Wartime Memories: Pa's Army

Being the grand age of 5 at the end of the War most of my recollections are small incidents that for some reason have lodged in my memory.

I remember the day the officials arrived and carted off our majestic iron gates for the war effort. I remain puzzled to this day as to the purpose of this vandalism. The idea of building a Spitfire with our front gates engaged my young mind for a considerable time. However later I became an Aircraft Apprentice and quickly realised that they were so heavy any poor pilot that had our gates in their aircraft was at a considerable disadvantage.

Another memory was the issuing of the Gas Mask. I, being a big boy, had the proper mask and I remember the off-putting smell of rubber on the first trail fitting. My brother was a baby, so I guess the time would be 1942 he had the luxury of “all the embracing live in” mask. To the best of my memory it looked like a large Gas Mask with the filter looking like a pig snout at one end and a large picture window to observe the forth coming catastrophe at the other end. I was very worried about the fate of my brother in this menacing contraption especially with that smell of all that rubber, never mind the gas. The masks were then placed on top of the wardrobe ready for immediate issue in the event of a gas attack.

I am happy to report they were never needed, I have no idea what happened to them but was extremely glad I never had to wear mine.

My Pa was in a reserved occupation. He worked at the Gloster Aircraft Company in Hucclecote as a draughtsman, working on the Hawker Hurricane it was built under licence there during the war.

He had entered the Navy as a boy of 16 and had left in 1937 two years before war was declared. This seems to have caused him a problem as during the war he continually tried to rejoin the Navy. He was always stopped from doing so because of his job. This did not stop him on two occasions going missing, the second time he was gone for a week my poor mother had no idea where he was. Eventually he arrived home escorted by the police. He had managed to rejoined the Navy I am not sure under what name but was actually onboard a ship when found and arrested.

The point of this background is that he eventually found solace in the Home Guard and being an ex Mariner had a rank to suit a gentleman.

Which leads into a great story he told me that still brings a smile to my face after so many years. At a point in the war a rocket was introduced that was used as an Anti-Aircraft weapon. The weapons were set in a field in a square pattern and the rockets were fired electrically. The rockets were fired in this square pattern and detonated at a certain height destroying the invading enemy aircraft. I hope you get the idea.

A small fly in the ointment was the phrase, fired electrically, setting up the rockets was a very tricky job as the distance for the spark to ignite the rocket was critical. The Officers in charge of this new project decided that a practice firing would probably be a wise precaution. So my Pa’s troop was dispatched to the beaches of Wales for a practice firing., but there was a degree of murmuring and unease amongst the them at the dodgy nature of this wonder weapon.

Eventually arriving in Wales the Home Guard are introduced to the beach and the new fearsome weapon. Hunched in their dugout on the beach just a few feet away from the rockets are the first volunteers with the button to fire the rockets. The officers and Pa are ensconced farther up the beach in their trench. The order is given, fire, the lads in the dugout do their bit and up go the rockets.

A moment passes the officers and Pa watch as the smoke clears, in the distance a small head appears above the dug out and quickly spots one rocket has not left the launcher. So with quickness of mind and showing true British grit leaps out of the dug out and legs it across the beach putting as much distance as possible between himself and the dreaded rocket. Suddenly he is stopped in mid flight his two legs are going so fast they fly out in front of him and he crashes on his back to the sand. All are amazed at what they have just seen, then the solution to this sudden stop becomes apparent. Our hero had completely overlooked the fact that the headphones to the field telephone over which he had received the order to fire was still securely attached to his head. There was no way the cable, of considerable thickness, being British built and for the Military was going to break. So it had securely anchored a hasty retreat. I have no record of what happened to our hero, but I think we won the war.

Then there was the time Pa was released for Dunkirk, buts that another story.

© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.