Watford at War 1939–45 by Eugenia Russell Quentin Russell

Author:Eugenia Russell, Quentin Russell [Eugenia Russell, Quentin Russell]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Europe, Great Britain, General, Military, World War II
ISBN: 9781473891708
Google: 3w9fwAEACAAJ
Publisher: Pen & Sword Military
Published: 2019-01-15T22:33:44+00:00

Poster for women volunteers to help the local council or WVS with evacuees (public domain)

Despite the flurry of activity as the country readied itself for the fray, the troops marched off for France amidst an atmosphere of surreal calm. After the long years of tense anticipation, the first months of military inactivity were something of an anti-climax and became known as the ‘phoney war’. The rapid fall of Poland was followed by a period of digging-in and stalemate. But while the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) may have thought itself safely encamped in northern France behind the supposedly impregnable defences of the Maginot Line, for those at sea matters were getting more serious. The German navy had begun to threaten British shipping and in December there came the news of the Royal Navy’s first victory. Able Seaman Wiseman from Boxmoor was aboard the cruiser HMS Ajax, which along with HMS Exeter and HMS Achilles engaged the German battleship Graf Spee at the Battle of the River Plate and won; a significant counter to Hitler’s propaganda machine. Lieutenant D. East, a Watford Grammar old boy, was wounded in the encounter.

Far from the sunny south Atlantic, back home, after a glorious July and a mild autumn, the winter of 1939 was the coldest for forty-five years. The Grand Union Canal completely froze over from Birmingham to London. The weather may have been a portent, for the summer calm had been merely the lull before the storm. For the first few months of 1940 life went on almost as normal. After an initial disruption the importance of leisure activities as morale boosters was realised and cinemas and theatres had resumed business under blackout restrictions. Watford’s new Town Hall was officially opened in January, and in May the annual carnival took place as usual in Cassiobury Park. But the harsh reality of war was finally about to hit home.

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