Ann Hornby on the ARP Wardens
Title
Ann Hornby on the ARP Wardens
Description
During the war, my father was the head ARP Warden for the Village.
There were a number of Wardens, and a group of boys who acted as 'runners'. One of the latter slept at Iles Green each night, but none of them ever had to run with a message.
The most exciting event occurred in i 940, when the German plane was shot down. Anna, my sister, saw the battle overhead as she was walking back from painting down in Chalford Valley.
On gelling home, she was astonished to find the ARP Warden, having received the 'yellow alert', waiting for the 'red' which never came, and quite unaware that anything had been going on overhead.
There are other things we remember; a funeral was to take place that afternoon, so there were more men in the village than usual. However, just before the funeral cortege was due 10 set out the air baffle began. The bearers vanished. Only after AROP and LDV duties were completed did the funeral proceed.
The public soon flocked to see the wrecked plane and Mr Weston, the Schoolmaster, with great acumen, posted somebody at the gate of the field, not only to show people the way but to collect money for comforts for the troops.
From the beginning of the war my Aunt Miss Beratrix Hornby who lived at Lyday Close in Oakridge Lynch, always kept a pilch-fork behind her front door in case a German might arrive in her garden. After the plane and come down, we did not think this quite so silly!
Getting back to normal working conditions after the war was sometimes difficult. No more time of anxiety and despair, no more wailing for the dreaded knock of the telegram boy announcing the death of a loved one on the Battlefield.
There seemed to be a vacant chair on one never to return in every home.
There were a number of Wardens, and a group of boys who acted as 'runners'. One of the latter slept at Iles Green each night, but none of them ever had to run with a message.
The most exciting event occurred in i 940, when the German plane was shot down. Anna, my sister, saw the battle overhead as she was walking back from painting down in Chalford Valley.
On gelling home, she was astonished to find the ARP Warden, having received the 'yellow alert', waiting for the 'red' which never came, and quite unaware that anything had been going on overhead.
There are other things we remember; a funeral was to take place that afternoon, so there were more men in the village than usual. However, just before the funeral cortege was due 10 set out the air baffle began. The bearers vanished. Only after AROP and LDV duties were completed did the funeral proceed.
The public soon flocked to see the wrecked plane and Mr Weston, the Schoolmaster, with great acumen, posted somebody at the gate of the field, not only to show people the way but to collect money for comforts for the troops.
From the beginning of the war my Aunt Miss Beratrix Hornby who lived at Lyday Close in Oakridge Lynch, always kept a pilch-fork behind her front door in case a German might arrive in her garden. After the plane and come down, we did not think this quite so silly!
Getting back to normal working conditions after the war was sometimes difficult. No more time of anxiety and despair, no more wailing for the dreaded knock of the telegram boy announcing the death of a loved one on the Battlefield.
There seemed to be a vacant chair on one never to return in every home.
Creator
Ann Hornby
Source
The Pat Carrick Collection
Files
Collection
Citation
Ann Hornby, “Ann Hornby on the ARP Wardens,” Oakridge Archives, accessed April 28, 2024, https://oakridgearchives.omeka.net/items/show/474.