1940 – 1972

Chapter 17. Albert’s Home Life

After serving my National Service in the Royal Marines aboard HMS Illustrius completed my Nation Service and nine years as a Volunteer in Landing Craft and Beach Control. It was whilst finishing my Apprenticeship, after coming out of the service, I became trained as a Badminton Coach and downhill skier, finally becoming a Lecturer at The London School of Printing in an industry being taken over by new technologies.

It is clear that Albert, my father, was unhappy, by the London North Eastern Railway Company not promoting him when he returned to railway duty after the armistice in 1919 – he was then to remain a cartage manager for the rest of his working life. His interests with the Freemasons, and Territorials, sufficed for the time being, until the Old Contemptibles Association was formed in 1925. Soon afterwards he was promoted – to Warrant Officer, as Regimental Sergeant Major of the Kensington Regiment. For the next ten years these institutions provided an outlet for his energy – shooting at Bisley for the Regiment and organising charity events for the Freemasons, performing at their services as their organist whilst attending all three when appropriate.

Once a year it was time to run the Annual Ladies Night Dance. Albert, as Grand Master, was in his element. The special guest in 1932, to grace the high table and present the prizes was Mrs Roper, the owner and local benefactor living in Chard, Somerset, its greatest historic building, the 1,600 acre estate, and oldest inhabited building in Britain, Forde Abbey, the former Cistercian monastery. Mrs Roper was accompanied by her Ladies Maid, Elsie Collins who had started work at fifteen at the Small & Tidmas net factory in 1922, the fourth member of the Collins family to do so. This was three years before the ‘mule’ spinners became the first group of workers to be enrolled as legalised trade unionists. The man in charge of the lace factory was Fred Phillips, he lived at the top of St. Margaret’s Lane opposite Rosalie Cottage, the Collins family home in School Lane, Tatworth. The water mill gave enough power to run the lace making looms developed by Cuff & Co in 1830. Elsie worked there with her assistant for ten years becoming a much needed factory worker.

In 1932 Mrs Roper announced that there was a vacancy within her staff for a Ladies Maid. Elsie’s sister told her about the vacancy who immediately informed her foreman that she would like to apply for the position. This he gladly gave knowing the family, organising the production of a firm’s glowing reference. Mrs Roper was only too pleased to grant Elsie an interview which clinched the application. A Ladies Maid was considered a high position in any aristocratic home Elsie thought herself very lucky to get the job. In no time at all Elsie was accepted by the rest of the staff. You can imagine how thrilled she was to be accompanying her mistress to London for this prestigious occasion. It was expected for the Grand Master and organiser to sit next to the main guest and entertain them during the event making sure they were happy. To this end Albert was the perfect man for the job, his evening’s task also included looking after Mrs Roper’s friend. His dances with Elsie Collins was the high point of the evening, soon after, they corresponded, within a year, married, at the Church of St. John the Evangelist, at five ways corner Tatworth. In 1935, I was to be christened there to join my brother Stanley – born eleven months before and younger brother Derek born in 1944.

The photograph of the happy couple on their wedding day in 1933, Albert 44, a man used to city life with a membership of various institutions, clutching, with gloved hands, his latest swish trilby, Elsie 25, an esteemed Ladies Maid of about two years – previously a lace mill worker for close on ten years, holding his arm standing at the door of her home, a tiny village in Somerset. They were both out of their comfort zones but grabbing at a lyrical happening – they had both dreamt of. Neither having any idea of their previous histories, trials and tribulations. Albert’s stressfulness commanding a company of men, many about to be killed, over a four year period – a good percentage individually known, from the same background and living area. Elsie, for ten years, in a dust filled – close to ignition, claustrophobic atmosphere, working three looms with an assistant often working a 50hour week. Her father, Henry Alfred Collins, the water-mill engineer and one-time Army Police sergeant in the South African War, the second Boer War, 1899-1902, and mother Rosa Jane Beviss, an established family in Chard, given land by King William 1066 in Hampshire.       

The Collins of Chard with all their relatives and friends became my loveliest memory of: days in the country, picking mushrooms from the field over the garden bank and hedge that held a large ring nosed bull, and cob nuts from trees in the lane with my brother, chasing rabbits during harvest-time and damming the mill stream, proudly placing the caught and killed rabbits on a stick over our shoulders to present to granny. The evenings, sitting before the large range burning bright – when it was dark and windy outside, the table lamp lit as we gathered round the large green-baize, felt covered dining table, the playing cards retrieved from the dresser drawer, or the shove half-penny board rescued from behind its back. Two of the games which entertained us until bedtime when we plodded up the shadowy stairs each grasping a candle. The foxes outside, howling in the distance, and owl hooting in the wood, as we climbed under the covers, soon to be asleep… to be woken by the morning cock crowing and the wood pigeons cooing.

Later, when granny couldn’t take us in any longer, we stayed at Auntie Vera’s home in Chard, a romantic setting next to Judge Jeffries Court-house in the High Street. There we tested the patience of all the American troops with ‘got any gum chum, got any candy Andy, got any dough Joe’ garrisoned before landing in France. My brother and I sailed our ships down the ever filled gutter running down both sides of Chard’s High Street, down from the mill at the top, past the cattle market – to the bottom. At last it was time to take the train back to London and home to North Harrow ready to brazen out the end of the war and the flying bomb dropped five door away.

The Second World War began in September 1939 when The German Army moved from Germany through Belgium into France. The superior trained force of armour and close aircraft support, from relatively close home-bases, had the upper hand – forcing the French and English troops back, to the coast. General Alexander was given the task to lead the retreating final mixed-force back, to defend Calais and Dunkirk – allowing the bulk of the remaining forces to escape – to be ferried back to England at the end of May beginning of June 1940. It was expected that Germany would follow this debacle up – within a short period, after building up sufficient barges to ferry their main force across the channel. This period then became known as The Battle of Britain when Goring was given the job of overcoming what English forces remained – to allow an easy follow-up of the German landing army. This failed, although invasion was still considered imminent. Churchill demanded a home force secondary to his main forces – to guard against German paratroopers and initial first strikes along the coast – forming a strong inland force to support the landing army.

This new force, to allow Britain’s main army enough time to reassert itself, retrain and rearm, was called The Home Guard. Albert Kearey by that time one year younger than General Montgomery was promoted to Major, given the task with many others to form one of a number of Divisions to provide this temporary force. Albert’s orders were to guard on from the north based upon Epping Forest.

It wasn’t until 1944, after the landings in France had been successful, that the Home Guard was disbanded. Unfortunately Albert then had to then return the Austin 14 car back to its former owner and return to his previous job on the railways as Cartage Manager at Marylebone Station. The following year when the war in Europe was finally over and the war in the far east coming to its close with the dropping of the atomic bomb the various forces were allowed home to take back their previous jobs in chivvy street ousting thousands of women who were by then fully trained specialists. 

The Trades Unions insisted on the returning men taking back their old jobs. Now the new technologies took over from coal and gas, allowing electrical appliances to be the industries of the fifties. Very soon the woman returned to the workplace demanding more nursery care for their children. The educational system evolved to recognise the need to give all children a proper education. Transport was not all reliant upon petrol and diesel engines; many deliveries were still made by horse and cart well into the fifties.

The advent of television had just been introduced pre-war being shut down during the hostilities. The BBCs home and light radio stations became the nation’s leading source of family information and entertainment held the country together making well known personalities household names almost referred to as relatives making uncle mac and radio’s doctor everyone’s uncle or friend.