A Child's War

by Mike Brown

  EIGHT

  Doing Their Bit

  Everyone was urged to do as much as they could towards the war effort – this was known as ‘doing your bit’. Children were encouraged to become involved in war service from an early age. With younger children this mainly took the form of salvage – collecting waste products for re-use; today we would call this recycling.

  Scrap materials collected included wastepaper, metal, bones, tinfoil, rubber, rags, bottles and jam-jars, as well as waste food and acorns for pig swill. Other collections included magazines and books for the forces, clothes for refugees and air-raid victims, and herbs, seaweed, horse-chestnuts, rose hips and nettles for use in making medicines.

  The government did its best to involve children in as many ways as possible. The following leaflet was issued in 1941 by the Ministry of Information. It sets out some of the many ways in which they could ‘do their bit’.

  This leaflet specially concerns those between 14 and 18 years of age

  YOU CAN HELP YOUR COUNTRY

  THE DIFFERENCE between this war and previous wars is that now we are all in the front line in a struggle for the principles of freedom and justice and respect for the laws of God and honour amongst men. Whether we are in uniform or not, we are in the war. And no matter how young we are or how old we are there are jobs we can do for our country. This particular leaflet contains some suggestions for those who are between 14 and 18 years of age.

  LOOK THROUGH this list of jobs to be done. Tick off any which you are already doing – and you’ll probably be surprised to find how many there still are for you to tackle. Make up your mind which of them you would like to do or are able to do, and then get on with as many useful jobs as you can.

  KNOW YOUR WAY ABOUT

  If you’re going to be handy in an emergency you should get to know everything about the district where you live. Where exactly are the Air Raid Shelters, the First Aid Posts, the Fire Stations, the Telephone Boxes, the Police Stations, the Footpaths and the Short Cuts? If you know where they are you may be able to save someone a few precious moments in an air raid. It is particularly important to know short cuts and footpaths. So get to know them now.

  BEGIN AT HOME

  a. If you want to be useful you should begin at home. You might make it your particular business to take charge of some of the Air Raid Precautions in your house – such as turning off the water and the gas when the sirens begin. To do that sort of job properly you should know where all the taps and connections are, and you should know how to deal with a leak of gas or a burnt-out electric fuse.

  b. If you’ve got younger brothers and sisters, learn a few special games and tricks which will keep them from getting frightened during a raid.

  c. Learn to cook a simple meal under emergency conditions.

  d. Do your share of the odd jobs in the house, such as boot-cleaning, washing-up, black-out, mending and darning.

  e. Make yourself the salvage-collector-in-chief in your house and see that all the wastepaper and metal and bones are regularly put aside for collection.

  f. Try to get a plot of ground and grow extra vegetables.

  LEND A HAND OUTSIDE

  There are many jobs you can find to do in the district where you live. Here are a few.

  a. Collect magazines and newspapers for the hospitals or the forces.

  b. Go and help old people to grow vegetables in their gardens.

  c. If you live in the country help the farmers at harvest-time, or lend a hand with the animals when you can.

  d. Help elderly or invalid neighbours to put up an Air Raid Shelter.

  e. Learn all you can about first-aid. The best way to do it is to join one of the organisations for boys and girls.

  f. Join a group of young people in making splints and bandages or in knitting comforts for next winter.

  g. Be sure you know how to use a telephone efficiently. You never know when you’ll want to send a vital message quickly.

  h. Keep your eyes and ears open for other jobs; there are many other ways in which you can help.

  SIX SIMPLE RULES

  WORK HARD. If you’re still at school remember that it’s important to learn as much as you can if you want to become a useful citizen when you leave. If you’re at work, put your back into the job, even if it means overtime. And if you are working so hard it means little time for leisure – never mind; you are doing your share to win the war.

  BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU SAY. Like everyone else, you will hear things that the enemy mustn’t know. Keep that knowledge to yourself – and don’t give away any clues.

  KEEP SMILING. There’s a lot of worry and grief in the world – and you can lessen it by being good-tempered and considerate.

  KEEP FIT. The fitter you are, the better able you will be to stand up to hard work. If you’ve left school, join a P.T. class and keep in good trim for victory.

  SAVE ALL YOU CAN. Join a National Savings Group.

  USE YOUR MIND and think for yourself.

  IF IN DOUBT

  If you are in doubt about what wartime job you should tackle, any clergyman or minister or the leader of any Boys’ or Girls’ Organisation will help you. If you are still at school, ask your teacher for advice. Then make up your mind and get on with the job. If you like to work with others, why not join one of the Boys’ and Girls’ Organisations and share in their activities? Some of them may be able to welcome you as guests for the time being.

  At the end of 1941, the government decided to make it compulsory for all those aged between 16 and 18 to join some form of youth group; many, of course, were already members of one. Boards were set up to advise those who were uncertain which group would best suit them.

  SCHOOLS

  Some schools ‘adopted’ a ship or a military unit, knitted clothes and blankets for the men serving in it and also collected books and magazines to send to them. National Savings Groups were set up in thousands of schools where children would buy savings stamps, in effect lending their money to the country. Spitfire Funds were also set up, to enable the children of a school to save up to pay for their own Spitfire (or at least part of one). The following is a letter printed in the Kentish Mercury in February 1942: ‘You may be interested to know that the children of Halstow Road School [in Woolwich] have for the last fortnight been bringing their pocket money to school, and, as a consequence, we have been able to send a cheque for eight guineas [£8.40] to the Chancellor of the Exchequer to help to provide lifesaving jackets for our brave seamen.’

  Secondary boarding schools usually had fire-fighting parties made up of staff and pupils. Other secondary schools organised fire-watching parties. Roy Coles went to school in Bristol: ‘I also did fire-watching at school in 1944 and ’45, four or five of the sixth form and teachers did it together – we stayed-over all night. I went to a boys’s school, Cotham Grammar. Before the war we had all male teachers, but as it wore on the male teachers were called up and were gradually replaced by women and retired male teachers came back.’

  In 1944, when the V1 attacks started, many schools in the south began using their pupils, on a rota basis, as raid spotters. The boy or girl on duty would usually sit at a desk set up outside the school with some work to do. On hearing a V1, they would look to see if it was coming in their direction; if it were, they could warn the school by an agreed method, such as the fire alarm, or a bell, so that pupils and staff could all take cover. This cut down on the time which would be wasted by continually going to the shelters when a V1 flew past.

  Outside school, besides working as individuals, boys and girls could join the many youth organisations which did war work, including some or all of the following.

  CIVIL DEFENCE

  Acting as messengers for the local police, the ARP, the local fire brigade, the Home Guard, and the Observer Corps. Working as telephonists, shelter marshals, control room orderlies, and gas-mask assemblers. Warning deaf neighbours of air-raid warnings or the All-clear, fire-watching, manning listening p
osts, painting kerbs and pavements white. Making camouflage nets, filling sandbags, painting and lettering helmets. Making and serving tea and sandwiches to civil defence workers.

  IN HOSPITALS

  Working as messengers, telephonists, stretcher-bearers, and cleaners, doing first-aid work, giving blood, and acting as patients for ambulance classes. Barbara Daltrey recalls wartime Windsor: ‘I remember when war broke out, my mother and I made bandages out of old sheets. I went around the area collecting the sheets from houses – we were quite poor, and sometimes Mother said, “These sheets are better than ours, we’ll swap them over.”’

  DIG FOR VICTORY

  ‘Farmping’ was an annual or weekend camp combined with working on the land; fruit-picking, harvesting and hop-picking.

  SALVAGE

  Collecting paper, scrap metal, etc., chopping wood for the aged and infirm. Collecting magazines and books for the forces.

  WORKING WITH YOUNGER CHILDREN

  Organising Christmas parties for younger children and collecting and mending discarded toys. Helping with evacuation.

  The following are just some of the youth groups working during the war, many of which had, or created, bands to take the place of military bands at warship weeks, armistice parades, etc.

  THE RED CROSS SOCIETY AND THE ST JOHN’S AMBULANCE BRIGADE

  A leaflet issued by the Red Cross early in 1943 tells us that ‘10,000 boys and girls are already doing national war service with the British Red Cross Society’. It goes on to describe the ways in which they could help:

  You will be trained to help the vital casualty and nursing services of the country in whatever way is most needed in your neighbourhood. It may be by doing part-time hospital duty so as to relieve hard-working nurses; it may be by helping in Civil Defence, so that you will have your job to do in an emergency; it may be by helping in children’s nurseries, so that the mothers can make munitions; or it may be by helping in any of the services the Red Cross provides for the sick, wounded and prisoners. In all, you are urgently needed.

  Children could join a cadet unit between the ages of 12 and 15, or a youth detachment from 15 to 20. They could become full members of the Red Cross as soon as they were 16 and had passed examinations in first aid and home nursing, or, for boys, in first aid only. The youth detachments learned not only first aid and home nursing, but also handicrafts such as book-binding, physical training and folk dancing! The syllabus also covered cooking, ARP training, hygiene and infant welfare. When trained, the youth detachments were equal in status to the adult detachments, equipped to do ward duty in hospitals, or with the blood transfusion service.

  A similar situation existed in the St John’s Ambulance Brigade’s Cadet Nursing Division. Ken Kessie of Moreton: ‘I used to go to St John’s training, so they got me to work in Leasowe Hospital as a junior nurse I suppose you’d call it. We had all the blitz victims from Wallasey in there, I used to help bandage or stitch them up, it was a grim job for a 16-year-old!’

  SCOUTS

  Sixty thousand Scouts were awarded the Scout National Service badge, which any Scout over the age of 14, who had passed his second-class tests, could win. The requirements of the badge were: an ability to write and carry messages; special knowledge of the local area; a capacity to deal with panic and keep discipline; and enrolment in some form of national service. There was also a Civil Defence Badge and the Scout War Service Badge. This entailed, among other things, signalling, first aid, unarmed combat, mapping, observation, weapons training and ARP work. Early in 1942, as a response to the compulsory registration of 16-year-olds, War Service Scout patrols were formed. Each was made up of six to eight boys, with one of them acting as the leader. The War Service patrols were intended to work with the ARP or the Home Guard. As uniforms were scarce, the boys were issued with special armbands.

  Eric Chisnall was a Scout in Ipswich:

  I was 9 years old when the Second World War was declared, and later became a member of the 14th Ipswich (St Augustine’s) Scout troop.

  Two incidents that occurred were connected with Emergency Service exercises. In the first I was acting as a casualty with a badly mutilated leg injury, supposedly bleeding very badly. I was located in a house about a mile or so from my home and I am sure that I must have bled to death as nobody came to attend to me. Eventually the occupant of the house sent me home as it was getting very late. It seemed a very long walk home in the black-out.

  In the second, I was [acting as] a victim of mustard gas attack. A wide section of a road, Cliff Lane near some private houses and shops, just outside one of the entrances to our Hollywells Park, was the scene of this incident. A mobile unit arrived and set up in the middle of the road. A number of showers and canvas screens were erected. The treatment for this kind of gas contamination was to thoroughly wash down the affected skin. There were no half measures in this exercise, we had to strip off completely and pass through a series of these showers. I don’t remember exactly what time of the year this exercise took place, but it probably wasn’t winter because it was broad daylight. Nevertheless, I can still remember that the water was freezing cold.

  One of the major jobs Scouts did was erecting Morrison shelters, 40,000 in all – the record was held by a Liverpool patrol which erected one in sixteen minutes. In Bethnal Green the local troop set up 5,000 three-tier bunks in Underground shelters in just nine months.

  Experienced Scouts were also used, to a small extent, to instruct the Home Guard in field craft: tracking and camouflage. Country patrols worked with evacuees to show city children the ways of the countryside.

  One story demonstrates the Scouts’s tenacity; on 7 October 1940, the 36th Poplar troop lost their HQ to a bomb. By the middle of March they had rebuilt their meeting-room with boards dug out of the debris of the church next door, but it was blown to bits in another raid on 10 May. They had rebuilt it again by October. It then stood until the end of the war when, on VE night, the locals pulled down the fence the Scouts had put up around the hut to make a bonfire.

  Michael Corrigan recalls his time as a Scout in Bristol:

  When the war started I was 10 years old and a member of the 196th Cub pack. Unfortunately soon after the start of the war our cubmaster (Akela) was called up and the pack closed down.

  I then had to wait until I was 11 to join the Scouts: the 26th Bristol (Northcote) troop. They consisted of three patrols – the Foxes, the Peewits and the Eagles – and were well into helping the war effort in any way they could. We had a regular wastepaper round and each Saturday one of the patrols would go out with the trek cart. We would distribute empty sacks to the households and collect full ones in return. We would then go back to our HQ and tip out all the sacks in our (now unused) Cub den and sort the paper into various grades. Newspaper, magazines, brown Kraft paper, and general writing and wrapping papers. As you can imagine this was a particularly dirty and messy job as people put all sorts of rubbish in the sacks besides paper and there we were, about eight boys up to their knees in a sea of paper, sorting it into more sacks for collection by one of the local paper mills for repulping and making into new paper.

  Besides this, every time there was an urgent drive for metal, and particularly aluminium for making Spitfires and Hurricane fighter planes, we would go out, again with the trek cart, and call at houses in the area to see if they had any old pots and pans or other scrap metal which they would give to help the war effort.

  Another thing the Scout troop was involved in was acting as casualties or runners when we had any Home Guard or civil defence exercises in our area. We would go to a certain location and have labels attached to us, such as ‘broken leg’, ‘head wound’, or ‘lacerated arm’, etc., and the first aid teams would then practise on us.

  I am sure our troop was only one of many doing things to help win the war but we all like to think that we made some sort of contribution and ‘did our bit’. The Scout Association issued a special National Service badge, worn on the left breast, to Scou
ts who took part in these various activities.

  Geoff Shute:

  Just before the war I joined the 24th Ipswich Scout Group as a Sea Scout. There was quite a large contingent of Sea Scouts in Ipswich. An old Thames barge moored on the edge of the channel in the River Orwell, close by Bourne Bridge, Ipswich, was our ‘camp’ and we could spend weekends on board. It was here that I learned to sail and row. The craft we used were whalers and took a great deal of effort to row as you can well imagine. The Scoutmaster on board was a ‘Mousey’ Pearce, who ruled us with a plimsoll.

  In 1944 a Work Day was organised and Scouts all over England took part in fundraising activities to finance the Scouts’s international relief patrols which followed the Allied armies into Europe, giving assistance to the liberated population.

  Over the course of the war a total of 194 Scouts were killed in air raids while on duty.

  GIRL GUIDES AND RANGERS

  Guides and Rangers helped in hospitals and first aid posts and with the distribution and fitting of children’s gas masks. They took part in painting kerbs white and some gave public demonstrations of ‘blitz cooking’ at the request of the Ministry of Food. Some companies started allotments which the girls took turns to work on. In May 1940 the Guides held a ‘Gift Week’ during which they raised money by giving up a week’s pocket money, or through self-denial, while Rangers and Guiders gave up half a day’s pay. Altogether £50,000 was raised for two air ambulances, a lifeboat, rest huts and mobile canteens for the YMCA. The Guides also raised money for the Guide International Service which did similar work to the Scouts’s international relief patrols.