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This photo of the Post Office Home Guard, taken between 8 Sep 1940 and 1941, was kindly donated by Doreen Rhodes of Barnard Castle.
Can you put a name to these faces?
Barnard Castle Post Office, together with other Home Guards from the North East of England Area, taken c 1940 / 41.
Thanks to Ray Laidlaw in letting use know that the photo was taken at the 'new vunerable' Telephone Exchange, Barnard Street, Darlington. (His father-in-law is pictured on the 2nd row 5th from the right.) Please see names below.
Many thanks to ALL that have got in touch to identify family, friends and colleagues etc. Morris Black, Derick Crow (grandson of Bob Crow) Pat Pickering, Tom Lumley (Head Postmaster - retired), Mrs Hebron, Don Cox, Walter Gosling, Mrs Thornton (Girl Probationer), Mr Davis (son of Headley Davis PO Eng.), John Robinson... to name but a few!
North East Tonight Remembrance Day Feature 10/11/2006 - 'Heroes at Home'.
The Andy Kluz Interview.
A Tribute to Our Glorious Dead.
Top Row 1-18
1 Bill Bateman (Junior)
3 James Dean (son of 47 Arthur Dean)
5 Wilf Robinson
6 Jack Walton
7 Johnny Walton
8 Les Hebron from Bishop Auckland
10 Owen Prutton
11 Harry Shields
12 George Elliot
13 Tom Bowness
16 Ronnie Moor
18 Headley Davis
2nd Row 19-36
20 Herbert 'Ab' Brown (corrected)
21 Jim Hardisty
22 Trevor Wright
23 Thomas Sampson
26 Eddie Bradley
27 Eddie Dalton
30 Bill Nattrass
31 Authur Cossins, Linesman.
32
33 Ernie Firth (awarded Military Medal at Arnhem)
34 Eddie Dodds
35 Norman Burkitt
36 Bengamin Cossins
3rd Row 37- 52
37 Albert Robinson
40 Charlie Jennings
41 Uniform / Kit Officer
42 Ted Elliott
43 John (Jack) Woodward
44 Alfred James Bray
46 Freddie Powell
47 Arthur Dean
52 Arthur Graham Gibson, Inspector.
4th Row 53-68 (Seated Officers)
53 George Fawcett, Inspector.
54 W D Croft, Postmaster Barnard Castle.
55 Albert Wetherall (His medals are from WW1 as Colour Sgt.)
57 Tom Firth, Inspector.
58 Captain Bob Rowell
59 Robert William Crow
60 Major J Hawitt, Company Commander & Darlington Head Postmaster 1935 to 1943.
61 Edward Dalton
62 Herbert Johnson, Lieutenant & Inspector.
64 Sgt Harold Goldsbrough & Assistant Inspector.
65 Sgt Jack Kent
Bottom Row 69-80
75 Richard (Dicky) Pallister from South Church
77 Vic Fawcett
Who's Charlie Metham?
In July 1940 Barnard Castle Postmaster Mr W.D. Croft [54] started the Post Office Home Guard. More details can be found in the Scrapbook - see Staff pay tribute to Their "Chief"... (article in the Teesdale Mercury 18/10/44) by clicking
Walter Gosling writes: At this years reunion, on Friday November 27, 2006, of the Institution of Post Office Electrical Engineers (IPOEE) I tested the memories of my Barnard Street colleagues. While I was able to confirm the names of the men who I thought I recognised [and previously advised by telephone] I was only able to add one - Percy Dodd. I recognise No. 41 - he was Postal. I was recruited into the unit in 1945 and No. 41 issued me with my kit - he seemed to be Major Hawitt's GOFOR. Just a few weeks later the war ended and the Home Guard was disbanded. Engineers were reserved from conscription into the forces until they were 20 years old, for me that was 1946.
Ref the IPOEE leaflet list of Officials:-
Col. C. E. Calvely, O.B.E. was Principal of the Engineering Central Training College in Staffordshire and automatically became the national president.
N. V. Allinson is the same age as me and was at the reunion.
E. Pinkney, also my age, now lives in Middlesbrough.
D. E. Dodds is No. 34 on the photo.
R. W. Cowen was chief telegraphist on HMS Prince of Wales and survived the sinking in the Pacific by the Japanese.
Les Hebron I met and worked with in 1942, a very nice man who died [1972] just before I returned to Middlesbrough Area in 1977.
The reminiscences proliferated on Friday, many thanks for triggering them.
I joined the P.O. as a Youth-in-Training in March 1942. Norman Birkett No. 35, had just completed his two years as a Youth which makes his starting date Jan. of Feb. 1940. He joined the RAF, probably in May 1942 which dates the photo at some time between the inauguration of the Home Guard, after Dunkerque, and May 1942. Sadly Norman did not return from his first bombing mission.
(Les' dedicated webpage can be seen by clicking here.
Notes on Guardsmen:-
1. Bill Bateman, Junior, was a Messenger, Postman then RN Torpedo-man. His friend, Eric Waller, informs us that once demobbed c 1946 he return to the PO Counter in Northgate, Darlington.
11. Harry Shields from Bishop Auckland went on to be Assistant Head Postmaster at Dalington.
Please check out the The British Postal Museum & Archive (BPMA) by clicking on the link:
The name 'Home Guard' was changed from 'Local Defence Volunteers' (LDV) in July 1940 on the instructions of Winston Churchill as he felt that the original name was uninspiring.
GPO Home Guard in training
(The acronym LDV inspired the 'Regulars' to refer to the volunteers as the "Look, Duck and Vanish" squad.)
GPO Home Guard Squad in training near St. Pauls
At the outbreak of war in 1939, the General Post Office (GPO) controlled virtually all civil communications channels: mail, phone and telegram. The GPO was also the largest employer in the country, and its business was turned upside down when one third of GPO staff joined active service, within a few weeks of the declaration of war.
This upheaval in the Post Office reflected the changes brought by war to everyday British life. The bombing of sorting offices, telephone exchanges and railways could not be allowed to disrupt communications, which were now more important than ever.
The dedication of the GPO staff played a major role in preserving the normal functioning of the ‘home front’, helping to promote the domestic war effort and support military operations. Mail to the troops kept up all-important morale with news from home.
As a British government department the GPO took on new roles including the distribution of ration books, public information and food parcels to prisoners of war. The size of the telegraph network was tripled, setting up vital communications to enable the planning for D-Day.
GPO engineers brought their technical expertise to the building of ‘Colossus’ - the first ever electronic computer - to help crack the Lorenz codes of the Nazi High Command.
73,000 men and women from the GPO joined the services on the outbreak of war or soon after. Of these 3,800 never returned. Another 413 gave their lives whilst on Post Office service as civilians. Post Office workers received 700 decorations and awards.
Raymond Laidlaw, on seeing the PO Home Guard photo in the Northern Echo, sent this photo taken at the same time. It is exclusive of NCOs and Officers. (Ray writes: note at the righthand side a 'Squaddie' having a smoke.) Ray's father-in-law is 3rd from the left on the front row.
The Home Guard stand-down was on 3rd December 1944. From this date, the Home Guard became an inactive reserve unit.
The Home Guard was disbanded on 31st December 1945. From this date, the Home Guard ceased to exist.
Members of the Home Guard were either in reserved occupations, too young or too old to serve in the normal army.
A reserved occupation was a job which was deemed as too vital to the war effort.
www.home-guard.org.uk
Post Office Home Guard operating a Telephone Exchange
(courtesy of The British Postal Museum).
The telegraph network tripled in size during the war. Nearly 60,000 telephone circuits were provided for the use of the Forces. The mileage of telephone lines made available to the Forces was greater than the whole network available for the public before the war.
Civilians were urged to write and not use telegrams and phones unless absolutely necessary, especially after the Central Telegraph Office was completely destroyed in 1942.
The local postmaster A W B Mowbray described the arrival of Dunkirk evacuees at Dover on 5 June, 1940:
'…as boats of every size imaginable were emptied of their human cargoes hundreds of telegrams were handed in… the senders, somebody’s fathers, somebody’s sons, were indeed straight from the jaws of Hell, back from the gates of death, and the little we could do to assist them to relieve the anxiety at home was so gladly undertaken.'
Bad news from the front was carried to people’s homes by young telegram boys. People dreaded telegram boys stopping at their door with bad news. It was a hard job at such a young age. In a poem, written by a telegram boy in the war, he described himself as an ‘Angel of Death’.
The Post Office in World War 2 - The GPO heroes remembered.
The BPMA has been paying tribute to the heroes of the Post Office in World War 2. This has been part of the national commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.
The heart of the Home Front
At the outbreak of war in 1939, the General Post Office (GPO) controlled virtually all civil communications channels: mail, phone and telegram. The GPO was also the largest employer in the country, and its business was turned upside down when one third of GPO staff joined active service, within a few weeks of the declaration of war.
This upheaval in the Post Office reflected the changes brought by war to everyday British life. The bombing of sorting offices, telephone exchanges and railways could not be allowed to disrupt communications, which were now more important than ever.
Postal heroes
The communications network not only remained operational, but actually expanded to meet the demands of war. This was due to the unfailing dedication of the GPO workforce. Thousands of new women staff were recruited to fill the gaps left by those who had joined the Forces. It fell to many of these women to keep the telephone exchanges (often sited at the tops of buildings) running during the blitz. Postmen collected mail from pillar boxes buried in rubble as nearby bombs were being defused.
Did you know…?
73,000 men and women from the GPO joined the services on the outbreak of war, and of these 3,800 never returned;
A further 50,000 GPO workers joined the Home Guard;
413 people lost their lives whilst on Post Office service as civilians;
700 Post Office workers received decorations and awards;
Post Office engineers built the first ever electronic computer, ‘Colossus’ at Bletchley Park, which helped to crack the Nazi High Command Lorenz code.
The Post Office Home Guard in the Second World War
08/05/2009 - to mark VE Day Ph.D Research Student Mark J Crowley looks at The Post Office Home Guard.
The Post Office Home Guard was created in 1939 under the instruction of the Postmaster General. Its purpose was to defend the Post Office from enemy attack. Whilst its initial membership predominantly comprised men, it also accepted women, but their roles initially were confined to duties such as fire-watching. This was to change by the end of 1940, when women performed all of the duties previously undertaken by men. Considerable enthusiasm was expressed by Post Office staff for this initiative. They could volunteer their services to the Post Office Home Guard provided that they did not spend more than 40 hours per month performing these duties.
The Post Office Home Guard formed part of what became known as the ‘Factory Home Guard’. They were created as a ‘spin off’ to the National Home Guard. For the Post Office, and for the nation, the defence of communications, essential services and industry were covered by this group. The best defence would be achieved with cooperation between the Factory Home Guard units and the national Home Guard.
Five major roles and responsibilities were identified for the Post Office Home Guard. First, they would work to defend their local Post Office. A small proportion of Telephonists in the exchanges classified as ‘vulnerable’ by a government-appointed Vulnerable Points Officer would then be recruited to the Post Office Home Guard, and trained to operate selected exchanges in the event of an invasion. Second, the Post Office Home Guard would be responsible for providing telecommunications for the Army, Navy, air force as well as civil defence, government and industry. Its main task was to protect vital communications. Third, the POHG members would be exempt from the fire watching duties covered under separate arrangements within the Essential Work Order. Fourth, there were three classifications to Post Office premises, and members of the POHG were expected to defend all three, but the priorities attached to all three were different. Buildings were classified as: key points of national importance; important centres; and finally, premises of lesser importance. Also, the POHG were given points in which a constant presence should be maintained. Areas with large sorting offices and telephone exchanges (major cities such as London, Birmingham and Manchester) were afforded the highest level of protection by both the National Home Guard and the Post Office Home Guard, in the interest of protecting and maintaining their services in the event of an enemy attack.
Towards the end of the war, senior Post Office managers and Treasury officials claimed that men over 60 were not fit for Home Guard duties, and neither should they be expected to perform these or any other duties involving defending the country. Others on the committee argued that the biggest problem for the Post Office was that it had its own Home Guard. They believed that if its staff joined the outside Home Guard, then their claims of irksome duties and hours would receive more attention from the government. However, the Post Office Management assured the staff that if there was evidence that their duties in the Post Office Home Guard was detrimentally affecting their Post Office duties, then they would be relieved of this. This possibly explains why all Post Office Home Guard sections had been disbanded by 1946.
Teesdale Talk: Memories of Churchill’s visit to camp sought
By Jim McTaggart
EILEEN O'HARA, who is compiling a history of Stainton army camp, has come across her most exciting find so far - a photograph of Winston Churchill visiting it in 1942 when it was a battle school.
It shows the wartime prime minister, complete with famous homburg hat and fat cigar, watching troops training.
"I was absolutely thrilled to see this first-hand evidence that Churchill was here at the height of the Second World War," said Mrs O'Hara. "It proves the camp must have been highly important to the national effort."
She has unearthed a lot of information about regiments that were based at Stainton during the war, but until now has seen no hard evidence that Churchill took time to pay a personal visit.
Now she would like to hear from any of those - either soldiers or civilians - who saw him during his brief stay.
"It must have made a great impression on all the troops who were training here," she said. "It would be wonderful to hear from any of them, or even from families who heard of the visit at second hand."
Mrs O'Hara came across the official photograph while trawling the internet, and downloaded it so it could be included in her growing collection of documents.
She is manager of a history project that is being led by Stainton Grove Community Association, with valuable support from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Anyone with memories of Churchill, or any other feature of the camp during or after the war, can call her on 07923-807968, or they can email details to her on eoh44-msgmg@yahoo.co.uk They can write to her at Stainton Grove Community Centre, Stainton Grove, Barnard Castle.
"I'll be grateful for any details, photographs or documents that add to our story," said Mrs O'Hara.
