Telegram Boy to Young Naval Recruit

Summary of the story by Paul Edwards. (A scan of the typescript written by Paul is attached as an image)

Part 1 of 2. I was just 14 in 1940, living in Warnham, close to the border of Horsham, West Sussex, just 18 miles from the English Channel. For the summer vacation, I worked in the gardens of Warnham Court.

I was surprised at the speed with which the area became fortified against invasion. Concrete blocks were set up against tanks on our little river Avon., open fields were covered with large posts against possible glider landings, black-out rules were enforced, concrete pillboxes were constructed and over a million men were recruited in Local Defence Volunteer, later renamed Home Guard.

Domination of the air had to be achieved by the enemy before land invasion. At my first sighting of an enemy plane being shot down, I witnessed 2 airmen parachuting out as if in slow motion. No doubt distance made this so. One evening, I was in the garden with my brother and father when a low-flying German bomber came towards us with a Hurricane fighter plane closing on it. We all shouted "FIRE" which the fighter pilot did when he was close to the starboard side and the bomber crashed about a mile away. I have since learned that the fighter pilot was a Czech and a top-scoring ace. Sadly, he did not survive the Battle of Britain.

In October 1940, the Germans gave up daylight raids, turning to night-time and the start of the Blitz. I left school in the autumn of 1940 and started work in the local village store. It had a Post Office and, dressed in an official hat and belt with a postal wallet, I had to deliver telegrams. On one occasion I was told a telegram contained bad news. I cycled to a small cottage and knocked on the door. It was answered by a young woman wearing a wrap-over pinafore common at the time. She must have guessed the contents of the telegram because, with a look of horror, she took it. She went inside without a word and I heard her crying. I was told later that her husband had been killed in action in North Africa. I left feeling very upset and inadequate but what could I do?

In the evenings, we could sometimes see the red sky over London during the Blitz. One night a string of small bombs was dropped over Warnham causing no damage but one landed in our garden. Our oil lamps went out and we dived under the kitchen table. After the explosion, we pushed open the front door against a pile of clay soil blown against it and the strong smell of explosive powder. Fortunately, my father, a carpenter and joiner by trade, had made external wooden shutters for our windows so the only damage was to a part of our Horsham stone roof tiles.

Part 2 of 2. I knew I would be called up for military service when I was 17. I saw an advert in a local paper for 17-year-old boys to apply for service in the Royal Navy. It was the "Y" scheme where boys joined the Royal Naval Reserve until 18 and then joined full-time. There were vigorous physical and mental tests, including Algebra !! Surprisingly, I passed and joined a group destined for engineering and technical positions as well as aircrew in the Fleet Air Arm. I felt fortunate compared to boys who became Bevan Boys working in coal mines. I also benefitted from free post-war further education and was able to join the Meteorology Branch of the Fleet Air Arm. Whilst in the Navy, I was trained as an infantryman and was put in MONABS - Mobile Operational Naval Air Bases.

Fortunately, I had 6 days leave and returned to my barracks in Wiltshire where we were told that at the end of the week, we would go to Liverpool, presumably before being transferred to active service fighting in the Pacific against the Japanese. In our military camp, we had no access to radio or newspapers and learnt from the tannoy system that 2 atom bombs had been dropped on two ports in Japan. Soon after, our transfer to the Far East was cancelled following the surrender of Japan. After a further 12 months in 1947, I was back in 'civvy street' and a student of Landscape Architecture at Reading University.

Paul Edwards, 1/10/2023