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AMPTHILL
AT WAR
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"For the people of Ampthill
the 1939-45 war meant experiences shared
with almost all communities of like size
in England; rationing, call-up, troop
movements, blackouts, sand-bags,
anti-blast constructions, wired or papered
windows as a guard against splintered
glass, sirens and shelters, evacuees,
silent church bells, Home Guard, A.R.P.,
W.V.S., Women's Land Army, Dig for Victory
campaigns, and so on, and so on. All were
experienced in Ampthill, and although
there was no bombing - only a few land
mines and stray bombs in the countryside
round about - the people were very
conscious of the suffering of those less
fortunate than themselves." [Andrew
Underwood, 'Home Rule for Ampthill', page
129]
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AIR RAID
In Ampthill two public shelters were opened in the
town centre in the cellars of the Old Drill Hall (now
Williams & Co. Solicitors in Woburn Street) and the
cellars of 110 Dunstable Street (was 'Claridge &
Berwick's, now 'Picture Corner'). The entrance was
surrounded by a sand bags to form a protective cover.
"… I always
remember the first air raid we had in Ampthill. …but when
the air raid siren went the police insisted that everybody
took shelter and all the traffic was held up. And every road
wasn't allowed to move they just stopped the whole traffic
so it was sheer pandemonium really, it all just built up."
(Chris)
"…. I can remember the first
air raid, everybody went absolutely mad, they didn't know
what to do. And the siren went it was early in the morning.
Turned out to be a false alarm... And the policeman was
stopping everybody. All the lorry drivers and anybody who
came through the town, which weren't such a lot then. And
making them go down the shelter, so all the vehicles were
abandoned and everybody was streaming down the shelter. It
was a real panic, it really was." (Mary)
"…I remember hearing the sirens,
particularly at night: Ampthill's 'wailer' was usually
slightly ahead of the Stewartby works hooter which had been
designated an air-raid-warning siren for the duration of the
war. Occasionally during raids there were thuds from stray
bombs dropped in the area, alarming because we didn't know
it wasn't going to get worse." (Andrew)
For those living further away from the town, one
option was to build an Anderson Shelter. However in Ampthill
the majority appear to have made alternative arrangements.
"And we used to
get up there at night and stand in that passage way up
Dunstable Street at the sound of the siren …We'd stand there
shivering at one o'clock in the morning"
(Ken)
"Silly things we used to do, when the siren
went we used to get up out of bed and go stand in the
passage at the side of the house. Nobody would be any safer
would they when you think about it, but we all used to do
it. Wait for the all clear to go and then we'd go back to
bed." (June)
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BOMBS
Ampthill was subject to regular air-raid warnings,
but did not suffer from any direct bombing.
"…
you could stand out there and watch London being bombed, it
was like a big glow in the sky. Oh yes you could see it
being bombed. Then you used to get the odd one or two bombs
around here didn't we. " (Ken)
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CIVIL
DEFENCE
Ampthill's Civil Defence headquarters were at 110
Dunstable Street (now 'Picture Corner'), with the ambulance
station in the stables behind. The Royal Observer Corps
created an observation post on a high point of the Firs.
While the Home Guard became established in the Kings Arms
Yard.
" The
A.R.P. as they called it, they used to operate from there
[110 Dunstable Street], that was the headquarters of the
A.R.P. And they used to have a couple of motorcyclists
...and they had a couple of ambulances." (Chris)
The observation area was apparently surrounded by a
parapet, there was some accommodation where they could sit
and 'have a cup of tea' around a paraffin heater. The post
was manned 24 hours a day, with at least two people on duty,
often after a full days work elsewhere.
"…there was
the old observer place, …At the top of the Firs, the Royal
Observatory Corp... And then they used to stand there with
the binoculars and report the planes going over and that."
(Ken)
"There was the Home Guard…they used to guard
the tunnel... But they used to have to guard the tunnel. It
was rather funny I always thought. …." (Mary)
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COLLECTIONS
Major fundraising schemes were a feature of the war
years and raised large sums of money. The 'Wings for
Victory' Week in 1943 raised £242,331, after the war
the town received a share of this investment which was put
towards the construction of 'Parkside Hall' for use by the
people of Ampthill.
Special attractions during 'Wings for Victory' week
was a large bomb case to be covered with 'Saving Stamps'.
"They used
to have bombs on the Market Square didn't they. They used to
have a bomb there and you had to go over the post office and
buy a savings stamp and stick it on, the bomb…I don't
suppose it was loaded, but it was a big bomb weren't it. You
used to stand there and stick a stamp on it. Well it looked
big then to us. " (Ken)
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DUNKIRK
With the mass evacuation of troops from Dunkirk,
unwashed, unshaven and exhausted British soldiers left
behind their tanks and cars and artillery.
"Yes, when the
came back from Dunkirk…They were absolutely filthy weren't
they, you know. They hadn't had a wash for weeks."
(June)
For Ampthill;
"Particularly
memorable were the Black Watch, in their kilts and with
their pipe band. Ampthill made them welcome and provided
what food and rest we could." (Andrew)
"They were starving weren't
they, because they had little soup kitchens up Dunstable
Street didn't they in the road. They had the big old army
like boiler things, they were cooking all the food up the
road when they came back from Dunkirk. …lorries just dumping
them off in the road. They was sleeping in the door ways,
coats over them. Got no guns or nothing had they …"
(Ken)
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EVACUEES
By the first week of September 1939 up to 3,750,000
people moved nationally from areas thought vulnerable to
those considered safe. Here the Urban District Council
finalised their plans for receiving evacuees early in August
1939, and by September the first evacuees arrived at
Ampthill Railway station.
"Then we
had all the evacuees come, they used to just knock on your
door and say … "How many bedrooms you got", "two", "well
here's four for you then." (Ken)
Of Course, often mothers came with their children
and this caused additional problems.
"We had a
family upstairs, I remember … there was two women and about
four kids. They used to live upstairs, they took over the
three bedrooms up the top and we used to have to live
downstairs." (Ken)
"First of all we had children, there were
four children in one family and … we had two girls and they
had the other two girls. But then after that we had service
families like. The service men that were living in Ampthill
used to bring their wives to stay didn't they. We had
several of those, they had upstairs and we had downstairs."
(June)
Throughout the country there were innumerable
comic-pathetic stories about the reactions of city children
to nature.
"They never
knew vegetables grew in the ground, vegetables."
(June)
"I can remember one saying he
weren't going to eat vegetables coming out of the ground.
"I'll have what he's got in the shops…" (Ken)
Large numbers of children were evacuated with what
was considered 'deficient' footwear and clothing.
"They had hardly
any clothes or anything did they. My mum used to take them
out and buy them clothes and that because they had hardly
anything to wear." (June)
Around half of London's schoolchildren were
evacuated at the beginning of the war. In Ampthill two
schools were received and these caused considerable problems
in accommodation
"We had
another school in there with us, from Walthamstow, I think
it was…You'd be squashed in like sardines and there was
always somebody arguing with you know, one of the locals.
Because they used to think they knew everything. They were
very good at sports, but they were no good at academic
things…The other school up Bedford Street had a school from
Camden Town, …" (Mary)
As a result every available corner of the buildings
were utilised for the 300 plus children (at 14th September
1939).
"There was two
teachers in there, Mr Whitbread and Mr York when they
brought the evacuees down. I think there were over 160
pupils in that one thing with two teachers. They'd split you
down the middle, evacuees one side and us the other. It was
warm in there because there wasn't any room to move. "
(Ken)
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MUNITIONS
In addition to the munitions factories in Luton, a
large purpose built 'Ordnance' factory was created at
Kempston Hardwick (now the Elstow Storage Depot).
"Well it used to
be called Elstow Ordnance Factory and was on the way to
Bedford. Where they've got the shops. …It was a filling
factory and a lot of the buildings they used were sheds and
buildings to do with building and filling bombs. It was run
by Lyons, the cake people...." (Mary)
[see 'The Tinkers of Elstow' by H.E. Bates]
While here in Ampthill, the Flitt Motor Company was
converted to produce various small parts for bombs and other
war related components.
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PRISONERS
In 1941 a hostel for agricultural workers was built
in Woburn Road, which later housed Italian Prisoners with
their distinctive brown uniforms. Across the road in the
Park a military camp was built, which later housed German
prisoners, who had a 'concert hall' and 'Lutheran Church' in
the numerous nissen huts.
"Oh they
had a wonderful time here during the war. Oh yes, they used
to wander around the town. They had no restrictions at all.
No body wanted to escape did they, they were happier here
than being in the war. Yes, they were usually Italian
prisoners of war who were where the Cheshire Home is now;
they were in a building there. When we went out to play at
playtime they used to come up and stand and talk to the
children in the playground." (June)
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RAILINGS
Various salvage drives were organised throughout
the war. Following a survey of iron railings in 1941
Ampthill's garden fences and gates were collected for their
scrap metal value. Only 'examples of good craftsmanship'
were supposed to be saved.
"… they
confiscated all the fences and everything, it all went for
scrap. Same as all these properties like ours, all had nice
wrought iron fences around them, but they all went apart
from a certain few were excused it, you know. The fences
around these places meant as much to us as there's did to
them, but no they all went, unfortunately. And it was never
used that scrap because it wasn't good enough pig iron and
it was still there after the war in a big heap because it
wasn't, it hadn't got enough real genuine iron ore in it,
because it was pig iron." (Chris)
"And then they came and cut all the railings
off didn't they. Blokes with lorries and acetylene guns
weren't they and braking 'em and throwing 'em on the back...
And they just pulled them off and chucked them on the
lorry." (Ken)
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TANKS
Part of the Stewartby brick works was converted to
overhaul tanks, which were tested by being driven up
Hazelwood Lane Hill and passing through town to Gas House
Lane. Later a turning area was constructed in Bedford
Street. They proved a memorable experience for the
residents. Additionally some tanks were parked in the
Alemeda, whose Lime trees provided natural camouflage.
"Up the
Alameda they used to store tanks down there …they used to
build them at Vauxhall's and drive them down to Stewartby.
Put them into service at Stewartby garage and then they used
to test them up the Bedford Road and one went through a
window once… so they stopped them coming into Ampthill,
didn't they. Up Bedford Street they made a bit were they
could turn around… they made them turn around and go back
again. … They were Churchill's that's what they used to call
them." (Ken)
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