Bill remarks in the diary, such was the noise "You would have to be stone deaf to rest in any kind of centre."

As well as accounts of the action during and after air raids, Bill's diary also tells of the more mundane facets of life in wartime London, such as the rare moments of leisure and time spent with his beloved wife Vi, as well as some more stressful and personal times in their relationship. There are also moments of humour such as the foul-mouthed (or beaked) parrot, discovered in a bombed out house on the Island. According to Bill, "It was well educated, and after preening itself, it gave a most wonderful recital of obscene language I have ever heard." You will have to buy the book to find out exactly what the parrot said!

Being a Greenwich boy, I was also interested to read many references to my own locality, including the damage to Greenwich Foot Tunnel, which although repaired, can still be seen to this day. Bill mentions the damage in his diary as well as the fact that during the period that the tunnel was closed, "Rowing boats from Greenwich are ferrying people across at 2 shillings (10p in today's money) a time." This seems quite a steep fee for the time and was presumably an unofficial arrangement by local opportunists.

Wartime damage repairs to Greenwich Foot Tunnel still apparent today (author's photo)

Arguably the saddest part of the diary also shows that despite becoming hardened to the worst that the Blitz could throw at him, Bill Regan's humanity remained intact in the aftermath of the bombing of Saunders Ness School, in use by the Auxiliary Fire Service and which was largely destroyed on the night of 18th September 1940 with great loss of life. It soon became clear that the majority of the work for Bill's Squad would be recovery of victims, rather than rescue and he writes with great tenderness of how he personally insisted on removing the bodies of two young AFS Firewomen who had been recovered some time after the actual incident. These two girls were quite unmarked, looking to all effects as if they were sleeping and Bill's account of how he gently removed the two girls is extremely moving. Bill later learned that the two girls were named Joan Bartlett, aged 18 and Violet Pengelly, aged 19. They had the same Christian names as his own daughters (as well as his wife, Vi) and this fact moved Bill to tears.

Memorial Plaque at Millwall Fire Station to Joan Bartlett and Violet Pengelly (author's photo)

From the violence of the First Blitz, Bill Regan's diary goes on to cover life on the Island during the relatively quiet years of 1942 and 1943 before covering the Little Blitz and the V-1 campaign of 1944. The diaries end rather abruptly in mid-August 1944 without covering the remaining part of the V-1 campaign and omitting the V-2 Rocket incidents and VE Day completely, so perhaps this is the portion of the diary that Bill had already disposed of when his daughter Ann discovered it.

Despite this minor disappointment, Ann Regan-Atherton, together with Mick Lemmerman and Con Maloney have produced a fascinating and invaluable record of life in wartime London and I highly recommend it to you. The book runs to 200 pages and is priced at a very reasonable £10.95, with all proceeds from sales being donated to the Friends of Island History Trust, which is a charitable trust run by local people who wish to preserve and record the local history of the Isle of Dogs.

Heavy Rescue Squad Work on the Isle of Dogs: Bill Regan's Second World War Diaries - Ann Regan-Atherton, editors Mick Lemmerman and Con Maloney - CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2015. ISBN 9781519610867

We're Doomed! Dad's Army & The Real Home Guard

John Laurie as Private Frazer (Wikipedia)

Many readers of this blog will have watched the excellent 'We're Doomed!' on BBC Television last night, which for those who missed it told the story of how David Croft and Jimmy Perry came up with the idea of Dad's Army, the long running and much loved comedy about the Home Guard in the fictional seaside resort of Walmington on Sea, established as in real life, in the dark days of World War 2 when this country faced invasion.

The programme showed the battles faced by the two writers in getting the show commissioned and aired in the face of strong opposition from senior executives at the BBC, who obviously didn't know a good thing when they saw it. The idea was originally mooted by Jimmy Perry, who had served in the Home Guard as a 17 year old awaiting his call up and upon whom some of the characteristics of Private Pike were based, such as having a fussing mother who didn't approve of the 17 year old Perry being out all night in the cold.

The BBC is now very quick to wallow in self congratulation over hit comedy shows such as Dad's Army, The Goon Show and Monty Python, as well as many more but the truth is that all of these shows faced tremendous battles by their creators and casts in the teeth of serious opposition from BBC management, who always seemed afraid to do anything original and outside their comfort zone, perhaps for fear of causing offence, rather than recognizing that they were often dealing with inspired, creative forces.

It was this fear of causing offence that provided much of the initial opposition to Dad's Army, with the then controller of BBC1, Paul Fox being openly doubtful of the whole idea of a comedy show about the Home Guard, for fear of it being seen to be making fun of people who would have willingly laid down their lives in the event of a German invasion. Fox perhaps had a point but the writers insisted that one only had to read the scripts to see that although there was much gentle humour, there was also acknowledgement that despite the occasional bumbling and pomposity, there was indeed recognition that the men of the Walmington on Sea Home Guard would have been prepared to lay down their lives had the need arisen. For example, the series one episode "The Battle of Godfrey's Cottage", finds the platoon believing that the invasion has indeed come and at one point Captain Mainwaring, thinking that the platoon would have to buy time to allow the regular Army reinforcements to arrive, states to his men "It'll probably be the end of us, but we're ready for that aren't we men?" 

On reflection, Fox was probably right to insist on one more change, this time to the opening credits. Perry and Croft had originally planned to show real life archive footage of German soldiers on the march along with refugees fleeing ahead of them. Fox thought it wrong to use archive footage in this way, himself finding it offensive and feeling that others might have similar feelings. He insisted that it be changed and the now familiar simple animation sequence showing the British retreat through France, hotly pursued by three large 'German' arrows, forming the letter 'H', was substituted instead.

The show's characters were beautifully crafted, very well cast and very much reflected the  mixture of ages and backgrounds that made up the real life Home Guard. The platoon was led by Captain George Mainwaring (pronounced Mannering), played with a mixture of pomposity and bluster by Arthur Lowe. Mainwaring was the local bank manager and had not served in the First World War, sometimes much to the disgust of the dour Scot, Private James Frazer played by John Laurie. Frazer was a Royal Navy veteran of the Battle of Jutland and was the undertaker in Walmington on Sea, which suited his sometimes gloomy and pessimistic character.

Capt Mainwaring & Warden Hodges (author's collection)

Mainwaring's second in command was his chief clerk at the bank, the diffident Sergeant Arthur Wilson, played by John Le Mesurier. Unlike Mainwaring, Wilson had served in the Great War as a Captain and had seen action at Mons, Passchendaele and Gallipoli and this, combined with the fact that Wilson had been educated at a public school, caused the snobbish Mainwaring to be resentful of his better connected sergeant. Wilson, although he privately thought Mainwaring a pompous idiot, never allowed this to upset him and he usually went about his duties in a serene manner, preferring to make suggestions such as "Would you mind awfully falling in, please?" rather than shouting orders as a sergeant would do normally.

The remainder of the platoon is made up from a mixture of veterans, such as Boer War and Great War stalwart Corporal Jack Jones the butcher, played by Clive Dunn, who was in reality much younger than the character he played. Jones was a soldier down to his boots, although his age usually caused him to be a split second behind the rest of the platoon when conducting 'drill' on parade. He often told long, rambling and ultimately pointless stories about Lord Kitchener and 'Fuzzy Wuzzies' in The Sudan and was an exponent of the use of the bayonet - "They don't like the cold steel up 'em sir!" - as well as frequently reminding people not to panic in times of crisis, even though he was invariably the first to get excited!

Another veteran (and probably the oldest) member of the platoon was Private Godfrey, played by Arnold Ridley, who was a retired shop assistant from the Army & Navy Stores and who lived with his sisters Cissy and Dolly (who was renowned for her cake making abilities.) They lived in an idyllic cottage on the edge of the town and like Frazer, Jones and Wilson, Godfrey too took part in the Great War, although as a Conscientious Objector (at first derided for being so by Frazer) he served as a stretcher bearer and indeed won the Military Medal for his bravery in tending wounded men under fire at The Somme. With this background and also in view of his relative infirmity, Godfrey was appointed as the platoon's first aider.

The younger members of the platoon were Privates Walker, played by James Beck and Pike, played by Ian Lavender. Walker is a 'spiv' or as he preferred to put it, a 'Wholesale Supplier', who later in the series managed to avoid the call up to the Army due to an allergy to corned beef. Walker was able to procure pretty much anything for a price and was also something of a ladies man, often with his girlfriend (played by Wendy Richard) in tow at social events. By contrast, Pike was a Mummy's Boy who sucked his thumb at times of crisis and who sometimes wore an enormous scarf over his uniform, much to Mainwaring's disapproval, who frequently called him a "Stupid Boy!" It was also tacitly written into the script, though never overtly mentioned, that he was Wilson's son, through the latter's 'friendship' with Pike's mother, Mavis and he usually referred to Wilson as 'Uncle Arthur' much to Wilson's embarrassment.

There was also a plethora of supporting characters, including Mainwaring's nemesis, Chief Air Raid Warden William Hodges, played by Bill Pertwee. Hodges was a somewhat course figure, given to calling Mainwaring 'Napoleon' and who was usually at loggerheads with the platoon and perpetually looking for ways to thwart them, efforts which usually ended in failure for the warden and his sidekick, Mr Yateman the Verger who was played by Edward Sinclair. The platoon was based at the Church Hall and the long suffering vicar, the Reverend Timothy Farthing, played by Frank Williams often played the role of peacemaker between Mainwaring and Hodges.

'We're Doomed' also describes how Jimmy Perry wrote to one of his childhood heroes, Bud Flanagan (played here by the great Roy Hudd) in order to ask him to perform the show's now famous theme tune "Who do you think you are kidding Mr Hitler?" Flanagan agreed to perform and in a very poignant scene, Perry is moved to tears as Flanagan sings the song perfectly in one take and before leaving the studio, remarks to Perry that the song reminded him of those he had sung during the war.

The series, like all good comedy programmes, featured a multitude of catch phrases such as "Don't Panic", "You stupid boy", "Ruddy Hooligans!" "Put that light out!" and of course, Private Frazer's very own "We're Doomed!" as well as many others that are still remembered today, no doubt as the show is still often repeated and is still funny, which is not a bad effort for a show which is 47 years old.

Despite the best efforts to stop the show, Dad's Army was first broadcast in 1968 and went on for nine series. It was also voted 13th in a survey by the British Film Institute of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes.

Dad's Army was superbly written by people who had lived through those times and in Perry's case, who had served in the Home Guard and was acted by people who had also for the most part lived during the war and had often served in the Forces during the war. It was beautifully observed and immediately struck a chord with the British public, not only with the wartime generation but also with younger people, who perhaps recognized traits from their parents or grandparents.

Watching how Dad's Army was conceived and eventually made it to the small screen got me thinking of our own real life Home Guard and especially in my own locality of Greenwich and Woolwich. Through my various researches at the excellent Greenwich Heritage Centre, I do know a little of these men and thought it appropriate to share some of the various photographs I have unearthed.

On 14th May 1940, with the invasion of this country beginning to look imminent, the Secretary of State for War, Anthony Eden made a radio broadcast in which he announced the formation of the Local Defence Volunteers or LDV for short and appealed for volunteers to come forward. The criteria was that men had to be aged between the ages of 17 and 65, not eligible for military service and reasonably fit. There was no shortage of volunteers but there was at this time a shortage of uniforms and equipment. The bulk of the British Expeditionary Force was to be successfully evacuated from France in the ensuing weeks but apart from their rifles, the bulk of their equipment had to be destroyed and left behind. This did not dissuade the embryonic Home Guard, as they were renamed in July 1940 and training continued apace, whilst the supply of weapons gradually improved, with First World War Ross Rifles being brought out of storage as well as instruction in how to carry out guerilla warfare using Molotov Cocktails amongst other improvised weapons. Fortunately, there was never any need to put these makeshift weapons into action against German Panzers.

'R' Sector Home Guard at Southend Hall, Eltham 1942 (Greenwich Heritage Centre)

In Greenwich, the local Home Guard was the 25th County of London Battalion, based in Blackheath at Hollyhedge House and the 34th County of London (London River South) Battalion. In Woolwich, there were again two battalions, the 22nd County of London (Royal Arsenal) and the 26th County of London based at Lowood House on Shooter's Hill Golf Course.

The photograph of 'R' Sector at Eltham taken in 1942, shows a similar mixture in ages as the Dad's Army platoon and there are many proudly wearing their First World War medal ribbons, although not even Jimmy Perry and David Croft could invent the somewhat fearsome character wearing the eye patch!

The 26th County of London Battalion had originally been formed as the 19th Company, LDV and rather confusingly, kept the Roman Numerals 'XIX' as their Unit Badge even after they had adopted their new Home Guard identity. Their original commander, a Mr Shrewsbury was transferred elsewhere at a relatively early stage, although he seems to have been well regarded and was replaced by Major Arthur Dickens, who was highly thought of both as a great and tireless organiser as well as being a great gentleman. Sadly, Major Dickens, not a young man, passed away in 1943 and was replaced by Major HRJ Tobin, who saw the battalion through to the end of the war and the 'stand down' in 1944.

26th County of London Battalion in 1942 - Major Dickens front centre wearing gloves (GHC)

In addition to their anti-invasion duties, the Home Guard performed invaluable service manning guard posts and thus freeing up regular soldiers for front line duties. They also manned anti aircraft guns, which explodes the myth that they never fired a shot in anger.

With the coming of the American entry into the war and the subsequent Allied invasion of France in June 1944, the Home Guard's relevance diminished and they were 'stood down' on 3rd December 1944 but not officially disbanded until the end of that year. The 26th Battalion held a 'Stand Down' Dinner and Cabaret on the 4th December 1944 and the programme to this event survives in the Greenwich Heritage Centre. It looks to have been quite a night and no doubt many beers were sunk and many tall tales exchanged!

Stand Down Cabaret (Author's Collection)

Once the Home Guard was disbanded, each member who had served received a certificate signed by the King, which stated that the holder of the certificate had "In the years when our country was in mortal danger, given generously of his time and powers to make himself ready for her defence by force of arms and with his life if need be."

Home Guard Service Certificate (Author's collection)

The words on the certificate say it all and in it's own small way, Dad's Army does the real life men of the Home Guard and indeed the British people as a whole during the dark days of 1940, a great honour.

Unpublished Sources:

26th County of London Battalion documents - Greenwich Heritage Centre

Book Review: The Last Big Gun

Front cover (Author's image)

Regular readers of this blog might remember that in the October 2015 edition of this blog, we broke new ground by printing some book reviews of some new additions to my library. I'm pleased to say that following a positive response that was reflected in comments received via social media and in the readership figures for the blog, I have decided to include a few more reviews in the coming weeks and months as and when new books are received.

The latest new title to arrive on my doormat is another from one of the foremost naval historians of our times, Brian Lavery, entitled The Last Big Gun: At War & At Sea with HMS Belfast and is a 352 page, full narrative 'biography' of the ship, the first such account to be written.

Since 1971, HMS Belfast has been an integral part of the London tourist scene and in the 44 years that she has been berthed in the Upper Pool of London, she has become a familiar sight to Londoners and visitors alike; in fact the imposing and purposeful looking cruiser has served in her current role for longer than she saw active service with the Royal Navy.

In this well written and lavishly illustrated book, Brian Lavery tells the story of the Royal Navy's last surviving 'big gun' cruiser from the inception of her design and building at Belfast's famous Harland & Wolff Shipyard, via her near demise just months after commissioning following massive damage caused by a German magnetic mine, her subsequent repairs that amounted to a major reconstruction at Devonport Dockyard, service on the Arctic Convoys and her part in the Battle of North Cape, in which the German battlecruiser Scharnhorst was sunk. The author then goes on to describe HMS Belfast's role at Normandy in 1944, followed by her service with the British Pacific Fleet in the immediate aftermath of the Japanese surrender.

The cruiser's post war service, which was largely in the Far East, is also well covered. These duties varied from traditional peace time 'showing the flag' duties to further active service during the so-called 'Yangtse Incident' of 1949 and during the Korean War from 1950-52, where she provided invaluable gunfire support to Allied forces. HMS Belfast's second major reconstruction from 1955-59 is also covered as are her final years of service, once again mainly as part of the Far East Fleet before her relegation to the Reserve Fleet in 1964 and what looked the inevitable ignominy of the breaker's yard, a fate shared by so many of the Royal Navy's wartime fleet.

Brian Lavery covers the rescue of the wartime cruiser in some detail and explains that whilst the British have a fine maritime tradition and an enviable array of preserved ships from the age of sail and the early days of steam, such as HMS Victory, HMS Warrior, the Mary Rose, Cutty Sark and the Great Britain, our record of preserving great warships from the more modern era, especially in comparison with the United States, is less than enviable. The saving of HMS Belfast from what looked her certain end in the scrapyard began to at least partially reverse this 'sea blindness' when it came to preserving our historic warships and we do at least now have the destroyer HMS Cavalier and submarine HMS Alliance to swell the ranks a little, although in this reviewer's opinion, it is nothing short of a national scandal that we failed to preserve for future generations at least one of our fleet of battleships at the end of the Second World War.

Of course, the history of any ship would not be complete without the stories of the crew members and this book is as much of a social history of the Royal Navy during the years of HMS Belfast's existence as that of a history of the ship herself as these two facets are intertwined very skillfully by the author. Fortunately though, the personal accounts never become the centre of attention and Brian Lavery has achieved a nice balance between these accounts and the hard facts behind the ship's various activities both in war and peacetime.

Brian Lavery has produced a very readable biography of HMS Belfast, that should appeal to both the serious naval historian and those with a more general interest in the Royal Navy and it's history alike. The book costs a very reasonable £25.00, is published by The Pool of London Press and I highly recommend it to you.

The Last Big Gun: At War & At Sea with HMS Belfast -  Brian Lavery - The Pool of London Press Ltd, 2015. ISBN 9781910860014

http://www.pooloflondon.com

Remembering "The Heroes with Grimy Faces"

The newly unveiled plaque (author's photo)

On Thursday last, 12th November, I was fortunate enough to be invited to Euston Fire Station to attend the unveiling of the latest memorial plaque to London's fallen Second World War firefighters provided by the charity Firemen Remembered organized by the redoubtable Stephanie Maltman.

This plaque, the most recent in an ongoing project, commemorates two London Fire Brigade firefighters and one from the AFS or Auxiliary Fire Service, who lost their lives on the night of 16th/17th September 1940, whilst tackling a fire in Great Portland Street in the midst of an air raid.

The three men, Senior Fireman Thomas William Curson, Auxiliary Fireman Albert Evans and District Officer Joseph Leonard Tobias, inevitably known as 'Toby', were fighting fires that were started by German bombs falling on office buildings in Great Portland Street. The first incident was logged in the St Marylebone Civil Defence Incident Log at 22:15 as a fire above the air raid shelter, which was located in the basement of a five storey office building. At 22:35, a further bomb fell which set fire to a gas main, followed by what turned out to be a false alarm of a UXB. However, no chances could be taken and the nearby BBC studios at Broadcasting House and Western House were evacuated whilst a search for the unexploded device could be undertaken. In the meantime, the men from Station 73 as Euston Fire Station was known, were racing to the scene, under the command of District Officer Tobias. Upon arrival, they encountered a nightmarish scene but one which London's firefighters, both regulars and auxiliaries, had become accustomed to over the past ten days since the beginning of the London Blitz. The two upper floors of the building were already well alight and the fires were rapidly spreading to the other parts of the building. Quickly, Tobias deployed his men and lines of hose were laid and jets of water were soon at work both from inside the building and from the roof of an adjacent building. Euston's Turntable Ladder or 'TL' was put to work, with a lone fireman at the very top of the massive ladder, directing his jet onto the flames beneath him.

The scene of devastation in Great Portland Street (author's collection)

All this was going on whilst the raid was still progressing and with further bombs falling all around. Shortly after 23:00 disaster struck; a High Explosive bomb scored a direct hit on the TL, throwing it's main chassis through the front of 112 Great Portland Street and killing outright Thomas Curson and Albert Evans. District Officer Tobias was caught in the blast and mortally wounded. The frame and extensions of the Turntable Ladder were blasted upwards by the explosion and came to rest on the roof of the building, whilst the upper extension, the part being manned by the lone fireman came to rest hanging precariously down the front of the building. Of the fireman, there was not a sign and the survivors at first feared the worst and felt that he must have been thrown into the blazing building. Amazingly though, a faint cry for help was then heard coming from beneath a pile of debris in the street. The firemen frantically cleared the debris and discovered an Army officer who had just happened to passing when the bomb exploded but beneath him was the injured fireman from the top of the ladder - badly injured but still alive!

Close up view showing the chassis of the Turntable Ladder embedded in the shop front of 112 Great Portland Street (author's collection)

The blast from this bomb, apart from devastating the TL, severely damaged surrounding properties, fracturing both water and gas mains, as well as sending falling masonry tumbling into the street. Apart from those killed, two further firefighters, Fireman Arthur White and Auxiliary Fireman Tom Witherwick were badly injured . At this point, Station Officer Ted Morgan assumed command of the situation and under his calm leadership, the injured were rescued, an alternative water supply was located and the fires were successfully tackled. An extract from the subsequent official report states:

"Station Officer Morgan showed initiative and set an excellent example to the men under his command in taking charge of and extinguishing a fire in Great Portland Street on 16th September 1940, after renewed bombing of the fire had wrecked a turntable ladder and killed or injured a number of the crew and the officer in charge. Recommended for George Medal."

This recommendation was subsequently downgraded to the British Empire Medal, perhaps because Morgan had already been awarded a George Medal for rescuing a lady from a burning building on 29 December 1940. Edward Morgan was obviously a very gallant man because in addition to these two decorations, he went on to be awarded the King's Police & Fire Service Medal for Gallantry for the rescue of a family in March 1941.

A view of the crater in Great Portland Steet (author's collection)

As for 'Toby' Tobias, he died from his wounds the following day, on 17th September 1940.

Apart from Stephanie and other members of Firemen Remembered, last Thursday's ceremony was attended by Sir Keir Starmer, MP for Holborn & St Pancras as well as the Reverend Anne Stevens, vicar of St Pancras and the Reverend Mia Hilborn, Senior Brigade Chaplain for the London Fire Brigade. Also present were many of the members of White Watch from Euston Fire Station, paying tribute to their Wartime counterparts.

Members of White Watch, Euston Fire Station pay tribute to their wartime counterparts (author's photograph)

As might be expected of those who put their lives on the line to protect others, London's firefighters from the London Fire Brigade, Auxiliary Fire Service and from August 1941, the National Fire Service paid a heavy price and by the end of the war, some 327 had been killed in the line of their duties.

Therefore, the work of Firemen Remembered is far from complete and further plaques across London are planned for the future and will be reported on this blog as and when they appear.

The plaque unveiled last Thursday at Euston Fire Station will soon be mounted on the exterior of the Central Synagogue in Great Portland Street, which is close to the scene of the original incident.

Published Sources:

A Wander Through Wartime London - Clive Harris & Neil Bright, Pen & Sword, 2010
London Fire Region Deaths on Duty during the Second World War - WF Hickin, The Watchroom, 2005

Unpublished Sources:

Account of Great Portland Street incident - Mike Pinchen, Firemen Remembered
Metropolitan Borough of St. Marylebone Civil Defence Incident Log

The Blitz and Peace in The Pleasaunce

Simon & Barry Day, Ann Veitch and Chris Mansfield (author's photo)

For those not familiar with the area, East Greenwich Pleasaunce is one of those hidden gems that one can find in London, a green oasis of peace that provides valuable open space for the local community. It is a public park but also houses a Royal Naval cemetery that provides the final resting place for around 3,000 sailors who had spent their final days at the former Royal Naval Hospital, later to become better known as the Royal Naval College, Greenwich.

In common with many of London's open spaces, the onset of the Second World War saw East Greenwich Pleasaunce turned over to more warlike usage, with part being used as allotments to boost local food production in the so-called 'Dig for Victory' campaign, with another part allocated as a trench air raid shelter with a capacity for 150 people. These trench shelters appeared in open spaces across London in the early days of the war as an expedient for those people who did not have a garden to accommodate the iconic Anderson Shelter but were not well liked by Londoners and with good reason. They quickly gained a reputation for being cold, damp and not particularly safe places of refuge. This was a reputation which spread after a particularly nasty incident at Kennington Park on the night of 15th October 1940, when a trench shelter located in the park was 'near missed' by a 50 kg bomb, causing the packed shelter to partially collapse, burying alive hundreds of people. The final death toll was believed to be 104, of whom the bodies of only 54 were recovered during the frantic rescue effort. The remaining victims lie buried beneath the park to this day.

Locations of local shelters in 1939 (author's collection)

East Greenwich Pleasaunce is hemmed in by the Southern Railway on one side and by housing on the other three sides, so it was perhaps inevitable that bombs would fall on and around the area. Apart from bombs which fell on surrounding properties and on the railway line, the local Civil Defence Incident Log recorded a High Explosive Bomb falling shortly after midday on 18th October 1940. No damage was recorded and to this day, the exact location of the bomb remains sketchy but this incident, mentioned in a casual conversation with local resident Neil Sharman, was the catalyst for an extraordinary community event that came to fruition last Sunday, on the exact seventy fifth anniversary of the raid.

Land Girl Lizzie with Barry & Simon (Eve Daniels)

Neil had noticed during a rare dry spell in the English summer, the outline of what was the trench shelter and upon learning the fact that the Pleasaunce had been 'collateral damage' from a bomb no doubt intended for the railway line during one of the Luftwaffe's 'tip and run' daylight raids during the dying days of the Battle of Britain, decided it would be a nice idea to commemorate the event with a community day to mark 75 years of 'Peace in the Pleasaunce.'

A panoramic view of the event gives an idea of the numbers attending (Neil Sharman)

Several local groups were brought on board and a small committee formed to build an afternoon's wartime themed event, focusing on the more positive aspects of life in Wartime London, such as the community spirit and bonds formed between people at the time, songs and music from the period, how people lived and how the war inevitably shaped people's lives. All of us involved in the event felt that it was also important to honour those local residents from the 1940s, some of whom still live in the area and who still use the Park. An appeal through the excellent local newspaper, The Greenwich Visitor and via the thriving Cafe in the Pleasaunce, Pistachios in the Park, tracked down three such 'veterans' from the time, Barry, Charles and Vic, all of whom are remarkably sprightly and were only too happy to share their memories from those times.

After much hard work, the day of the event finally dawned and the casual visitor to the Pleasaunce might have wondered if they had unwittingly wandered into a time warp that had taken them back to the London of the 1940s, with soldiers, Land Girls, an ATS Driver and a wartime Policeman on patrol, carrying the inevitable 'tin hat' in case the sirens should sound!

This young local resident tries on a Tin Hat for size! (Neil Sharman)

Fortunately, there were no sirens, no bombers and no bombs falling and the afternoon concentrated on the more peaceful aspects of 1940s life but without forgetting why we were there and what we were commemorating. Local people responded to the event magnificently, with over 200 enjoying the autumn sunshine and joining the event.

The afternoon opened with the local Halstow Choir singing a range of well known songs from the era, including my own personal favourite song from that time 'A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square' as well as other favourites such as 'We'll Meet Again', 'The White Cliffs of Dover' and 'You Are My Sunshine.' 

Local re-enactors, Barry and Simon Day, Ann Veitch and Chris Mansfield, dressed as a Major from 1st SAS, a Sergeant from the Ox & Bucks Glider Airborne, an ATS Driver and a wartime 'Bobby' mingled with the crowds and happily posed for photographs and fielded questions as to the roles played by their real-life counterparts in wartime. The musical theme continued with local singer Rachel Jenkins and her group 'Scarlet', whilst Rich Sylvester entertained the children with the story of Chicken Licken, which with it's connotations of the sky falling in, must have seemed quite appropriate to any Londoners living through the Blitz at the time.

A part of the wartime memorabilia on display (author's photo)

A memory trail formed largely of reminiscences from our local 'veterans' Barry, Charles and Vic was to be found around the Pleasaunce, whilst a Blitz Quiz also teased the minds of those attending. Apart from the Blitz veterans we knew would be attending, we had a most pleasant surprise in the form of two amazing local ladies, May Wellard and Joan Harbottle who decided to come along. These two ladies, both in their 90s, had vivid memories of living and working in the area during the Blitz and were happy to share their memories of those times, making lots of new friends in the process. The 'Blitz Spirit' epitomized!

The Friends of the East Greenwich Pleasaunce reminded everyone of the Park's 'Dig for Victory' connections and encouraged present day visitors to do the same, this time though with spring bulbs rather than fruit and vegetables!

The Cafe did a brisk trade in teas and coffees, thankfully these days not rationed, as well as a nice line in Spam Sandwiches, French Baguettes and remembering Noel Coward's exhortation of 'Don't Let's be Beastly to the Germans', Hot Dogs with German sausages!

For those more interested in more static exhibits, we also had a fairly sizeable display of wartime memorabilia, including uniforms, medals and badges (British & German), books, photographs, bullets and shrapnel (which had been found on the Thames foreshore at Greenwich).

The writer of this blog contributed with a short illustrated talk about the Blitz and it's impact on the people and buildings of Greenwich before fielding many questions and the afternoon was rounded off by a return appearance from the Halstow Choir, who got many in the audience joining in with their rousing singalong.

All in all, it was a most enjoyable afternoon, with a genuinely warm community feel to it and as we were clearing up in the gathering October dusk, this writer was certain that he heard a Nightingale singing in East Greenwich Pleasaunce......

Thanks to all of my new friends who helped arrange and organise this event and to all those who attended, especially our amazing veterans, Barry, Charles and Vic as well as May and Joan, all of whom truly epitomized the Blitz Spirit.

For those wondering about the Kids' Blitz Quiz - here it is below. It's nothing too strenuous, so give it a try and send your answers via the comments form!

The Pleasaunce Blitz Event Quiz

How well do you know the language of the Blitz? Below are seven words or phrases and below that are seven explanations. Can you match the words to the explanation?

1. Dog Fight

2. Ack Ack

3. Rest Centre

4. Hermann

5. Moaning Minnie

6. Morrison

7. Doodlebug

a) A cage-like, table sized construction that could be used as a refuge to shelter inside a house. They came in self assembly form and the householder bolted it together.

b) Two or more planes battling with each other in the sky.

c) The nickname given by Londoners to the air raid sirens that gave warning of a coming raid and the need to take shelter.

d) The place you were directed to if you emerged from the shelter to find your house destroyed.

f) Slang for a German V-1 Flying Bomb.

g) The nickname given to the largest type of German bomb in regular use, so called because of it's supposed likeness to Reichsmarschall Goering.