Duty
in the Armed Forces....
Many local men and women left the town to serve in the
armed forces. Given the town's maritime traditions, I suspect that
a fair few opted for the Royal or Merchant Navies and saw action
at sea.
Duty
in Other Services....
Older members of the community,
those unfit for service and people in reserved occupations were drafted into
other services.... such as the Home Guard (based at the Drill Hall in Cromwell
Road), the ARP, medical services and Observer Corps. Some of these are described
below....
Reserved
Occupations...
Some people worked in Reserved Occupations including
vital duties in the emergency services such as the fire brigade.
However, this could involve disruption and dangers....
Dad was a railway man at Whitstable
railway station during the 1930s.... which is how he met my mum. Her garden
backed onto the station platform in Railway Avenue.
By the time the war started, he had been promoted to a goods
shunter - a reserved occupation. He was moved to one of the big
marshalling yards in SE London where he witnessed intense bombing raids.
One of
the problems was that the yards were targetted by the Luftwaffe and the staff
couldn't shoot back. Anyway, some nights, he and other railway men decided to
take action. If Hitler could make a noise... so could they!
During a few air
raids, they grabbed all the cookery tins and sang and danced in the lobby -
clattering the tins together!
Dave Taylor
Whitstable |
The
Home Guard....
The Home Guard used the Drill Hall in Cromwell
Road as their base. Now, thanks to Alan Hadler, we can provide some details of
the unit...
Home Guard -
Whitstable
This is a photo of the time my Dad
was in the Whitstable Home Guard back in October 1944. I have listed the names of local
men....
Top Row
(L to R): |
Cpl. Harvey, Cpl. White, Pte. de- Buriate, Pte.
Rigden, Pte. Priest, Pte. Hardy, Pte.Freeman, Pte Killick. |
Mid Row:
|
Pte. Maflin, Pte.Cambell,
<Not Known>, l/cpl. Carden, Pte.Longford, Cpl Porter, Pte.
Norman, Pte. Osbourne. |
Front Row: |
Sgt. Leney, Sgt.Barden, Sgt.
Grantham, Lieut. C.Gann, Lieut. Jones, Sgt. Morrell, Cpl. H W
Hadler (dad). |
The scan below is taken from the arm flash on his
jacket.....

They used to be up on
the Tankerton slopes at Priest and Sow corner as our first line of defence.
As they say on Dads Army, THEY DONT LIKE IT UP 'EM.
Alan Hadler
Whiststable |
Fire Brigade & Medical
Service..
Apart form the defence of Britain, many people played vital and
dangerous roles in rescue and medical services....
My cousin reminded me that our grandparents worked in the Red Cross
(Grandmother) and Fire Brigade (Grandfather).
Christine Punter
Auckland
New Zealand
|
Observation....
Although Britain operated radar, less sophisticated means of
"spotting" were needed to provide backup and detailed
observation....
My father-in-law was born
with no fingers on one hand and was refused entry into the main
services. He served the war in the Observer Corps after
receiving training in aircraft identification.
Dave
Taylor
Whitstable |
Due to their prominent
locations and design, church towers were often used for aircraft
observation. In Whitstable, All Saints Church provided one such
location.
Firewatch...
There were other forms of watch
duty needed to alert local emergency services....
My Mum worked on Fire Watch at the Castle - watching for incendiary bombs.
Christine Punter
Auckland
New Zealand
|
In fact, as you will see from our
other pages, special arrangements were introduced for incendiary bombs
and Whitstable did suffer such attacks.
Industry and
Agriculture....
Whilst Britain's island status helped to protect it
against invasion, it also posed a threat in terms of lines of supply.
With Europe occupied by enemy forces, those lines stretched across an
entire ocean in which German U-Boats were proving a deadly threat. It
was vital that the country stepped up home production of raw materials,
equipment and food.
With so many young men drafted
into the services, problems arose in keeping vital industry functioning.
Thus, many women took their place in the factories to produce vital
equipment for the war effort....
My cousin's mother worked with
Sterling Bombers in the Medway area.
Christine Punter
Auckland
New Zealand |
Every piece of suitable land was
used for food production and many young women played a vital role.... in
the Land Army.
Vital Role of Women...
Apart from the roles mentioned above, many
young women joined the armed forces and played vital roles in a wide range of
activities including driving military vehicles and manning guns....
An
Aunt was a sergeant in charge of an AA battery....
Brian
Smith
Hoppers Crossing
Victoria
Australia |
They also undertook secret and
(sometimes dangerous) intelligence operations.
Duty of Mums
With so many men away on active duty,
women held families together and single-handedly guided their children through
testing times. Some of the problems involved in this task are discussed in our Family
at War chapter.
Emancipation?
It is worth pointing out here that
the war laid down a major stepping stone in the path towards equality
of the sexes. Emily Pankhurst may have kick started the process but the
years from 1939 to 1945 gave emancipation a big push. Things would never be quite the same again.
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|