Looking toward 1941
The nervousness of 1940 began to fade, especially as the threat of the expected German Invasion subsided with their attentions turning eastwards towards the Russians. Although the German Army was still rapidly capturing nations on the Continent they were now no longer looking across The Channel to conquer the British. That conquest would now have to wait.
For now Britain had time. Time to arm it’s Forces, especially under the terms of the Lease-Lend Agreement with America and time to organise it’s defences. The Russians became our ally and the American Navy was aiding our convoys in the Atlantic.
Just as it looked as though there was light at the end of the tunnel the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and invaded British held territory in the Far East. The Americans were officially on our side at last, but for our men fighting the Japanese Imperial Army their nightmare was about to begin, and it would be the Suffolk Regiment’s Territorial Battalions that were to suffer some of the most terrible events.
Council matters
The Mildenhall Rural District Council debated whether empty houses should be made available for the evacuee families. Points were raised from some Councilors that there were people in the district forced to live in condemned housing, so why weren't they being rehoused?
Also discussed was the subject of cinemas opening on Sundays. The Council voted 12 - 4 in favour of retaining the Sunday openings, the major factor was to entertain the troops visiting the region. Mr. F. W. Gentle stating:
"In my opinion this should be left for the town’s people to vote upon ... it is found that in Brandon two-thirds of the Sunday cinema-goers are civilians."
Rents were increased by 9d, to take effect from 5th January, 1942.
Law and order
In January, a charge of leaving a motor vehicle unattended and failing to render it incapable of being driven was brought against a Weeting farmer. The case was dismissed after the farmer paid court costs of 5s.
In May, Mr. Herbert Edwards, of the Flintknappers Hotel, was awarded £7 damages after the Brandon Fire Brigade damaged his air raid shelter. The Fire Brigade were testing out some new pumps they had just received and they placed their hoses into the rear garden of Mr. Edwards resulting in his shelter flooding with water and mud.
The shelter cost £55 and was constructed with oak posts covered by boards and concrete walls and roof. Mr. Edwards had laid a 1 inch oak floor with carpet and the walls were decorated with wallpaper.
After the incident the wallpaper was left peeling and the carpet ruined.
A Torquay man was fined £1 and ordered to pay costs of 5s after he was caught trying to use a Petrol Coupon issued for the sole use of public transport for his own 8hp saloon car. Unluckily for him P.C. Johnson was sat at Hanbury’s petrol pumps in the High Street when the offence took place. The defendant claimed his wife in Torquay had sent him the wrong coupon in the post.
September saw a soldier up before the Petty Sessions. He was charged with attempting to break into the Co-Op on the London Road at 11.10 p.m. on 30th August.
Special P.C. Percy Steggles was on duty at the time and approached the soldier who he saw getting down from the butcher’s window of the Co-Op in Stores Street. The soldier ran off up the Thetford Road and into Lode Street where the P.C. caught him and arrested him again. The accused then grabbed a piece of pipe and threatened the P.C. before running off again. The P.C. then went for assistance and returned with P.C. Dent. They could not see the soldier and so walked up the Thetford Road where they saw him outside the Fox and Hounds Public House. He then produced his pay book as identification and then went with both P.C.s to the Police Station.
The 26 year old Private told the Petty Sessions that he had gone into town with his squaddie mate to go to the cinema but when they could not get in they went to the pub instead. His friend was buying some cigarettes and he had decided to wait outside when he was approached by the P.C. and accused of trying to break into the Co-Op’s butchers.
In October, a soldier appeared before the Petty Sessions after it was alleged he fired a pellet from a catapult and broke a window at the house of a Brandon man, he then assaulted the man
In December two Brandon soldiers appeared before the Petty Sessions.
The first, Thomas Frank Nelson, was fined 7s for riding a cycle on the road at night without lights.
The other soldier, Arthur Shepherd, was fined £1 for causing a nuisance on a footpath.
Also in December Jack Bertie Barker, a soldier billeted in Brandon, was fined 2s 6d and costs of 10s for obstructing a Police Officer and using foul language. The defendant rushed at a constable after he had arrested the defendant’s friend.
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School hit by enemy machine gun
February 27th, 12.59pm
Nobody was hurt as bullets passed through the roof of the school on the Market Hill just after midday. The attacker was reported to be a German Dornier 17
For more details click here to turn to this page.
Enemy Bomb Brandon
Bombing of Thetford Road
High Explosive bombs were dropped by a lone enemy raider in the early morning of one July morning. The bombs fell parallel to the Thetford Road, with a direct hit on a Council House’s outside toilet. The casualties were two dogs killed. Close by on the same night bombs were dropped in open fields. No casualties were inflicted.
Attack on Chicory Factory
On January 30th, the Chickory Factory, near Lakenheath, was damaged by High Explosive bombs and machine gun fire. A lorry driver's mate, Jack Talbot, aged 40, received a hit just below the heart and died instantly. William J. Greenacre was wounded in the knee by machine gun fire from the same aircraft.
King’s visit to Brandon
In September, September, King George VI, his brother the Duke of Gloucester, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Home Forces General Sir Alan Brooke inspected the 6th Armoured Division at on Breckland heath land around Brandon. The Valentine tanks were lined up as far as the eye could see.
For more details click here to turn to this page.
This is how the Bury Free Press reported it on Saturday September 20th.
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The King's
East Anglian Visit
Inspects Biggest Tank
Concentration
During a visit to East Anglia on Friday the King saw the greatest concentration of armoured land
forces that has ever been witnessed in Britain and took the salute at a march past of the full strength of one of our completely mechanised
armoured divisions.
Hundreds of tanks, Bren gun carriers, artillery, mobile anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns roared past the saluting base. Clinging to the hand-rail in an armoured troop carrier, flying the Royal Standard, the King kept moving for nearly an
hour and a half up and down the lines. |
Brandon servicemen
Squadron Leader R. C. M. Collard, of 37 Squadron, was awarded the DFC.
He was commissioned into the R. A. F. in 1939 to 615 Squadron as Adjutant and Flying Instructor and was then moved to France in September 1939 until it’s fall in June 1940. In April Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Caban, of the High Street, had the honour of attending the Investiture at the Buckingham Palace when their son Flt-Sgt E. G. Caban (R.A.F.) was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Medal.
Within 4 months Flt-Sgt E. G. Caban would be announced missing and then in August declared a Prisoner of War of the Germans.
In September, Mr. Jack Dyer, of Bury Road, was notified that his son, Gunner Edgar Dyer, of the Maritime Regiment, R.A., was missing, presumed dead.
Eric Charles Mutum R.A.S.C. was reported as having died from wounds while serving in the Middle East. He was one of three brothers serving in the Forces and at the age of 24 he had joined the Royal Army Service Corps in April 1940. Three months later he left for the Middle East.
In December, Mr. and Mrs. H. W. C. Jackson, of the London Road, were informed that their son, Lance Corporal William Ewart Jackson R.A.O.C. was missing in the Middle East.
Fund raising
Click [here] for details of Brandon's 'WAR WEAPONS WEEK'.
The Bomber Fund, which had been running for a year, had reached a total of £252 10s 3d. A cheque was sent to the Minister of Aircraft.
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Up the
Suffolks!
THE COUNTY
WANTS YOUR
PAPER, SCRAP
METAL, BONES
& RAGS
FOR IT’S
GREAT
SALVAGE
DRIVE
NOW IN FULL SWING
HELP YOUR LOCAL
COUNCIL
"LET ‘EM HAVE IT" |
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One of Brandon’s most outstanding fundraisers was Miss Neep.
- In August Miss Neep organised a flag day for The Church Army’s War Work raising £6 7s and a house to house collection raised £8 12s for the NSPCC.
- September, Miss Neep and her collectors held two flag days and raised £10 17s 6d for the RSPCA and £8 13s 9d for Barnardo’s Homes.
- In, October she arranged a flag day which raised £10 for the Lord Mayor of London’s National Air Raid Distress Fund.
November’s Poppy Day Appeal raised £87 13s. the collectors were Miss Neep, Miss M. Carter, Mrs. Parker, Miss V. Challiss, Mrs. Kent, Miss Todd, Mrs. Bullock. |
Brandon’s Women Institute donated £5 to the ‘Russian Red Cross’ Fund. It was announced by Mrs. G. Clarke that the 19 members of the W. I. who were participating in the savings scheme had so far raised £103 4s since it began in March.
In October they held a demonstration of practical cooking and tasting of war-time dishes.
Mrs. A. Brearley was responsible for packing and sending parcels to Brandon men in the Forces. The parcels included razor blades, soap, shaving cream, toothpaste, toothbrush, comb, brillianteen, stamps, writing pads, envelopes and a pencil.
These parcels were sent to : Leslie Mutum, Ronnie Mutum, Frank Blanchard, Cyril Kent, Charles Green, Albert Carter and Herbert Bilverstone.
Food
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REGISTER NOW FOR
MILK
In order to make the most of our winter supplies of
liquid milk, and to ensure that those who need milk most
will get it, EVERYONE, must now register with the supplier
of his choice.
The scheme will give priority to the following:
(1) HOLDERS OF A CHILD’S RATION BOOK - one pint per day.
They must be registered even if they have a permit under
the National Milk Scheme.
(2) EXPECTANT MOTHERS - one pint per day
They must register even if they have a permit under the
National Milk Scheme.
(3) Holders of a general ration book and are under 18 at
the end of this year - half a pint per day.
Like everyone else they must register now.
(4)Special arrangements, which will be announced later, will be made for certain classes of INVALIDS, but they must register now.
Everybody who holds a ration book must register before August 23rd.
EXCEPT
Permanent residents in hotels, boarding houses, and other establishments and children who will be back at Boarding Schools before October 1st, who must NOT register.
FOOD FACTS No. 55 Issued by the Ministry of Food, London, W1. |
During this period of rationing and the scarcity of some foods, self-reliance was very important for the residents. In April, Brandon Parish Councillor, Mr. F. W. Gentle outlined the Government’s Scheme where pig clubs were formed.
"Today, everyone who can, should keep a pig."
He added that he would be pleased to give a cup to the man who produced the best pig during the year. The Council resolved to give their full support to Mr. Gentle in the forming of local pig clubs.
Resident, Charlie Wharf remembers:
| "There would be a group of people, and together, they had to produce so many pigs. All the waste food was saved to feed the pigs. As a result of that it worked out that they could get a half a pig. Of course you had to buy it and they had to pay for someone, maybe the local butcher, to kill it and I can see my mother now, we never had fridges, she used to get that half a pig out and rub salt into it." |
In November, the 1st Youth Meeting was held at the Council Schools on the Market Hill. The Headmaster of the schools, Mr. H. W. Lumsden, outlined the proposals:
"to encourage children to keep domestic rabbits for fur and food"
"to encourage children to collect scraps and waste vegetables and materials from gardens and allotments."
The club announced it had 18 members and 62 breeding female rabbits. |
British Summer Time
The Government decreed that an additional hour of British Summer Time would come into operation on Sunday 4th May at 2 a.m. Clocks would be required to be brought forward 2 hours instead of the usual one hour.
National Day of Prayer
In 1940 the Government declared that on the Sunday nearest to the anniversary of the commencement of the war, it would be a National Day of Prayer. For 1941 it fell on Sunday 7th September and Brandon’s morning church service was attended by the Home Guard, Civil Defence and the Girl Guides.
Civil Defence
Mr. Woodrow, Brandon’s Head of Civil Defence, asked for 2 long distance messengers with motor bikes for use in Brandon, along with First Aid volunteers.
School checks of children's gas masks.
A decoy airfield became operational just off the B1106, between Brandon and Elveden. It was a 'Q' site, this meant it was a night time decoy base.
A decoy base's aim was to fool the enemy bombers into thinking this was a real airbase and a suitable target, so fooling them into dropping their bomb load into the harmless area, rather than RAF Lakenheath. It would have taken the form of night time oil lanterns in a runway formation and would have been manned by RAF personnel.
Local resident, Charlie Wharf remembers the decoy planes:
| "The dummy aeroplanes were made from old Tate and Lyle sugar boxes, broom handles for guns, and camouflaged, but they looked like proper aeroplanes. Then they built a bank all the way round it and then laid the wire netting on the bank to let the grass grow into it. They used to light this site up at night." |
Accident
An accident occurred between an army lorry and a cyclist near the corner of the junction of London Road and Rattlers Road on the 25th October.
The lorry was travelling towards Newmarket when the driver swerved to avoid a cyclist and hit an obstruction. The lorry was badly damaged.
The passenger in the lorry, Gunner Henry John Hill R.A. was taken to hospital with a fractured left knee cap and the driver, Private Arthur Sidney Seal R.A.O.C. suffered a cut lip. Aircraftsman Conolly, sitting in the back of the lorry suffered a cut to his head. Mr. W. Marchant, of London Road, was badly shaken but unhurt.
B.B.C. Appointment
Mr. S. J. de Lotbiniere, the son of General and Mrs. H. G. Joly de Lotbiniere, of Brandon Hall, was appointed as Empire Programme Director at the B. B. C. He had joined the B. B. C. in 1932.
Cinema
On view at The Avenue this year:
"The Invisible Man Returns"
"Good Girls Go To Paris" and a supporting film of "Laugh It Off" starring Tommy Trinder.
"Convoy" - Featuring real footage of Merchant Navy convoys.
"Typhoon" - Big Storms At Sea.
"The Ghost Breakers" starring Bob Hope in a haunted house.
"Dark Command" starring John Wayne in a American Civil War drama.
"The Bank Detective" starring W. C. Fields.
"Ghost Train" starring Arthur Askey.
Remembrance Service
The Brandon Remembrance Service was organised by the Brandon British Legion, with the main Service being held at the St. Peter’s Church.
The procession started at the Market Hill and comprised of the British Legion, Hone Guard, Fire Brigade, Special P.C.s, A.R.P. wardens, First Aid and messenger services.
There was a short Service at the War Memorial in the Cemetery and a bugler sounded "The Last Post" and "Reveille".
More Law and Order
The toilet in the London Road was vandalised. A mirror was removed from the wall and left smashed on the outside footpath and the liquid soap dispenser had been taken too.
Resident, Charlie Wharf remembers the incident:
| "I remember there were some Canadians down on the London Road, of course they used to get on the booze and get up to all sorts of stuff. Well this particular night they threw a liquid soap container through somebody’s window, and they (the house owner) thought it was a bomb." |
Four Brandon youths were caught attempting to poach rabbits on August 5th. The gamekeeper, Walter Allen, gave evidence.
Farmers pay deal
Suffolk farm workers are awarded a minimum wage of £3 per week.
Cricket
In June at Brandon W. Bullock's XI beat Army XI by 56 runs. The scorers were:
W.Bullock's XI
H.Arnold 0, G.Whithand 27, J.Parsons 3, W.Bullock 24, W.Arnold 5, J.Elmer 6, S.Field 4, E.Field 4, T.Royal 6, J.Arnold 0, K.Bugg 1, extras 8, TOTAL 83.
ARMY XI
Saker 3, Elliot 2, Witly 0, Mason 1, Capt. Spencer 1, Harris 8, Turner 2, Kirk 8, Demant 1, Singleton 3, Stokes 1, extras 2,
J.Elmer 5 for 9
W.Arnold 4 for 7
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