Wartime Memories

When I was about four or five World War II was happening and although we were well out of harms way at Straiton we did get a flavour of what the firing of guns sounded like. I do not know how the Army chose our neck of the woods for practice but each day lots of tanks came up and were situated two fields away on the road to Baing shepherd’s cottage. They constructed a moving target which ran along the back of a stone dyke on Genoch hill and fired two pound and six pound shells on to this target. These shells must have been passing about 75 yards from the end of our house.

This is a huge replica of these shells which is now sited in Queen Street Station, in Glasgow.

One morning while I was still in bed there was a tremendous noise and my mother came running through. She thought I had fallen out of bed. However it was the key of the bedroom door had been blown right out which illustrates just how close the shells were passing. I was quite scared during all this and in particular when the antitank convoys came up past our house, which sat right beside the road, and went on up the Newton Stewart road. The range beside us was too short for them to practise on and they had to go further up country to fire their 25 pound shells.

As they were firing across the road there was always a soldier on duty outside our door and another one further down at the other end of the flight path to stop traffic when the shells were being fired. Imagine my delight when my uncle Robert, my mother’s youngest brother, was one of the sentries on duty outside our house and he also got special permission to stay with us while his unit was up there. We were not supposed to speak to the soldiers while they were on duty but mum used to make tea for them with scones or pancakes. Rules were made to be broken!
We were lucky during war time as my father worked on a farm and was therefore exempt from joining the armed forces. He did however join the LDV (Land Defence Volunteers). This entailed keeping watch on top of a high hill in our area and I believe the exercise was to look out for paratroopers being landed. They didn’t have weapons and I am not therefore very sure what they could have done if paratroopers had landed!

There was food rationing but we were also fortunate in being able to have plenty of food as we had our own hens which gave us eggs and we could also cook an older bird which was “past its sell-by date”. We had a cow for milk and we made our own butter and we also had a garden where we could grow all our own vegetables. As part of my father’s pay he was allowed a sheep from the farmer and we could also rear a pig. This being so we had mutton and pork which lasted us all through the winter. There was also clothes rationing and everyone in the family had a book which entitled the holder to a limited number of items.

This was composed during the time that there were rumblings within Germany of Nazi proliferation and the signs were obviously there that there was going to be a war.

THE CRISIS l932

Our Country’s now in dark despair
This land with which none can compare
So let us all now do our share
And see what we can do.
Think on the boys, who faced the strife
Who faced the bombs and bullets rife
Who gave their all, aye gave their life
But pulled their country through.

In far off lands, there side by side
The Kaisers armies they defied
Before they’d yield, they nobly died
For home and me and you
Those heroes both on sea and shore
Who saved the land we all adore
Remember them for evermore
The boys that pulled us through.

Now we’ve let her sink again
Have those laddies fought in vain
The peace they brought us let it reign
And work like Briton’s true
Ye men that would our Country guide
Lay all your politics aside
And altogether say with pride
We’ll pull her safely through.

Don’t heed the agitator’s voice
Turn your back and him despise
We’ve got to pull together boys
To save the land we lo’e
So let our leaders all agree
On matters both on land and sea
As Rabbie said, let’s brithers be
An’ then we’ll pull her through.

This poem obviously composed about the Land Defence Volunteers mentioned above.

THE L.D.V.

What’s a’ the talk that’d spread aroon
Of Hitler and his knaves
That he’ll invade each British toon
And make us all his slaves
Of this I don’t believe a word
Let each ane wait and see
For first he’s got to cross the ford
Then meet the L.D.V.

In turn each one goes to his post
Upon the hill so steep
Out o’er the glens and round the coast
Their weary watch to keep
While the country folk are sleeping
As sound as sound can be
For they’re safely in the keeping
Of the L.D.V.

Just let his bombers come in waves
The Spitfires will attend
Or on the water send his braves
They quickly will descend
The R.A.F. is Britain’s splendour
And her glory is the sea
But she’s got a new defender
In the L.D.V.

There’s laddies frae the valley
The village and the glen
And every night they rally
Lest the paratroops descend
They were reared on milk and porridge
From invaders ne’er will flee
For there’s truth and right and courage
In the L.D.V.

To invade our native island
He some day yet may try
With our population smiling
As the troops come from the sky
But united we will bear it
For Britain must be free
And they’ll never break the spirit
Of the L.D.V.

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