- Contributed by
- BBC Open Centre, Hull
- People in story:
- Originally submitted to the Beverley Civic Society
- Location of story:
- Beverley. East Yorkshire.
- Background to story:
- Civilian
- Article ID:
- A4179918
- Contributed on:
- 11 June 2005
During the war agriculture was a Reserved Occupation and as a tractor driver for several years, in 1941 I joined a unit of drivers with the Ministry of Agriculture at St Mary’s Manor, Beverley.
My first job with the unit was to plough up the Hurn on Beverley Westwood, in January 1941. The land had not been ploughed up for several decades and it was very hard work. In the spring of 1941 the land was cultivated. The land proved to be very good and with plenty of fertilizer, it produced good crops. Over 200 acres of land was farmed on Beverley Westwood and 35 acres on Figham pasture by the Ministry with wheat, barley and potatoes. The plots were fenced off with wooden posts and thick wire. The Westwood was used for agriculture until 1950-51 when the grass was re-sown.
During the War when the farming work was over for the day, I was a Street Fire Watcher. We trained with the Fire Service some evenings and at weekends. I was in charge of a group and we reported in the street were we lived when the siren sounded. We were on duty looking for small fires from incendiary bombs. We patrolled until the “all clear” sounded. Some nights I only had 3-4 hours sleep, so life was very hard.
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