WORLD WAR TWO IN EVERTON
Everton played a vital role during the war.
Most locals were unaware of it. They weren’t meant to. There was an airfield at
the bottom of the hill from where the Special Operations Executive flew secret
missions across occupied Europe. Details of this story can be found in Bernard O'Connor’s ‘Tempsford
Airfield’.
Because of the secrecy, you needed a permit
to go down the hill. Farmers were told what to grow and needed a special permit
from the War Ag to grow sugar beet. An official from the “War Ag“ used to come
round with a measuring wheel and work out the acreage of vegetables, potatoes
and Brussell sprouts. There were fines if you grew more than your allotted
acreage. If the farm was not worked properly the War Ag confiscated it. The
farm on the right when you take the road to Sutton at the Deepdale Crossroads
was taken over due to bad husbandry and given to Major Tommy Ream.
During the war those that did not get called up had to join the Home Guard, the
ARP (Air Raid Precautions) or the Special Police. There were about a dozen men
in Everton who had to join the Home Guard. They had to look after Potton,
Gamlingay, Sandy, Sutton and Everton. They had to be on duty once a week. It
started at 1800 and finished at 0500 hours which left just enough time to cycle
home, grab a piece of toast and then go to work!
There was one story where the Home Guards
were being given a lecture on the use of spigot mortar bombs. They were
gathered round one pegged into the ground in a field by Sutton Cross Roads in
what is now John o' Gaunt Golf Course. It was a twenty-pound bomb weighted with
sand to make it realistic. “Do we pull the trigger?“ one of the men asked.
“Don't be ridiculous“, said Lord Gort, the man in charge. “It's a dummy“. What
happened next was unexpected. The cartridge was loaded and it went off throwing
the bomb high over the fields to land near St. Mary's Church in Potton!
Another area they went to was Carthagena
Wood near Sutton Crossroads where they had hand grenade practice. The sand pits
were used for practising tossing hand grenades into. Some were phosphorous
grenades which led to some men getting burnt. One Everton man was reported to
have said that he would shoot at any parachutist trying to land. “What would
happen if he was one of ours bailing out?“
he was asked. “It'd be their bad luck,“
was his response.
One common duty was guarding the “fly-over“
in Sandy. This was the local name for the railway bridge on Sunderland Road
where the Bedford line ran across the London line. Local men had to cycle to
Potton where they would be picked up by a truck and taken to Sandy. They felt
it would be far quicker to cycle to Sandy direct. Jimmy Nottingham who lived of
Church Road asked Major Reams if they could. The request was refused. However,
one day they all decided to do it anyway and met up with the others in the car
park at the Conservative Club in Sandy. When they all stood in line at parade
Major Reams ordered every one who was not from Everton to step forward. He then
had the Everton men reprimanded by the sergeant and warned that they would be
imprisoned for such disobedience if they did it again. Their punishment was
having the task of night duty by themselves at the “flyover“.
Another exercise was a Sunday route march
in full gear . They walked over Everton Heath, round to Potton and back to
Everton. One of the duties was for eight of them to guard the road at the top
of the hill between Potton and Wrestlingworth. They took turns with four on
watch for two hours whilst the other four slept in a hut beside the road. One
older ARP man used to join them on the way and used to hide his bike in the
hedge afraid that it might get pinched and walked the rest of the way. On his
way back he used to pick up his bike and then go to the pub.
Dick Hull recalled hiding in the gorse
bushes when he was on duty one night on the Heath and when a man came up on his
bicycle he jumped and nearly “frit him to death“. “Halt! Who goes there?“ was
the command and if there was not a reasonable response the Home Guards were
ordered to shoot. Most people were off the road just after 2000 hours when the
pubs shut. Another Everton man did not like Home Guard duties and wanted to get
fired. One time he decided to walk along the railway line firing his rifle into
the air. He only got a reprimand. They used to march in pairs along the railway
line at night with a pocketful of detonators.
There was one story where the Home Guards
were being given a lecture on the use of spigot mortar bombs. They were
gathered round one pegged into the ground in a field by Sutton Cross Roads in
what is now John o' Gaunt Golf Course. It was a twenty pound bomb weighted with
sand to make it realistic. One of the men asked “Do we pull the trigger?“ “Don't be ridiculous“, said Lord Gort, the
man in charge. “It's a dummy“. What happened next was unexpected. The cartridge
was loaded and it went off throwing the bomb high over the fields to land near
St. Mary's Church in Potton!
One local man was said to have stated that
he would shoot at any parachutist trying to land. “What would happen if he was
one of ours bailing out?“ It'd be their bad luck.“
The local women and girls were mostly
employed at Papworth Industries. They were picked up in a bus every weekday
morning and taken to a barrage balloon factory in the grounds of Papworth
Hospital. In those days it was used for TB sufferers. Two girls who were
engaged as land girls in planting, harvesting and threshing. They used any excuse
to walk across the fields to Sutton where some attractive Italian POWs were
engaged on the fields. German POWs who were kept in camps on the base, at
Woodbury and Tetworth, were considered good workers. Dick Hull recalls taking a
cartload of beets to Sandy Station with one and was told not to help him fork
them into a waiting truck. The POW had to do all the work.
They used to march in pairs along the
railway line at night with a pocketful of detonators.
When the R101 from Cardington used to fly
over local children used to run to the top of Warden Hill to watch it and try
to catch the ropes that dangled underneath it.
Polish airmen were based at Hasell's Hall.(Conversation with Dick Hull, Everton
1999)
Have you any wartime stories?
Copies of Bernard O’Connor’s ‘Tempsford
Airfield – Now the Story can be Told’ can be obtained from fquirk202@aol.com (A4 version @£10.00 excl.
P&P)