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The Second World War came early to Bingham when work started
on a new airfield one mile to the west, near the village of
Newton. Construction of Newton
Airfield started in 1936 (POPUP 1). Stan Wright, whose
father farmed 28 acres of the affected land, recalls: “
My father secured a contract to provide 6 horses & carts
on a daily basis for carrying materials on the airfield site.
Two of the horses & carts belonged to us, whilst the other
four were provided by local farmers at £1 per day; a
lot of money in those days”. Newton was, and still is,
an all-grass airfield so was limited in its use as a Bomber
base, the surface not being able to support heavy loads. Because
of this limitation the first aircraft based there, Wellingtons
& Hampdens, could not take off with a full bomb-load.
The airfield was prone to becoming “waterlogged”
during wet spells, and so in 1940 it became the home of 16
S. Flying Training School, a flying school mainly for Polish
airmen, operating Magisters, Tiger Moths, Oxfords and Ansons.
Eventually the land farmed by Stan’s father was taken
over for eight hardstanding dispersals and the Wrights moved
on to Elston. In the early 50’s when Newton was the
home of No. 12 Group, Fighter Command, the A.O.C. Air Marshal
“Batchy” Atcherley used to operate a Meteor 8
jet fighter from the airfield; - landing on 2,000 yds of grass
must have had its moments!!. The very first aircraft to land
at Newton was a Whitley bomber, probably landing at about
60 m.p.h., a little different from the 115m.p.h. of the Meteor
8.
Insert pictures of Wellington, Hampden, Tigermoth, Anson,
Whitley and Meteor 150 aircraft hereabouts
The Handley Page “Hampden”
medium bomber with two Pegasus engines. Photo with permission of
Jane’s Information Group
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The Gloster Meteor 8 single-seat monoplane
fighter with two Rolls Royce Derwent jet engines. Photo: Eric Sharp
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The Armstrong Whitworth “Whitley”
heavy bomber with two Armstrong Siddeley “Tiger” engines.
Photo with permission of Jane’s Information Group
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De Havilland 82A “Tiger
Moth” two-seat light training biplane with one
130h.p. Gipsy-Major engine
Photo: Eric Sharp
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The Vickers “Wellington”
long-range bomber with two Bristol “Pegasus”
engines.
Photo with permission of Jane’s Information Group
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Newton airfield was protected by a ring of eight
twin Bofor guns, each sited on a concrete slab with a double ring of barbed
wire of about 30 yds. diameter surrounding them. It is believed that there
was an outer ring of anti-aircraft guns but sites are not known, although
there were searchlights sited on Crow field! The airfield “homer”
and radio aerials were located on Chapel Lane, by the bridge over the
Car Dyke , some 100yds north of the entrance to Moorbridge Road.There
was also a “pillbox”. A local resident remembers the, by then,
derelict huts on the site being used as changing rooms for football matches
in the early 50’s.The playing area to be used depended upon which
field was available for play i.e. not recently ploughed, or the corn had
not yet been harvested!! Also in the early days Newton was used as a practice
bombing range, and all houses within a mile of Newton had air-raid shelters
provided by the Royal Air Force, presumably as a protection from German
bombs, but in training anything can happen - and frequently does! Several
of these air-raid shelters remain in local gardens.
At the outbreak of War on 1st September 1939 there was a certain
amount of panic. Bernard Whyley of Tythby Road whose father
was the village postmaster at Newton, recalls watching the
early flights at Newton from his back garden. Bernard was
a junior clerk with the Bingham Rural District Council (an
area bounded by Leicestershire to the South, Lincolnshire
to the East and the river Trent to the West). This far-flung
empire was run by only a handful of employees and until 1938
was housed in the Market Place in what is now the “Go
Sing” Chinese restaurant. In 1938 the offices were moved
into Haden House, which had been a private school, run by
a Mr Fraser.
At the start of the war the old Council Offices,
i.e. the present” Go Sing” premises, became the Air Raid Precautions
(A.R.P) post from which all “firewatching” stations were controlled.
Young Bernard remembers that after firewatching sessions he would have
a bath in what was a large bath for its day, being some 6 ft. in length,
however as one was only allowed to use water to a depth of 3inches, the
whole thing was rather incongruous.
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The Air Raid Precautions (ARP) crew
on standby in Bingham in 1940. These were the Bingham firemen standing
by a trailer-pump that could be towed to a fire by a Bedford van.
At the time their fire station was in Station Street.
Photo: by permission of Greg Franks. |
During the war years, many evacuees were given shelter in
Bingham and the Vale of Belvoir. On the 31st August 1939 an
urgent message was received by the Council to expect evacuees
the following day. The first to arrive, on 1st September 1939,
came from Sheffield. Bernard Whyley was tasked with gathering
sheets, blankets and mattresses to provide emergency dormitory
accommodation in what was the old Church Hall (next door to
the Wheatsheaf on Long Acre). This building, formally known
as the Coffee Room, had been leased to the British Legion
since 1932, and was also known as The Legion Hall. Mrs Edith
Sharp of Fosters Lane, the first lady Councillor in Bingham,
was nominated “Billeting” Officer, and so all
was ready. The first train-load was from Sheffield, and consisted
of one child, one helper, and one doctor. Later of course
it was a different story with refugees from London, Great
Yarmouth, and Littlehampton pouring in. Evacuees came from
a variety of home environments, and some briught problems
with them. One resident recalls having curly blond hair as
a child, but her parents took in an evacuee with head lice,
which of course were passed on, and the curly blond locks
were shorn, never to return. Another gentleman recalls an
evacuee urinating in the corner of his parents lounge (known
at the time as the “front room”). At least one
of the evacuees was adopted by his carers, but there were
probably many more.
These early problems help to explain the experiences
of one of the many, Olive Starbuck whose story can be read by clicking
here.
Mrs Francis Slater of Long Acre (the widow of Len
Slater who had a cycle shop, firstly in the Market Square, and later on
Long Acre) recalls that at the outbreak of war she was on holiday in the
Northeast. Not wishing to be away from home at such a time, she caught
a train home to Bingham, and remembers walking out of the station onto
Station Street, which was packed with young children, clasping their carrier
bags, and each with a cardboard box containing their gasmasks strung across
their backs. Mrs Sharp paid warm tribute to the co-operation she received,
and the great kindness shown by the people of Bingham in taking these
frightened children and distressed parents into their homes, people whose
outlook and habits were so very different from their own. Many of the
evacuees remained in Bingham after the war and some still live here.
Referring again to the Legion Hall, it is worth mentioning
that on 14 February 1942 the premises were requisitioned by the Air Raid
Precautions (ARP) Medical Services as a cleansing centre for the Bingham
First Aid Post. Several ladies remember evening meetings at the Hall where
they spent their time assembling gasmasks.
At the outbreak of war, the government ordered the immediate
internment of all German nationals resident in Great Britain.
I personally recall a pork butcher on Hyson Green (Nottingham),
a kindly old gentleman called Miller (originally Mueller),
being taken away by the police, much to the distress of his
English born grown up son & daughter who worked with him
in the shop. At the time, the risk of espionage was considerable
and so internment was understandable .A similar occurrence
happened in Bingham to a German gentleman named Zigmund Gross
who lived in a flat-roofed house on Tythby Road. He was said
to be an eccentric who had little to do with anyone in the
community. His house was the last one on the right going up
the road, just before the railway bridge. People accused him
of spying on trains, and he was interned, probably to the
Isle of Man. He had no family.
In addition to the Legion Hall or Coffee Room as it was known,
there was also a popular cafe on the western corner of Long
Acre and Cherry Street. On the opposite corner (now Dane Cottage)
was a jewelers shop run by a Mr “Ticker” Johnson.
The cafe was a popular venue for anglers, and was also a favourite
“watering hole” for the Nottingham Cycle Club.
B & B accommodation was available upstairs. The cafe was
run by Mrs. Harriet Smithson, whose husband Ernest was the
signalman and crossing keeper at the level crossing on Kirkhill.
On the formation of the Womens Land Army (W.L.A.), the first
two ladies to arrive in the area were lodged at the cafe.
Both ladies worked at Starnhill farm, and on a recent visit
to the Church Flower Festival, which was held in Bingham parish
church of St. Mary’s and All Saints in August 2002,
one of the ladies asked after “young” Peter Lamin.
He is of course now retired and his son Chris runs the farm.
Both ladies now live in West Bridgford and it was obvious
that their efforts during the war had not harmed their health,
both looking exceptionally well.
At a later date hutted accommodation was built for
the W.L.A on land behind what is now 34, Tythby Road. After the war the
Land Army huts were used by the British Legion as a clubhouse, with a
bar, billiard table and other amenities, but eventually closed for lack
of volunteer help.
Bingham appears to have escaped any air attack except one
raid on 16th January - the year could be 1940, 41, 42 or 43
- but it was Frank Hardy’s birthday! A lone German Bomber
dropped a stick of 12 bombs on Castle Hill, by High Westing
Farm. Noone was hurt but in a field by the Fosse Way a gate
was blown off the cattle pen and all the animals were let
loose. A water trough that had been by the cattle pen was
blown quite a distance, finishing up by the main road. Keith
Hammond, who lived at the farmhouse in Newgate Street remembers
the family crowding under the kitchen table when the air raid
warning sounded.
Throughout the war the W.I. raised money for the local comforts
fund by holding weekly whist drives and dances. The fund,
administered by a joint committee representing Bingham &
Saxondale, provided parcels for every Serviceman and woman
from the two places. After the war each received a gift of
£ 4 : 4s.
Other activities centred on the W.I. were annual egg collections
for the Nottingham General Hospital, a potato growing scheme
for the hospital, and numerous whist drives, dances etc.,
in support of the large number of charitable and welfare institutions
which relied upon voluntary effort. Other notable events were
National Savings campaigns, “Salute the Soldier”
and “Wings for Victory “ campaigns, all in response
to the Governments call for more and more savings.
A salvage drive involving children
collecting almost anything that could be recycled for the war
effort was a characteristic of the Second World War. Post-war
retrospectives showed that some of the materials collected could
not be used but the act of collecting it was excellent for morale
in the community at large.
Photo: by permission of Greg Franks.
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In June 1943 Wings for Victory week
was devoted to raising money to build aircraft for the war effort.
People were encouraged to buy War Bonds and National Savings Certificates.
Raffles, concerts and other events were staged all over the country
to raise money. It was a bleak time in the war and though the money
was needed the boost to morale that this sort of communal effort
provide was probably more important.
Photo: by permission of Greg Franks. |
There was a small Prisoner of War camp at Saxondale crossroads,
opposite the garage (later to become a squatter site), and
a very much larger one near Belvoir Castle. Several German
and Italian POWs were detailed as farm-hands in the area;
concrete roads were laid with their help and a potato store
was built at Starnhill Farm, the first of its kind in England.
I remember going out to Tythby Grange farm for a week in 1945.
I was at school in Nottingham, and we were collected from
outside our school every morning at 6 a.m. by bus, and brought
out to the farm where we spent a very long day pea picking
and potato picking. I recall quite clearly there were two
Land Army girls, and two Italian Prisoners of War. The reason
I remember so clearly is that whilst we were breaking our
backs picking peas, or even worse potatoes, the Italian Prisoners-of-War
spent their time chasing the Land Army girls around the barns,
and all we got was 6d. an hour and 9d. an hour for overtime.
But most of all we got a sense of worth, and plenty of fresh
air!
Jan Krupa of Chestnut Avenue was born near Radom in central
Poland, and escaped to England through Czechoslovakia, Hungary
and France, eventually getting a lift in a “collier”
sailing out of St Jean de Luz, near Biarritz , bound for Liverpool.To
obtain the lift, Jan & his companions were obliged to
surrender their weapons, a small price to pay to escape to
freedom! Following several months of training, Jan was posted
to a Polish flying school at Hucknall, and thence to Newton
as Chief Mechanic on “A” Flight ( Airspeed Oxfords)
as a Sergeant. Jan’s story is told in a book written
by Phil Barton in the series “Memories for the Millenium”
by the Nottinghamshire Living History Archive Millennium Award
Scheme. The book is called “White Eagles- A Collection
of Memories from the Nottinghamshire Polish Air Force Community”.
Copies of this fascinating book are available through the
Nottinghamshire County and Nottingham City libraries.
At the end of the war Jan retrained on jet engines,
but by this time he was married to Alice, one of the daughters of the
owners of the café on the Long Acre/Cherry Street corner - the
Smithsons .As there was no married accommodation available, he reluctantly
left the R.A.F. Jan tried for jobs in Nottingham to no avail, as by this
time, 1948, any available jobs had been taken up by returning British
servicemen. Jan, whose in-laws lived next door to the District Surveyor,
got a job with the Bingham Rural District Council, initially repairing
waste-water pumps at the Council pumping station at Radcliffe on Trent.
It was whilst Jan was with the R.D.C. that he became involved with the
squatters camp at Langar, helping to make the old Nissen huts habitable
and laying on water and electricity.
From the end of the war until the early 1950’s,
the U.K. suffered a period of austerity, rationing continued, and building
permits were required for building materials. It was in this climate that
many ex- servicemen returned to civvy street. One of these enterprising
gentlemen was the late Henry Marchewicz, whose widow Doreen lives in Church
Close. Henry, a Polish fighter Pilot, served through the war with great
distinction, and even lost part of his nose whilst being “strafed”
by a German ME 109 during take-off from a dispersal field at Bolt Head
near Torquay. A German cannon shell exploded in Henry’s instrument
panel and tore off his nose! His Spitfire crashed into a patch of blackberry
bushes.
The German aircraft were still firing as Henry was
dragged out of his fighter. His mangled nose was rebuilt by plastic surgeon
pioneer Sir Archibald McIndoe.
Doreen said she preferred the new nose to the old one. Henry met Doreen
at the Palais de Danse on Parliament Street, Nottingham where she had
gone with a friend following their shifts as telephonists at the old G.P.O.
Telephone Exchange on Broad St. They married during the war, and lived
in rented accommodation at various camps. However, on demobilisation they
were faced with the problem of where to live. There were several deserted
Nissen huts on the, now disused , airfield at Langar, and so the enterprising
Henry became one of the first “squatters”
on the site (long since disappeared , but was on the right hand side of
the road between Langar and Harby , just past what is now the John Deere
depot , but toward the old hangars. By salvaging materials from other
buildings, Henry made what looks to be a comfortable home (see photographs
of Doreen “at home”).
Inside Doreen Marcwicz’s home
in Langar in the 1940s. This was one of many military buildings of
British airfields converted to homes during the housing shortage that
followed the Second World War. Photo by permission of Doreen Marcwicz.
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Eventually,
aid was forthcoming from the R.D.C. in the form of piped water and
electricity. Henry eventually got a job as Projectionist at the
Globe cinema near Trent Bridge and so Henry and Doreen left Bingham
to live in Edwalton. However they later returned to Bingham to live
in Church Close. Sadly Henry died in July 2003, shortly after granting
me this interview.
When building regulations were relaxed in the 1950’s most
of the remaining “squatters” were housed in new housing
in Bingham and Radcliffe-on-Trent.
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Doreen Marcwicz inside her
home, a converted military building on Langar airfield in the 1940s.
Photo by permission of Doreen Marcwicz |
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