World War II

[Angel 04]

I am really enjoying all you emails and am going to show my oldest daughter who will be graduating on May 8th with a BA in History and a minor in English. She is really into WW2 and will enjoy reading these posts

Irene

[jamesicus]

Thank you AccyStanFan, Lettie, Sparkologist and Irene for your interest and kind comments.

I appreciate your cricket information very much, Sparkologist. I used the links you provided -- thank you very much for them.

Yes, I do remember Eddie Paynter -- he was another one of my cricket heroes. I recall reading about his famous test match innings (when he was suffering from tonsillitis and running a high fever) in a boy's adventure book I got one Christmas in the mid 1930s. He and Cyril Washbrook (who was also an opening Test batsman for England) were the opening pair for Lancashire for much of the 1930s.

I did get to meet Eddie Paynter after the war in somewhat bizarre circumstances. I think it must have been 1947 or 1948 -- I wasn't keeping scorebooks or making notes by then so the following is strictly from memory (and it is so long ago) -- I would however, really like to validate my recollections if anyone can point me to a source:

I think it was a Lancashire League away match for Burnley against Todmorden -- but it may have been a charity or testimonial match. In those days I was an avid LL fan and went to all Burnley matches. I also used to augment my spending money by operating the scoreboard at Turf Moor Cricket ground. At that time the Burnley professional was Ellis Achong -- the West Indies Test left arm slow bowler. Achong was a fine gentleman but not a particularly good batsman. Anyway, that day Eddie Paynter played as an amateur! (for Todmorden? surely not, for he was an Enfield cricketer -- that is what makes me think it wasn't a LL match) He didn't score many runs, in fact I recollect he had a short at bat. Incidentally, Achong took all ten wickets that day albeit fairly costly. I don't know whether Paynter played any more LL cricket that season -- if he did, I don't remember him making any big scores. Anyway, I got to shake his hand after the match.

I wish I could get the full story on that match. Back to WWII in my next posting.

James

[Neal]

Excellent James, did history at 6th form and did well so it's nice to see and read a thread like this.

It's just a shame that the 'community spirit' has been lost these days, but not here on accyweb!

[Sparkologist]

Originally Posted by jamesicus

I wish I could get the full story on that match. Back to WWII in my next posting.

I will get back to you regarding that match, James.
I will probably be at Old Trafford on Sunday to watch Lancashire. They have probably the second best cricket library in existence after the one owned by the MCC at Lords. I will make enquiries for you. If this line doesn't come to fruition maybe the Lancashire Evening Telegraph archives can help.

[Sparkologist]

I have just found a list of the players who have taken all ten wickets in an innings in the Lancashire League. There are only 21 in total.

The best analysis is that of Learie Constantine. Ten wickets for ten runs in 1934 against Accrington, all out for twelve runs. (Some things never change).
The others who have managed this are all professionals, and are as follows:

• Tom Lancaster of Enfield (twice)
• Cec Pepper of Burnley (twice)
• Roy Gilchrist of Bacup and Lowerhouse (twice)
• Fred Hartley of Church (twice)
• Archie Slater of Bacup (twice)
• A. W. Hallam of Nelson
• A. Kermode of Bacup
• Billy Cook of Burnley
• H. Harrison of Haslingden
• J. Horsely of Nelson
• Ellis Edgar Achong of Burnley
• H. Robson of Haslingden
• Fred Freer of Rishton
• S. P. Gupte of Rishton
• Wes Hall of Accrington
• A. Ferraira of Nelson
• Ted McDonald of Nelson
• F. Slater of Enfield
• A. J. Richardson of Burnley
• A. E. Nutter of Nelson

As you can see from this list, there is a very strong likelihood that the game you saw was indeed a Lancashire League game.

There are some very illustrious names here. How many do you recall watching James, in what is fair to say, was the golden era of Lancashire League cricket.

[jamesicus]

Manchester in early 1940:

We used to periodically visit an aunt of mine (one of my mother's sisters), who lived in Salford and a cousin of hers who lived in Stretford near Trafford Park -- her husband worked at Metropolitan Vickers. The first time I visited Manchester after the war broke out was one weekend in early 1940, when I went with my mother. My aunt was ill at that time and so we stayed with her for two days so that my mother could help her with housework etc.

For the first time I experienced the actual threat of war -- there were barrage balloons all around the Manchester area and we could see them quite clearly as we approached the city from Bury. There were lots of searchlight and anti-aircraft gun batteries scattered around the outskirts. They had a couple of Air Raid drills (Sirens) while we were visiting, but Manchester had not experienced any actual Air Raids at this time.

[mrskitty]

Wow this stuff is so interesting....and how you remember it all amazes me too.
Makes me apreciate my life so much more now.Thankyou jamesicus xxx

[jamesicus]

After Dunkirk -- the early summer of 1940

Although we were removed from the initial war action here in Lancashire, everybody pretty well understood the gravity of the situation after Dunkirk and realized that we were now fighting for our very survival as a Nation. I believe the BBC and the Newspapers (we took the Daily Mail during the week and the News of the World & Sunday Pictorial on Sunday) reported the war situation honestly and responsibly. I don't recall any real panic or a pervading sense of doom and gloom. We often talked about the war at school -- teachers and students -- and there seemed to be a general consensus that we would weather the storm and win the war eventually -- I know that I always held that view. At the local level people seemed to accept that we would probably soon experience Air Raids and that grim times (rationing and shortages) lay ahead. Our parents reassured us that we would be safe.

Our local Air Raid Warden announced that the neighborhood post was offering instruction on how to use stirrup pumps in combination with sandbags to extinguish incendiary bombs in case we found one burning in our house after an air raid. My mother and me went for the instruction together. One of the Air Raid Wardens explained that you couldn't extinguish an incendiary bomb with just water -- the burning magnesium would explode -- you had to smother it first with a sandbag. The drill was for one person to man the stirrup pump (submersed in a bucket of water) while the other person crept forward in a crouched posture and, using a dustbin lid for a shield, toss a small sandbag on the burning magnesium thereby smothering it -- the pump operator would then direct a a spray of water on the sandbag to extinguish the incendiary bomb. Our drill was a fiasco -- my mother wasn't strong or dexterous enough to toss the sandbag on the (simulated) bomb and when we reversed roles she also wasn't strong enough to produce more than a dribble of water from the nozzle. Mercifully, we never had to use a stirrup pump/sandbag at any time during the war.

James

[jamesicus]

Pots & pans -- scrap metal for the war effort.

Note: now that I have found some Web pages about WWII I find that I have been off on some of my dates and locations -- please excuse the lapses, but it has been over sixty years ago and I have been relying on my memory and some rough notes and occasional remembrances of friends.

Shortly after the war started there were calls for scrap metal drives to fill the ever increasing need of the war effort -- there was a severe shortage and reliability of transportation for raw materials (especially iron ore via ship) was poor.

School children in particular pitched in with vigor and most schools had ongoing scrap metal drives -- Boy Scouts and other organizations did their bit too. We collected every kind of metal item you could imagine -- lots of old flat irons were melted down to make bombs and shells. The government soon got in the act and one of the prime sources of superfluous metal was the iron railings/gates surrounding parks and public buildings -- private home owners contributed their gates and railings also . Much beautiful ironwork was surrendered to the cause -- only the stubs were left as railings were sawn off (or cut with oxyacetylene torches). I remember how sad Scott Park and many homes looked with (most of) the railings gone. Eventually even historic landmarks were sacrificed -- the two Crimean War cannons next to Burnley Grammar School went -- I was sad about that because I always thought they were an important part of the town history.

James

[Sara]

jamiesicus i have just one word to say, and i will keep on saying: [B]fantastic.

[janet]

My nephew is studying the 2nd world war for exams at school and will be studying history at college then on to university. The 2nd w.war fascinates him, he has read loads of books and watched many documentry's. He sounds like a younger version of you james when he gets talking on the subject, it is a good job that i like it too.

[jamesicus]

Thank you Neal, Sara & Janet.

Rationing of clothing started in 1941.

Clothes rationing was especially odious for teenagers with their age old desire to be stylish. Everybody was issued a clothing ration book full of coupons of various point values. You were allowed sixty six points a year (representing one complete outfit of clothing) -- if you could find a shop that even had the items of clothing you wanted (the Utility clothing approved by the government was, to put it kindly, uninspired and unattractive). Everybody was encouraged to "make do and mend" by patching worn or torn clothing and to hand down clothing they had out grown or no longer wanted to family members. The foregoing explains why so many people look to be dressed funny in vintage WWII photographs.

This photo is me in the middle of the war (1943 -- age fourteen) taken in my auntie Clara Howarth's rear garden, 59 Glen View Rd, Burnley. Check out my kind of tacky looking clothes -- the too small jacket was a hand me down from a cousin (Dick Wills who was in the RAF) and the oversize baggy trousers had belonged to my uncle Jim Howarth. But with the jacket worth 10 points and the trousers worth 8 they represented a great ration book saving for me -- we were all (at least my family was) happy to sacrifice style for practicality during the war.

[jamesicus]

The National Government was concerned about the morale of the people during the dark days of 1940/41. The Prime Minister (Winston Churchill) delivered his famous inspirational speeches in Parliament (and sometimes to other prestigious gatherings) -- but they were really directed at the British people and the BBC and the Newspapers gave them the widest dissemination.

Local Government leaders exerted a lot of effort to boost the Morale of the public too. They published and distributed inspirational fliers and notices at Schools, Churches, Organizational Meetings, etc. and in the local newspapers.

[jamesicus]

I beg an interlude for some Lancashire League Cricket, dear friends.

Originally Posted by Sparkologist

I have just found a list of the players who have taken all ten wickets in an innings in the Lancashire League. There are only 21 in total ..........There are some very illustrious names here. How many do you recall watching James, in what is fair to say, was the golden era of Lancashire League cricket.

Where did you find that list, Sparkologist? I would love to be able to tap into a database like that! BTW, the Todmorden match must have taken place in 1945 or 1946 -- that is when Achong was the Burnley Professional.

Also, Sparkologist, didn't Accrington sign up the great Australian all-rounder, Keith Miller, only to have him back out of the deal? -- I seemed to remember something like that happening -- or was that Rawtenstall? I remember that Don Bradman almost signed on with Rochdale in the 1930s -- now that would have been something!

My memory dims and I cannot recall all of the great professionals playing in those early postwar years -- some of the ones on the list may have joined the League after I left England -- I simply cannot remember all the names.

Aside from the Burnley Professionals, the ones I readily recall are the West Indians Manny Martindale (pre-war Burnley -- postwar Lowerhouse), Everton Weekes, Clyde Wolcott and the Australians Bill Alley and Ken Grieves.

As I mentioned previously, I was an avid follower and supporter of Burnley CC in the post WWII years during the glory days of (Burnley Professionals) Ellis Achong, Sid Barnes and Cecil Pepper. I earned some of my spending money working the scoreboard at (Burnley CC) Turf Moor and was therefor able to meet some of the great pros when I went to the Pavilion to get sandwiches and drinks for the scoreboard crew between innings.

Some of my more vivid Lancashire League memories from that era (mostly at Turf Moor):

* The sheer beauty of Sid Barnes batting. He had been proclaimed the best batsman in the world at this time by some of the Newspaper sportswriters -- but, better than Don Bradman? -- I don't think so. However, he was great, no doubt about that.

* The extreme, super-closeup, fielding of Sid Barnes -- he was renowned for that, but it made me nervous to watch him.

* The phenomenal run scoring ability of Everton Weekes -- he was the first batter in the League to score a double century (he did it at Turf Moor) beating the previous (pre-war) record of 198 by Learie Constantine.

* The batting power of Cecil Pepper -- he hit some prodigious sixes at Turf Moor and was the first batter to hit the ball out of the ground and on to the roof of the Turf Moor Football Stand.

* The baffling spin of Pepper's bowling. Old-timers who liked to sit by the sighting boards in order to watch the ball movement said his was the best they had ever seen.

A word about Manny Martindale -- he was indeed a superb fast bowler who could be devastating with the new ball. He lived just four doors down from my grandpa and grandma Pickering in Burnley (18 Creswick Ave) and not far from our house (33 Rossetti Ave). He had two sons, Fred and Colin, who used to be part of our group that for a while played informal cricket after school on the top of Healey Heights. Fred (who was one year younger than me) was a good fast bowler and Colin (one year younger than Fred) was a graceful batsman. I was excited to go to their house when I visited my grandparents in case Mr. Martindale was there. He seldom was, but Mrs. Martindale and the children (including two girls) usually were. Mr. Martindale was a quiet man and although he didn't speak to me much, he was always very pleasant. I do believe the Martindale's were the only people of colour in Burnley prior to the war but nobody gave that any notice whatsoever -- Fred and Colin were simply fellow boyhood cricketers to me and Manny Martindale was a great professional cricketer. I often wonder what happened to Fred and Colin -- I know Mr. Martindale returned to the West Indies where he died.

[jamesicus]

I changed my Avatar because it just seems appropriate to use a photograph of me taken in the middle of WWII -- in 1943 when I was fourteen.

James