A few anecdotes from WW II

Most villages of any size formed a home-guard and a group of wardens. Blisworth’s home guard was led by Mr Millar - a few other names are recalled by Mrs Thorpe; Mr’s Newcombe, Digby, Cucknell and Coulson. She thought the TV series “Dad’s Army” very apt; although they didn’t have wooden rifles they did at first practice with pitch forks.

There was one memorable episode when the Blisworth and Milton home-guards were on manoeuvres together. (See Tuesday 13, May 1941 in Geo. Freeston's diary)  The Blisworth group were generally much more serious and, in defending Blisworth Station against the ravages of Milton, they were surprised by a great shout which went up from the other side, followed by a lull. All operations were suspended for a while as the Greyhound Inn had just opened!

Gas masks were issued at the outset. Everyone was called to the old school for the distribution and official advice on how to use them. Mrs Westley, living in St Michael’s at the time (house demolished in 2008), said she would wear it whatever, especially for pastry making! A mother with a young baby was shown how to fit a cardboard mask over a tiny baby. At the end, she was given the mask and then said, ‘Oh no, I don’t want just one, I want another four - I only brought this baby along as a sample’.

Prior to the war, the Towcester Rural District Council suggested the families still living in the Westley Buildings move ‘smartish’ into the new houses along the Courteenhall Road lest they all be taken by evacuee families from London. What evacuees the village did take were mainly single individuals to stay with village families. There were quite a few of them including a very young Joan Hickson of Mrs Marples fame. Some were ferried up to Blisworth by the Freeston’s. People were told to be alert for foreigners. Someone asking ‘was this the way to Tau Sester’ should perhaps be reported to the police. In the field next to Crieff House there was an ammunition store - known as the ammo-dump. This was because Mr Thorpe was a warden and Crieff House was central.

After a bomb had come down in Pond Bank field, Mr Thorpe and the portly baker, Mr Sturgess, made their way down High Street, in total "black-out", to further investigate. Mr Sturgess, puffing somewhat, was heard to remark “why can’t they fight this bl.... war in the daylight?” The story is then embellished with the comment that when they got to the place, there were just a few bemused cows peering into a hole!

A woman became worried when a German aircraft opened fire on her (actually on the railway station nearby) and she rang Constable Wooding who replied - ‘I’m on my way immediately on my bicycle!’ Robin Freeston adds to this, “the strafing was impressed into the side of the station building as a row of bullet holes which, surprisingly, missed all the windows”. The Alexander sisters also recall a similar event and there can be no doubt that Blisworth would have been much quieter if the railway had not been nearby.

A very much greater proportion of canal boats were operated by women during the war - apparently a weekly bath for them was available at the Station Hotel and a generous lady, Sister Mary Ward, living at Stoke Bruerne tended to their health needs.

This series of stories I gleaned in talking to Elisabeth Westley and Rosa Thorpe. There are many in the village who can add to this - please let’s have your stories for a sequel.