Shropshire at War, 1939–45

By Janet Johnstone

With the outbreak of the Second World War, Shropshire authorities immediately implemented pre-arranged plans to cope with the approaching conflict on the Home Front, including the building of air raid shelters and pillboxes and the renovation of redundant camps and disused airfields.Men not eligible for the services volunteered for the LDV (later the Home Guard), the AFS and the ARP. Women were recruited for a variety of other posts, with members of the WVS dealing with a massive influx of evacuees from Merseyside and Smethwick right from the start.Shropshires factories turned to armament production, coal mines increased their output and farmers cultivated more acreage (an extra 47,000 acres ploughed for food production in the first year of the war).PoW Camps sprang up, with prisoners frequently seen being transported to work on local farms, while uniformed servicemen and women from Britain, the Commonwealth and America became familiar sights on the streets.Using a variety of sources, including newspapers and verbal testimonies, the author paints a picture of the effect that six years of war had on those Salopians who, when others marched away, remained on the Home Front. Their struggles, acceptance of shortages, hardships and determination not to give in are reflected throughout this book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: May 30, 2018
• ISBN: 9781473858985

Book preview

Introduction

With the outbreak of the Second World War on 3 September 1939, Shropshire’s authorities, along with the rest of Britain, immediately put into place plans that had been ready for action for some time.

It wasn’t long before, in towns, villages and hamlets, Salopians were opening their doors to evacuees from Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham. Many of the youngsters who arrived, confused and no doubt already missing their families, would at the end of the war, having tasted a different way of life, choose either to remain in the county or return as soon as they could.

Far from the south coast, Shropshire was ideally situated for the construction of new airfields, in addition to those already in place which were rapidly undergoing an intensive overhaul. Many of the planes that flew out of those airfields throughout the war years were manufactured from components made in local factories.

As a largely agricultural county, Shropshire’s farmers and landowners were once again exhorted to increase their yield of foodstuffs, despite the inherent difficulties which would arise due to a shortage of labour. Once again, as in the First World War, women came to the fore and, together with locally billeted forces personnel, prisoners of war (PoWs), school children and conscientious objectors, were invaluable to farmers throughout the conflict.

The county had long been engaged in the mining of valuable commodities such as coal, lead, copper, ironstone, zinc, limestone and clay and areas as widespread as Coalbrookdale, Clee Hill and Oswestry, were required to vastly increase their output of raw materials as they played their part in supporting the war effort.

Shropshire’s engineering factories were quickly diverted from their usual products into the manufacture of parts for planes, tanks and other essential equipment, whilst other factories, previously engaged in making such items as toys found they too would prove invaluable in producing items for the war effort.

Using information from a variety of sources, this book endeavours to cover all aspects of what life was like for Salopians and their guests, both refugees and evacuees, on the home front during the dark days of the Second World War. I can only apologise for what is not included, Shropshire is a sizeable county and there are many more equally important stories out there waiting to be recorded.

What I hope the book does achieve is to highlight the stoicism of Salopians. As the county’s young men and women were called up for service their thoughts must have mirrored those of their fathers and grandfathers who, just twenty-five years previously, had marched away to fight in what became known as the most devastating war the world had ever known. Now it was their turn to face an evil enemy. In 1939 as lorries and trains took Shropshire’s servicemen and women far away, many must have taken a last look at the long hogsback shape of the 1,100ft high Wrekin hill rising up on the skyline in east Shropshire and wondered if they would ever see it again.

Those they left behind were very aware that dangerous and austere times were on the way but were nevertheless determined throughout those dark days to ‘keep the home fires burning’ until once more, the lucky ones returned home to their families.

You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word. It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.

Winston Churchill

CHAPTER 1

War Breaks Out

‘There’ll always be an England…’

(Parker & Charles)

In September 1938 Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returned to Britain after undertaking crucial talks in Munich with Adolf Hitler. At the meeting, terms had been agreed that Sudetenland could be annexed back under Germany’s control, an area which had been since the end of the First World War, part of Czechoslovakia. Sudentenland, with its mainly German population, had been a major problem since 1919 with frequent demands made that it be returned to Germany. The Sudeten Nationalist Party, later the Nazi Party, led by Konrad Henlein worked hard to make sure this result was achieved, highlighting particularly the dissatisfaction of Sudeten German workers, laid off when the mainly industrial economy was hit hard during the Great Depression.

Anti-Semitic and anti-Czech feeling was actively encouraged by the Nationalist Party who staged frequent hostile incidents. This was a matter of great concern not only for the Czechoslovakian government but also the governments of Great Britain and France, both of whom were only just beginning to recover from the devastating effects of the First World War and were struggling to return to pre-war standards. Consequently they were extremely anxious to avoid another conflict just twenty-one years after the end of the last war.

Despite agreeing during talks to settle many of the grievances raised, including acceptance of a pro-German foreign policy in 1937 and 1938, the Czechoslovakian government was unable to reach full agreement with Adolf Hitler. It was in later years that Hitler’s hidden agenda, the annexing of Sudetenland, would be recognised as the first step towards taking over Czechoslovakia completely.

The continuing disagreement on proposals led to further conferences on 29 and 30 September 1938, these taking place in Munich. In attendance were Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, Édouard Daladier, the French Premier, Benito Mussolini, the Italian dictator and Chancellor Adolf Hitler of Germany.

Mussolini presented a plan (later found to have been drafted by the German Foreign Office) depicting how borders could be re-drawn. The final outcome of the meeting, known as the Munich Pact, resulted in Czechoslovakia being given an ultimatum by Britain and France: either it could face the enemy alone or submit. Czechoslovakia chose to submit and by 10 October the German army was in occupation of the area previously known as Sudentenland.

On his arrival at Heston Aerodrome, West London on 30 September 1938, Chamberlain was immediately surrounded by crowds of reporters anxious to hear the result of the Munich talks. Holding aloft the Anglo-German Declaration he announced.

‘The settlement of the Czechoslovakian problem, which has now been achieved, is in my view only the prelude to a larger settlement in which all Europe might find peace. This morning I had another talk with the German Chancellor Herr Hitler and (holding aloft the agreement) here is the paper which bears his name upon it as well as mine... We regard the agreement signed last night and the Anglo-German Naval Agreement as symbolic of the desire of our two peoples never to go to war with one another again.’

Back in London Chamberlain read out the document again to crowds assembled in Downing Street announcing: ‘My good friends for the second time in our history (a reference to the Treaty of Berlin in 1878) a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Go home and get a nice quiet sleep.’

Despite Chamberlain being welcomed as a peacemaker on his return to Britain, (he was invited to join the Royal Family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to acknowledge cheering crowds gathered around the Victoria Memorial), Winston Churchill, who had seen the danger Adolf Hitler posed as early as 1930, violently disagreed with the result of the Munich talks.

‘You were given the choice between war and dishonour. You chose dishonour and you will have war,’ he announced. He wasn’t the only one to have doubts; members of both parties, Labour and Conservative, disagreed with the outcome of the treaty.

Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of Britain 1937 to 1940. Optimistic of ‘peace for our time’ he met with Hitler in Munich. A disastrous campaign in Norway resulted in his resignation and he was replaced by Winston Churchill.

By March 1939 Hitler had annexed the rest of Czechoslovakia and on 1 September at 4.45am, German troops invaded Poland. A demand by Britain that Germany withdraw from Polish territory by 9am on 3 September with a deadline for reply of 11am met with no response.

At 11.15am, Chamberlain once again broadcast to the British public:

This morning the British Ambassador in Berlin handed the German Government a final note stating that, unless we heard from them by 11 o’clock that they were prepared at once to withdraw their troops from Poland, a state of war would exist between us.

I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received, and that consequently this country is at war with Germany.

The reaction in Britain can only be imagined as the news spread, although many must have long suspected the inevitable outcome of the talks. Extensive plans to deal with conflict had also been put into place by the government twelve months earlier with an increase in the production of armaments and the building of new warships sanctioned. Also ready for action were procedures to deal with evacuation and rationing, advice on what to do in the event of a gas attack or air raid and recommendations on how to boost food production by planting crops on any spare land. This latter proved to be particularly essential in 1941 when enemy attacks against Allied shipping bringing in food from abroad were increased.

Many were well aware that this war would be very different to the last one and that soon the people of Britain and their allies would be experiencing a conflict which for the first time was aimed as much at civilians as the military.

Within hours of the declaration of war the passenger liner SS Athenia was sunk by a torpedo fired from a German U-boat resulting in the loss of 112 passengers and crew, twenty-eight of whom were American. At first Germany denied having attacked the liner, the Nazi Party going so far as to accuse Winston Churchill of having ordered its sinking in an attempt to bring America into the war.

On his return to Germany the commander of the U-boat, Fritz-Julius Lemp, delayed reporting his actions, fearing reprisals. It wouldn’t be until the Nuremberg Trials at the end of the war that the truth was finally made known; the commander had mistaken the ship for a merchant cruiser.

In August 1939 Parliament was recalled from summer recess and the Emergency Powers (Defence Act) 1939 quickly passed. With a mind to protecting the nation against enemy action and maintaining public order, the Act empowered King George VI and his government to introduce any such regulations deemed necessary in order to maintain public safety, Defence of the Realm, public order and the continuance of supplies and services for the good of the community.

SS Athenia, en route to Canada, the ship was torpedoed west of Ireland on 3 September 1939 having been mistaken by a U-30 submarine for an armed merchant or troop ship. The attack resulted in many casualties including women and children.

Included in the Act was the call-up of military reservists and Air Raid Precautions (ARP) volunteers. In the early days over half a million people took up posts with the Territorial Army (TA), the ARP and the RAFVR (Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve).

The Military Training Act requiring all fit British men aged 20 and 21 to undertake six months’ military training had been activated in April 1939; now, with the outbreak of war, more fighting men were required and the National Service (Armed Forces) Act introduced in October 1939 saw conscription of fit men aged between 18 and 41 years of age taking place, with single men called up for action before those who were married. By the end of 1939 over 1.5 million men had been recruited, the majority joining the Army, the rest divided between the RAF and Royal Navy.

Unlike in the First World War when women had not become involved until well into the conflict, this time they were both needed and essential, from the onset. In January 1940 Winston Churchill called for ‘a million women to help with war work,’ and by 1941 posters were appearing urging ‘Women of Britain – come into the Factories,’ underlining the urgent need for an increased workforce if Britain and its allies were to win the war.

From October 1939 to April 1940 what was referred to in Britain and France as the ‘phoney war’ occurred with seemingly little taking place in Western Europe. The Royal Air Force took the opportunity to drop propaganda leaflets over Germany in which the evils of the Nazis were made clear. Also serving as a propaganda exercise, it clearly showed the enemy how easy it had been for the planes to reach their target.

During this period many children and families who had been evacuated from cities, particularly London, at the start of the war returned home. Even the blackout was relaxed with low lighting turned on to reduce accidents on the roads in most areas, except for within 12 miles of the south coast.

The ‘phoney war’ ended abruptly when Germany invaded France and the Low Countries in May 1940. Reports of the sinking of ships by German U-boats shocked Britain and, spurred on by the escalation of hostilities, Anthony Eden, Secretary of State for War, made an impassioned radio appeal on 14 May 1940:

‘We want large numbers of men in Great Britain who are British subjects between the ages of seventeen and sixty-five to come forward now and offer their services in order to make assurance doubly sure. The name of the new force which is now to be raised will be the Local Defence Volunteers.’

His pleas were heard and it wasn’t long before men and women not eligible for call-up responded. Soon arrangements were being put in place throughout the country by local councils each with a firm determination to protect Britain from the Nazi threat.

CHAPTER 2

Shropshire Prepares

‘Keep right on to the end of the road...’

(Harry Lauder)

Three months prior to the outbreak of war in July 1939, Public Information Leaflet No.1 issued from the Lord Privy Seal’s Office was distributed throughout Britain with advice that recipients keep it in a safe place for future use.

Headed ‘Civil Defence, SOME THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW IF WAR SHOULD COME’ the added ominous warning ‘You may need it’ was one that could not be ignored.

The leaflet advised on actions to be taken in the event of war and covered such subjects as air raids, lighting restrictions, fire precautions, evacuations and use of gas masks. One recommendation suggested that householders should not bulk-buy goods so that everyone would have a fair share, this piece of advice proving particularly relevant in the coming years.

In a war that would see the public no longer safe from aerial raids (leading to the term ‘the people’s war’ being coined), one recommendation brought home the gravity of the situation. It was suggested that identity labels with names and addresses should be carried at all times, a chilling measure that would ensure bodies found after an air raid could be easily identified.

Life changed drastically for everyone after 3 September 1939. The government immediately put into place a raft of controls and regulations together with various ministries, the most essential being the Ministry of Food (MoF), Ministry of Information (MoI) and Ministry of Supply (MoS), thus ensuring the public was kept fully informed at all times. At the same time, local councils were made responsible for arrangements in their own towns and boroughs for the duration of the war and quickly formed boards and committees to cover all contingencies.

Civil Defence Public Information Leaflet No.1 ‘Some things you should know if war should come’ was issued by the Lord Privy Seal’s office in July 1939.

By mid September 1939 regulations affecting motor vehicles, horse-drawn vehicles and pedal cyclists were published. Drivers were required to stop and park close to the edge of the road or kerb if an air raid warning sounded, with headlamps doused and side and rear lamps left lit. Cars must be left unlocked with valuable articles removed, whilst vehicles carrying inflammable materials should be taken as far away from buildings as possible and left in an open space. Drivers of horse-drawn vehicles were instructed to unharness their animals and not leave them tied to lamp posts or railings, whilst cyclists were told they should not abandon their bicycles in the middle of the road or take them into air raid shelters.

In June 1940 the Ministry of Information, in co-operation with the War Office and Ministry of Home Security, sent out 15,000 million copies of a leaflet entitled ‘If the Invader Comes’ this being a reaction to the rapid advance of Nazi troops in Western Europe and the fear that soon they could be storming the shores of Britain. Understandably fear and consternation was felt by many, but some considered the wording of the leaflet treated the public as fools with instructions telling householders to ‘stay put’ and dire warnings that anyone running away could be ‘machine-gunned from the air’ by the enemy.

Also not appreciated was advice that an ARP warden or policeman be approached if an order was given by a suspected bogus British officer – who wouldn’t take that action in the circumstances?

The Squander Bug, Hitler’s Pal. An idea by the British National Savings Committee to discourage extravagant spending and drawn by illustrator and designer Phillip Boydell.

Soon posters giving Britons good advice were appearing on every wall. ‘Grow your own Food’, ‘Clear your Plate’, ‘In a Raid, open your door to passers-by’, ‘Wanted for Sabotage, the Squander Bug, alias Hitler’s Pal’. The designer of the latter, Phillip Boydell, had certainly gone to town on his illustration: a beetle-shaped creature covered in swastikas jumping up and down in frustration as, in a series of advertisements, he tried in vain to tempt people to buy unnecessary things.

With the outbreak of war any events which would see large gatherings of people were cancelled with the exception of church services. Cinemas and theatres were temporarily closed although it would be less than a fortnight before the majority re-opened. Eventually, with their contribution as public morale boosters recognised, full opening would be allowed in all areas.

Cinemas were invaluable in keeping people informed of the progress of the war through Pathé News as well as providing a series of short information films such as ‘Miss Grant goes to the Door’, part of which explained how to recognise a German paratrooper. Other films informed the audience what to expect in the event of an invasion, church bells (the ringing of which had been banned) would be tolled whilst the codeword ‘Cromwell’ would be broadcast on the radio.

Important during the war was the wireless where music, Worker’s Playtime, comedy It’s that Man Again’ (ITMA), and dramas such as The Man in Black were listened to avidly. No-one wanted to miss the regular news broadcasts either, where the announcer identified himself first so listeners would know it was a genuine transmission.

Radio broadcasts were used by the Prime Minister and the King to rally morale and set out Britain’s intentions. One broadcast to the nation by Churchill was made in May 1942 in which he assured listeners that Britain would not use chemical weapons against the Nazis unless provoked. ‘We are ourselves firmly resolved not to use this odious weapon unless it is first used by the Germans,’ he announced. ‘Knowing our Hun however, we have not neglected to make preparations on a formidable scale.’ Yet another thing for those at home to worry over.

Winston Churchill took over as Prime Minister from Neville Chamberlain in 1940. Well-known for his bulldog spirit he led Britain throughout the dark days of the Second World War.

Just two weeks after war broke out the Shrewsbury Chronicle published a description of the effect the conflict was having in Shropshire’s county town. ‘Within 24 hours,’ it reported, ‘the life of the town has been changed by mobilisation. Uniforms everywhere, shops busier, increased spending power, every day a market day...’ A situation no doubt reflected throughout the county in other towns and villages.

Shrewsbury Prison saw alterations in its routine; within weeks prisoners held there were put on short term sentences, this action taken in order that prisoners currently held in cities and towns at risk of bombing could be transferred to a safer location for the duration of their sentence.

Defence Regulations were even affecting Shropshire pigeon fanciers with some pigeon racing suspended for the duration of the war. Owners were advised that before their pigeons could be flown they would need to register their names and obtain a permit at Shrewsbury Borough Police station. This action was needed to avoid problems with birds on ‘official business’. During the war over a quarter of a million birds were donated by their owners and seconded into the National Pigeon Service with birds carrying vital information not only for the Forces but also for the Police, the Home Guard and Bletchley Park, the central site