Community Yearbook

12 Thursday, 21 January, 2021

VE DAY

Newbury Weekly News

Bombing horror

A street party in Gloucester Road on VE Day Picture: Mary Hassell

O

N February 10, 1943, a German Luftwaffe Dornier 217E bomber flew over Newbury,

A S a teenager living through the war in Newbury, Tony Mosson remembers it “like it was yesterday”. He recalls the “dark, damp little place under the stairs” when the family rushed into the cellar whenever the air raid sirens went off. “We had a street party in Priory Road where I lived,” he says of VE Day. “My mother wason the organis- ing committee so my friends and I had first pickings of the food. “There was a miniature railway, as entertainment for everyone, and long tables down the road. At the end of the war you realised we had won and it was jubilation; a lovely feeling.” leaving devastation in its wake . In just a few short minutes, the pilot – who was based at a bomber unit in Holland – had unloaded eight bombs on the town before machine-gunning his way along Cheap Street, Bartholomew Street and North- brook Street. It was 4.43pm andit was to be the most deadly day of the war for the town. A total of 15 people were killed and 41 injured, 25 of them seriously. Ten houses were completely destroyed, along with St John ’s Church (pictured), where only the altar was left standing. The Senior Council School was also badly damaged. David Smith, now 89 years old, had just made it home when the bombs fell. “I was 12 and living in Hampton Road with my parents and brothers and sisters. I attended the council school,” he explains. “On the day of the bombing I got a detention with my friend Herbert Purdy, nicknamed

Dancing in the streets

Bimbo. At 4.25pm Mr Ball, the headmaster, came along, ticked us off and told us we could go. “I ran all the way home and my cousin and three of my sisters were standing in the doorway when we heard the sound of an aircraft. “Then a German aircraft came into view from the City playground area. “My mum shouted at us to get indoors and under the table. “I could hear the bombs hit the ground. The ground shook and we all fell over. “I wondered if Bimbo had got out in time, but I never saw him again. Both Bimbo and his uncle had been killed.”

The hero of El Alamein T HE military legacy of a Thatcham family endured into the Second World War when a second son was awarded Britain ’s highest award for valour. Victor Buller Turner, who was born on January 17, 1900, and educated at Winchester, was commis- sioned into the Rifle Brigade in December 1918. He was awarded the Victoria Cross during the Second Battle of El Alamein. The following citation “for most conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty on the27th October, 1942, in the Western Desert” was published in the Newbury Weekly News on November 26, 1942. “Lieutenant-Colonel Turner led a Battalion of the Rifle Brigade at night for 4,000 yards through diffi- cult country to their objective, where 40 German prisoners were captured. “He then organised theposition for defence. He and his Battalion were continuously attacked from 5.30am to 7pm, unsupported and so isolated that replenishment of ammunition was impossible. “During this time theBattalion was attacked by not less than 90 German tanks which advanced in successive waves. All of these were repulsed with a loss to the enemy of 35 tanks which were in flames. “Throughout the action Lieutenant-Colonel Turner never ceased to go to each part of the front as it was threatened. “While doing this he was wounded in the head. He set an example of leadership and bravery which inspired his whole Battalion and which will remain an inspiration to the Brigade.” Victor Road in Thatcham is named after him. He died in Ditchingham, Suffolk, in 1972, aged 72.

F ollowing nearly six years of war with Germany, the Allies accepted their surrender in Berlin on May 8, 1945. The Newbury Weekly News reported that the streets of the town were gaily decorated with flags and were crowded with shoppers buying provisions for the two-day public holiday. People gathered in the Market Place for the town service of thanks- giving. The square was crowded with

wrote: “Half the people of Aldbourne, and nearly all the unmarried girls, were there to wave goodbye.” Mr Heffron, who was the first Allied soldier to enter liberated Eindhoven in the Netherlands, and Mr Guarnere, confined to a wheelchair after losing his leg during the Battle of the Bulge at Foy, recalled those days. Mr Heffron said: “The people lined up in the street and cried and cried. I guess mothers were think- ing about their own boys and thought that you’re not going to come back. Many didn’t, either.” “It [Aldbourne] has got a special place in our hearts,” Mr Guarnere added. The Hungerford Town Band, which had been dormant during the war years, got out its uniforms and led the longest procession ever held. All local organisations took part, including HM forces at home on leave, the Home Guard, the Women ’s Land Army and Hungerford Knitting Guild. The assembled masses were addressed by the Constable, Mr Edward ‘Teddy’ Pratt, who made an uplifting speech.

T HEIR emotions are mixed when they return and as they remember. Nearly 60 years earlier the two, men had spent 11 months in the Wilt - shire village of Aldbourne, prepar- ing for Operation Overlord. Flying in from their homes in south Philadelphia, Staff Sgt William ‘Wild Bill’ Guarnere and Sgt Edward ‘Babe’ Heffron, who served with the 101st Airborne during the Second World War, were there to remember the good times and then the devastation that followed. The American servicemen of Easy Company were immortalised by historian Stephen Ambrose, in his book Band of Brothers , where he revellers who sang and danced into the small hours. Commonwealth and US service- men, along with young women, also celebrated with a dance in the Corn Exchange. Frances Partridge, the diarist who lived at Ham Spray House between 1933 and 1960, described the town thus: “On VE Day in Newbury the flags were out and all the little girls had red, white and blue bows in their hair.”

Yanks for the memories

Get ready to party

Edward (Babe) Heffron & W illiam (Wild Will) Guarnere

How we helped the Community through 2020:

We awarded £4,264 in grants to help the most vulnerable and at-risk in the coronavirus crisis

We organised a socially distanced Remembrance Service which was live streamed on the internet so residents could ‘Remember from Home’ whilst staying saf e

We kept our Thursday and Saturday Markets open, allowing shopping in an open air, safe environment

We put up over 150 beautiful Hanging Baskets throughout the town to lift residents’ spirits .

We kept the Public Toilets at The Wharf open when all others in the town were shut

We installed a whole new playground at Skyllings for children and new play equipment, a marked out running loop with gym equipment a refurbished MUGA (Multi Use Games Area) and even solar lighting at the City Recreation Ground