Stewarton in Wartime

This article is mainly about wartime in the small Ayrshire town of Stewarton in the west of Scotland. It also includes some generalisations about the war years in Britain.
During the late thirties due to the rise to power of Hitler and the Nazi party in Germany, we in this country lived constantly under the threat of war, with crisis following crisis. This really became significant early in 1939 when civilians were issued with gas masks. Then in mid-July of that year, young men of twenty years of age were conscripted into the forces for six months military training. For the majority of the "militiamen", as they were called, the six months stretched out to over six long years before they returned to "civvy street". Alas some were never to return at all.
It is history now that Germany invaded Poland late in August 1939 and when there was no reply to the British ultimatum by eleven o'clock on the morning of 3rd September, Mr Chamberlain, the Prime Minister, announced in that fateful broadcast "that consequently this country is at war with Germany".
In Stewarton that morning the broadcast was hardly over when a rumour spread around the town that a German bomber had crashed in a field at Clerkland Farm. Half the population immediately flocked up the Dunlop road to witness the spectacle, only to discover that it was an unfortunate weekend flier in a small plane that had run out of fuel. Thus Stewarton entered the war….
For the first week the schools were closed but so also were the places of entertainment. But there was plenty to do and everyone was scurrying around making black-outs, filling sandbags, billeting and looking after evacuees, registering or volunteering for the forces, and generally adopting the patriotic attitude that war seems to produce in this country.
The evacuation scheme, under the direction of Jack Hamilton, the Town Clerk, and WB Waddell, the headmaster of the school, and their assistants, had commenced on the previous Friday when a large contingent of children, some accompanied by mothers, had arrived in town from Glasgow. After a weekend however, many of them returned to the city as "there was nothing to do but stare at the green fields." Most of those who persevered lasted but a few weeks more until there was only the odd child left. (Ironically many of the ex-Glasgow people now in the town actually live on these very fields at Lainshaw and Rigghead - and love it.)
Of course private evacuees came to live with friends or relations and remained for a long time; one of those was David McCallum, alias Ilya Kuryakin of "The Man from UNCLE", the famous TV star.
After the hectic preparations came stalemate, and the period from September 1939 to May 1940 came to be known as "the phoney war". The popular songs were "We're gonna hang out the washing on the Siegfried Line", "Run rabbit run", "Roll out the barrel" and "Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye" - the latter sung by the much loved Gracie Fields.
During this period civilians were encouraged to join one of the voluntary organisations such as the Red Cross, ARP, Fire Service, WVS, etc. In 1940 after Dunkirk the Local Defence Volunteers (of LDV) were formed. At the outset they were something of a laughing stock as they had no pooper uniforms or arms, and actually went on guard carrying sticks for rifles; in fact some wags named them "the fireside sodjers."
In due course however the name was altered to Home Guard and the men were issued with real army uniforms, rifles and other equipment. After training they became first class part-time soldiers with local headquarters at the Drill Hall.
In 1941 the real army came to town when camps were established in the district, the main one being at Lainshaw estate. During the next few years various regiments and sections of the army were stationed there, including the Lancers, the Royal Engineers, the Rifle Brigade and the Lothian and Border Horse. For a while it was commonplace to see the large Crusader tanks rumbling all round the town, hence we now have the local street names Lothian Road and Crusader Crescent. While on this subject, this is an opportune moment to recall that three other streets were named after Stewarton men who were killed in the war; Morton Road is named after brothers Tom and Robert Morton, Sim Street after brothers Robert and Alan Sim, and Thomson Terrace after Alec Thomson and George Thomson.
I was privileged to be part of the local recreational scene because, as a civilian youth, I played the drums with a couple of the Army dance bands as well as playing at other dances - and I was well paid for doing something I would have done for nothing.
To cater for the army off duty a Church of Scotland canteen was opened at the Laigh Kirk (new St Columba's) and this proved to be a first class refuge and home-from-home for the soldiers. The canteen was organised by a committee which included the Rev AR Hastie, Rev JR Colquhoun, Rev WC Cowan, Rev TM Phillips and several other prominent local men. John Campbell (later referred to as "Mr Canteen himself") was also a leading figure n the organisation. The ladies and girls of the town under the conscientious leadership of Mrs David Dickson and her hard working department heads such as Mrs Shaw, Miss Ethel Brown, Miss Betty Barclay and Miss Aggie Gilles performed wonders in providing tea, sandwiches, rolls, teabread, cakes, etc all at extremely reasonable charges; I'm informed that they even washed and darned the lads' sock on occasion. In an average year 150,000 rolls, 7,000 loaves and large quantities of tea, coffee, etc were sold and in the post office section, 41,000 letters were posted. One ex-serviceman who was stationed in the town for a spell, Joe Gilmartin (better known as "Gil") informs me that of the canteens he visited all over Britain, not one could compare with the warmth of welcome, friendly atmosphere and exceptional value for money he experienced in the Stewarton canteen - praise indeed!
Not only were the troops well provided for in the canteen but the townspeople opened their doors to them, offering hospitality and friendship in homely surroundings. To misquote Churchill, never was so much done for so many by so many.
Meanwhile back at the school, due to the call to arms, the male teaching staff had been depleted. The Higher Grade staff now included Miss Hargreave (French and Latin) and Mrs Waddell who had come out of retirement to teach maths. Miss Curtin had become Mrs Mainds and had taken over her husband's post as English teacher, and local girl Miss Isobel Mackie was the gym teacher.
One year, to assist the "Dig for Victory" campaign, teacher of technical subjects Alf Smith started a school garden. The main produce was potatoes and local farmer's son Andrew Clark instructed the other boys on how to "dig a drill". Although there was much skylarking during the prepartion, an excellent crop was produced and Joe Galt was appointed chief salesman.
In the first year of the war the children had to carry their gas masks to school. The masks were lined up against the classroom wall and Miss Jolly's practice, I'm told, was to stop suddenly in the middle of a vulgar fraction and shout "AIR RAID". The puir weans had then to rush out, grab their own masks, remove them from their containers, put them on, stagger blindly back to their desks and dive under - all in ten seconds flat. What a carry on! Fortunately the real thing never happened.
Naturally the majority of the popular songs in wartime were based on the prevailing circumstances of loneliness and separation. Very Lynn was the singer who specialised in the poignantly sentimental ballads of the forties, and she epitomised the mood and emotions of the times in a series of hits. These included "Yours", "Wishing", "When the lights go on again", "We'll meet again", "The white cliffs of Dover" and "Lille Marlene". She became the forces' sweetheart and Britain's top female vocalist for a decade.
Wartime radio was one of the main morale boosters, and some of the programmes bring nostalgic memories for the tremendous pleasure and laughter they brought in those troubled times ( as Godfrey Winn might say). One of the most popular shows was called "Happidrome" - a kind of Coronation Street with laughs - and featured "We three" namely "Enoch, Ramsbottom and me"; another big favourite was the American styled "Hi Gang" starring Bebe Daniels, Vic Oliver and Ben Lyon - "that's me folks". Other programmes were "Garrison Theatre" in which Jack Warner made his name and "Old Town Hall" with Clay (penny on the drum) Keyes. But the radio programme with the biggest following was "Itma" starring the unforgettable Tommy Handley. Remember the odd characters he met each week like Mrs Mopp, Colonel Chinstrap and Claude and Cecil.
The swing era was now at its height and the jerky syncopated dance music of the thirties had developed into the smooth and swinging sound made famous by the great Glenn Miller Band. The top British band was Geraldo's Orchestra broadcasting about six times a week all during the war years, and other leading bands were those of Oscar Rabin, the RAF Squadronaires and Victor Sylvester, while Joe Loss became uncrowned king of Green's Playhouse in Glasgow.
Stewarton Picture House was still a thriving establishment and was packed every night when Lainshaw camp was busy. On the screen Mickey Rooney was the number one box office attraction; Bing, Bob and Dorothy were travelling roads of the world, and John Wayne and Errol Flynn were winning the war on all fronts. Pin-up girl Betty Grable was the allied forces' favourite, Abbot and Costello were all the rage, a youthful Sinatra appeared on the scene and the British film industry had a new lease of life. The film which is generally regarded as one of the best motion pictures ever made, "Gone with the wind", was first shown and packed cinemas all over the country.
Strange as it may seem, Stewarton was a real swinging town during the war as there were socials, dances, concerts, whist drives and other sprees every other night of the week. Occasionally at those functions something unforeseen, due to the wartime conditions, might occur. At one particular dance held in the Institute Hall, the dancers were "hooching" their merry way through a drops o' brandy in the wee sma' hours; suddenly the band stopped playing and the lights were dimmed. Amid the confusion a voice from somewhere announced "Yis'l hiv tae stoap noo - the siren's jist went!" Immediately the Fist Aid personnel present rushed to their post at the old Rifle Range, feeling comparatively fresh and ready for action, to be joined shortly by their non-dancing colleagues looking drawn, unshaven and browned off. It was all happening in Stewarton in wartime!
In 1940 Harry Milford started a youth club which he named the Under Twenties Club. It was held every Friday evening at the school and the first part of each meeting consisted of debates, quiz nights, talks by various personalities, etc, etc; after this there was dancing in the Drill room. As the collection was one penny per night some wit called it "the penny hop" and the name stuck. A band was formed comprising Mr Milford on piano or fiddle, Jimmy Auld (when available) on fiddle, John Currie on piano and yours truly on drums. Later Gordon Sim joined the club and took over on piano for part of each night, playing boogie woogie - traditionally with fag in mouth for the benefit of the jivers. The dancing was a mixture of old time and modern. Incidentally we didn't go in for any of these modern dances (?) where they stand about three feet apart; we preferred the arm round the waist routine plus the smooth "d'you come here often, smashin' band isn't it" line of patter. The Penny Hop carried on throughout the war years and will recall happy times to many.
Stewarton had a very distinguished visitor in 1942 when, on Thursday 15th October (a dull drizzly day), King George VI came to town to inspect the troops, prior to the embarking for the North African campaign. The visit was kept extremely hush-hush and nobody knew much about it until the very last minute. The schoolchildren were then given a half holiday to welcome the VIP and everyone expected a top ranking Army officer. It was only when the king stepped out of his car and began to walk along Lainshaw Street that the secret was revealed.
I was called up in September 1944 and served two years in the Fleet Air Arm.
As the war dragged on the British public gradually became accustomed to a new way of life. We were all involved in one capacity or another, from the armed forces or merchant navy serving in all parts of the world, to the ordinary civilians doing their stints in one of the voluntary organisations.
In the forces one was either browned off, chockar or cheesed depending on whether one was in the army, navy or air force, and instead of a week's holiday it was seven day's leave. Those were the days of battledress, brasshats and bull; tiddley suits, tickler and tots; and Waafs, Wellingtons and wizard prangs. The days of Alvar Liddell, Bruce Belfrage and Frank Phillips, nissen huts and naafis, rationing and registering, the blackout, the black market and the blitz, clothing coupons and queues and Monty and MacArthur. Those were also the days of Winston Churchill's inspiring speeches and his famous cigar and V-sign.
Thankfully it all ended in 1945.
Demobilisation was immediately set in motion. Soon all the Jimmy - and the Jocks - began to trickle home, "once more, to sleep in their own little rooms again" just as Vera Lynn had predicted.
In Stewarton a welcome home fund was inaugurated by the Town Council; subsequently on demobilisation each man and woman who had served in the forces or merchant navy, and the next of kin of those who did not return, received the sum of twelve pounds; it was a very fine gesture indeed. Altogether a total of £5,112 was distributed, with a balance of £242 left over for memorial maintenance.
It all happened a long time ago and while no-one wishes to live in the past it is quite pleasurable, just occasionally, to look back and remember.
Robert Burns put it this way:
"Still o'er these scenes my memory wakes,
And fondly broods with miser care,
Time but th' impression stronger makes,
As streams their channels deeper wear."
If I have managed to waken a few memories, the purpose of this article has been fulfilled.

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