Souvenir of memories from people of Felbridge to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II

Crash Landing at North End
A German bomber took the roof off North End Lodge which was adjacent to Simpson’s Garage, London Road, North End. It happened at 9.20 am on Friday 27th September 1940. The bomber was a Junker 88 which developed a fault in its starboard engine and lost formation whilst on a sortie to bomb London. The cockpit was destroyed in the attack and three of the four crew lost their lives. Three baled out in the Hartfield area, out of these three, the parachute of one failed to open, a second died of his wounds in Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, and the third survived, though he broke his leg. The fourth remained in the plane, presumed already dead when the others baled out.

Of the house, all but one room was damaged. The only room to go unscathed was the storage room where eggs were kept from the chickens that the family farmed. It was said that not one egg was broken and the dogs came out wagging their tails.
Notes supplied by L J Taylor and Tony Jones

Felbridge Village Produce Association
Before the war, Britain imported two thirds of its food, but once the war had started ships and crews were in constant danger of being blown up and as a consequence food became in short supply and rationing was introduced. People were continually being told to ‘make do and mend’ and above all ‘avoid waste to save on shipping’. With the shortages, clothes and food were strictly controlled through the issue of Ration Books. The weekly food ration allocated to each person was one egg, 2oz margarine, 2oz cooking fat, 2oz tea, 2oz sugar, 1 oz cheese, 4oz bacon or ham and meat to the value of 1 shilling and 2d just 6p in today’s money. It was through the introduction of rationing the people of Felbridge set up the Felbridge Village Produce Association to encourage residents to grow their own produce and support the ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign. The Association held a weekly market in the old Felbridge Institute in Copthorne Road, where their produce could be bought and sold, even as little as one egg!
From Felbridge Parish and People with additions from Ken Housman

War time memories of a boy from Imberhorne Farm
The Coomber family, who lived in Imberhorne Farm Cottages during the war, helped dig a shelter behind the cottages, not far from the pond. Jim Coomber, a small boy at the time, remembers that on one occasion the air raid siren sounded when they were in the middle of dinner and he ran to the shelter, on arrival the jelly that he was looking forward to for dessert fell off his plate! He also remembers that a bomb came down between Imberhorne Farm and Gullege that blew out all the windows and that a Spitfire crash landed in Long Field to the south of Felbridge Water. This plane was eventually recovered on a low loader. He remembers ‘It was always a rush to the scene of a crash to see what souvenirs you could get’.
Jim Coomber

German plane crash lands near Rowplatt Lane
A German plane crash-landed in the woodland running down the Copthorne Road from Rowplatt Lane, and Jim Coomber remembers that the villagers of Felbridge rushed to apprehend the German airmen.
Jim Coomber

Horses join the Home Guard
At the outbreak of war, the Thomas sisters had set up a riding school at Brook Nook in Furnace Wood. As riding was considered a luxury during the war years and food was scarce for non-essential animals, the horses were threatened. The girls were so upset with the prospect of losing the horses that their father, Jack Thomas the leader of the Felbridge Home Guard, enlisted all the horses as a means of transport for the Felbridge Home Guard, an action that ensured their food allocation and survival. As such the Felbridge Home Guard was the only Home Guard unit to have ‘pack horses’ during the war!
Ken Housman

Hobbs Barracks
In the late 1930’s, with the outbreak of war imminent, there was a great need for more barrack accommodation and the War Office, (as the Ministry of Defence was then called), acquired Stratfords a house on the northern outskirt of Felbridge and its associated land in Newchapel from Mary Stratford, Lady Sanderson, under Section 1 (1) of the War Department Property Act of 1938. Local knowledge suggests that the building of the barracks started before the war, in 1938, took about eighteen months to complete and was developed to form a large permanent camp and named Hobbs Barracks, by 1940. The barracks eventually covered sixty-three acres, by the addition of ten acres of land purchased from Marjorie Thomas of Park Farm in 1941, and about six acres of land purchased at the rear of the White Rabbit Road House, now the Peacock, from Miss Margaret Josephine Fisher Brown some time after 1941 and before 1953.

The land purchased from Park Farm, situated west of the A22 and South of the camp, became the sewage treatment works, built in 1941, that served the barracks and is now the site of Beavers Water Plant & Fish Farm. A further two acres of land, just north of the barracks, to the east of the A22, was later acquired, circa 1943, which became No.1 Static Bakery serving the South Eastern Command that operated out of Hobbs Barracks. The military also commandeered five acres of woodland, opposite the Bakery, belonging to Newchapel House.

On completion, Hobbs Barracks became the home of the 3rd Battalion of the Irish Guards, a Training Battalion, together with associated service units, in June 1940. The first Commanding Officer was Lt. Col. the Viscount Gough, who lost an arm and won the regiment's first Military Cross in the Great War. The Irish Guards consisted of three battalions; the 1st Battalion in the 24th Guards Brigade was stationed at Northwood, Greater London, the 2nd Battalion in the 22nd Guards Brigade was stationed at Woking, Surrey, and a Training Battalion, that later became the 3rd Battalion, was at Hobbs Barracks, Newchapel.

The 24th and 22nd Guards were held in reserve around London to counter any German invasion. In July 1940, under the command of Lt. Col. the Viscount Gough, the Training Battalion at Hobbs Barracks moved to Dover as part of the garrison for three months. By October the number of recruits at Hobbs Barracks had accumulated to over 1,200 men, and from these recruits the 3rd Battalion was formed. In November, the Training Battalion in Dover moved to Northwood to relieve the 1st Battalion, and whilst at Northwood they were given the new name of The Holding Companies, under the command of Major JOE Vandeleur. Lt. Col. the Viscount Gough then returned to Hobbs Barracks and the companies there became the Training Battalion. The Training Battalion continued to supply men to the Holding Companies until February 1941, when they were large enough to be a battalion in their own right. In autumn 1943, the 3rd Battalion, Guards Armoured Division became one of the Infantry Battalions in the Division and from then until the end of the War trained with the 2nd Armoured Battalion. They were withdrawn to England and were disbanded, along with the Training Battalion, in 1946.

Recruits from other regiments also received their basic training at Hobbs Barracks and it continued to be very active throughout the War, culminating in the invasion of Normandy in 1944.

During the war, apart from basic training, Hobbs Barracks also operated as the RASC (Royal Army Service Corps) Command Supply Depot for the South Eastern Command. They supplied the Army, Royal Air Force and Navy with provisions, meats and bread, the bread being baked at the No.1 Static Bakery that was situated approximately 250 yards (231m) from the main gate, on the opposite side of the main road, heading north. The barracks, at this time, also housed the female members of the ATS (Army Territorial Service) who worked along side the male RASC bakers at the Static Bakery. The Bakery started production in 1943 and was in operation up until the late 1950’s.
Taken from Hobbs Barracks Fact Sheet DHW 08/01/03

The Felbridge Home Guard
Hobbs Barracks provided a training ground for the local Home Guard, or to be precise, the Felbridge Platoon of ‘F’ Company, 9th Surrey (Lingfield) Battalion, Home Guard, using the Rifle Range for practice with live 303 ammunition. The Felbridge Platoon was under the command of Captain Jack Thomas, with second in command, Lieutenant Arnold Kelf. Capt. Thomas had been a non-commissioned officer in the Royal Artillery, serving in France during World War I. He had been awarded the Military Medal for running ammunition supplies to the front line under heavy enemy fire and had been mentioned in dispatches for rescuing a team of horses that had come under attack. Lieut. Kelf was an explosives expert and during the war had most of the bridges in the Felbridge area wired up in case of a German invasion.
Taken from Fact Sheet DHW 08/01/03

No.1 Static Bakery
After England had declared war on Germany in September 1939, the problem of feeding large numbers of troops in the British Expeditionary Force in France had to be addressed. Previously, during times of conflict, the Forces had relied on Field Bakeries using ovens known as ‘Polly’ Perkins to supply the large quantities of bread required. A large Standard Army Bread Plant had been established at Aldershot in Hampshire, for some time before the out break of World War II, and it was due to the success of the Standard Army Bakery Plant, that it was decided, at the beginning of World War II, to establish three large Static Machine Bakeries in France, to be used in conjunction with the well-known Field Bakeries. However, due to the rapid fall of France in 1940, they were never built and it was not until 1943, that they were commissioned in England. One of these bakeries being at Newchapel, (No.1).

The Bakery operations started with the receipt of the basic raw materials. During the war, these deliveries were made under the cover of darkness, with the Bakery buildings being large enough to accept delivery lorries being reversed into the building to be off-loaded out of sight.

By 1945, Capt. H W Browne had become the OC at No.1 Static Bakery, Newchapel, commanding forty-one men of the RASC and seventy-two women of the ATS. The average bread production per month at this date was 1,100,000 lbs, [36,500 lbs Quartern loaves per day], with the total production, up until September 1945, given as 17,750,000 lbs), serving up to six Command Supply Depots.

Bread rations from the No.1 Static Bakery, Newchapel, were distributed to individual Military Units from the Command Supply Depot that was situated within Hobbs Barracks. These rations, which also included provisions in the form of green groceries and meat, were distributed to the Army, Navy and Air Force in the Southern region. To prevent detection by enemy aircraft during the war, the Unit lorries collecting their supplies were loaded in Heather Way, East of the A22 at the foot of Woodcock Hill. Here the lorries could be hidden under the tree canopy of the area, the idea being that the stream of lorries arriving to collect provisions could attract more attention and were more likely to be noticed than the two large lorries that ferried the provisions from the Supply Depot to their hiding place.

Interestingly, bread was not rationed during the war, although in 1943, National Bread replaced white bread as an attempt to make flour go further. The introduction of National Bread, which was greyish in colour, compared to white bread, allowed the flour to go further by not extracting so much of the grain, i.e. Wholemeal uses 100% of the grain, Wheat meal, 85%, National, 78% and White, 72%. However, between 1947 and 1948 bread rationing had to be introduced, as Britain could not afford, either in financial terms or space, to ship in the wheat from North America, in its struggle to get the country back on its feet.
Taken from Fact Sheet BR 01/03

Felbridge Home Guard on manoeuvres
Being too young to join the services, Ken Housman joined the Home Guard and went on several manoeuvres with the Felbridge Home Guard around Felbridge. One manoeuvre that took place in Lingfield involved Canadian soldiers pretending to be German, Felbridge Home Guard were caught in a hollow between the road and a barbwire fence. Ken fired at the Canadian soldiers, having a banger at the end of the riffle to give a bang sound. The response was that the Canadian’s threw a thunder flash at him, which blew up at his feet. Captain Jack Thomas, the Felbridge Home Guard leader, was captured and frog-marched off to the ‘Headquarters’. When Ken caught up with him he was covered in flour as a Spitfire had been bombing the ‘Headquarters’ with flour!
Ken Housman

A22 as Missile Practice Range
To practice firing missiles the Home Guard would stand by St John’s Church firing down the A22 towards the Star Inn. The missile, generally a bottle filled with petrol and a wick, was fired down a piece of pipe by a small charge. Often the missile would get stuck in the pipe and blow up, or fall just out the end of the pipe and blow up!
Ken Housman

St John’s Church damaged by bombing raid
The exterior of the church has remained little changed over the years except for damage sustained during World War II, when, on 28th August 1940, three bombs landed in and around the grounds of the vicarage and church. One bomb landed near the East wall of the church that shattered several of the windows in the south and east walls. There are also a few shrapnel scars to be seen on the east wall, the carved tops of some of the buttressing on the south wall have been sheared off and several of the graves in the area have suffered slight damage. Another bomb landed near the north and west wall where the driveway up to the vicarage, now The Glebe, met the London Road. This bomb loosened or removed slates from the north porch and north aisle, and again left shrapnel scars in the west wall.
Taken from Fact Sheet SJC 07/02i

New Stained Glass Window for St John’s
Most of the windows in St John’s church were damaged during the Second World War when three bombs landed in the grounds of the vicarage and church on 28th August 1940. Those windows with no glass were boarded up for the duration of the war, the boards being temporarily removed during the summer months to allow light into the church. The grisaille (monochromic colouring) glass in one of the south windows in the chancel is all that remains of the original glass. This consists of four rectangular panels of painted glass, two that are predominantly blue and the other two red. These have been set into clear diamond shaped panes with lead work. Inscribed on a plaque under the grisaille window, a short history of the East window is to be found, which states that it was installed to replace four memorial windows shattered by enemy action, which commemorated Dr Charles Gatty, J Whyte, Mrs K Fellows and J C Joyner. The original East window, the largest of the windows, was originally dedicated solely to the memory of Dr Charles Henry Gatty and was completely destroyed, the current window being installed in 1949, the work of Geoffrey Webb.

The new design represents the Tree of Life with Christ at the centre amid the words ‘I am the vine; you are the branches’ as detailed in John 15. Above the main figure are St Peter, St Andrew, St Stephen, St Barnabas and St Paul, while along side Jesus are St Mary Magdalene, St Mary the Virgin, St John and St James. At the top is the Paschal Lamb and the banner of St George surrounded by angels. Although to a new design the central sexfoil window does still have the Agnus Dei or Lamb of God that can be seen in old photographs of the church interior, and there are still angels beneath it.
Taken from Fact Sheet SJC 07/02i

Church kept locked
St John’s church was kept locked during the Second World War as the organ inside contained valves which could be used in wireless equipment, and the authorities did not want them to fall into enemy hands in the event of an invasion.

Hedgecourt Lake Drained
During the war years Hedgecourt Lake was drained as it was felt that the German planes could use the large reflective surface of the water to navigate their way to London on a moonlit night.

Felbridge Air Raid Shelter
The Shelter was built as a communal shelter for the use of the people of the village during World War II. It was located on the Village Green opposite no.19 Crawley Down Road, in front of the school. Although Felbridge never saw enemy action it did not go unscathed, with numerous bombs being discharged around the area, several downed Flying Bombs and a couple of crash-landings. Several bombs landed on Woodcock Hill resulting in the road being damaged and closed, and a Flying bomb or Doodlebug came down near Hedgecourt Lake and at Felcot Farm in Furnace Wood. The Shelter was eventually demolished in the mid 1950’s.

War time memories of a girl from Felbridge
During the 1940’s a phosphorous bomb was dropped by a stray plane. It fell on the water main in Felcot Road [Furnace Wood] on the opposite side of the lane from our house ‘Kia-Ora’. The lane at that time was unmade, dust in the summer and mud in the winter. The phosphorous was splattered on the leaves of the hedges and grass verge and with the heat of the sun small fires were ignited from time to time afterwards.

My father, Louis Subtil, was an Air Raid Warden (ARP). The warnings were phoned through to him, and then he had to don a helmet and cycle round the Wood blowing his whistle. The same procedure followed for the ‘all clear’ and off he went again. His duties were to inspect houses to see that no chinks of light were showing through the black-out curtains, and of delivering sandbags for underground air raid shelters. He was also a member of the Home Guard and since ‘Dad’s Army’ portrayed so accurately and humorously their activities, there is nothing more to add.

I remember going to see the remains of a German aircraft which crashed in the field opposite Rowplatt Lane at the Crawley Down Road end, behind what was then a pair of cottages, now only one and now known as Vine Cottage.

When I was twelve years of age, a number of girls attended Red Cross instruction at the home of Miss Round and Miss Faraday. One misty evening, Mavis Hopper and I were walking to their house under the chestnut trees when we heard a loud explosion and we later learned that this was the bomb that fell on the cinema in East Grinstead. I knew several of the children who died because by then I had moved on to the old Sackville School.
Betty Salmon née Subtil

MURDEROUS ATTACK ON SOUTH-EAST TOWN
BOMB SHATTERS CINEMA AUDITORIUM
Women and Children Among Many Victims
SHOPPING CENTRE ATTACKED BY A DORNIER BOMBER
Fine Services by Civil Defence and Soldiers

Four death dealing blows were struck at the heart of a quiet South-East town soon after 5 o’clock on Friday, when one of about ten enemy raiders swept in from the coast to cause havoc in the shopping centre, and a large number of casualties among men, women and children. The majority of the casualties were in a cinema, where a bomb scored a direct hit. It was there that the death toll was heavy – very heavy for a single raider. From this cinema most of the dead were taken and a large number of seriously wounded were rescued and removed to the hospital in the town and to other hospitals in the neighbourhood.

Three other bombs were dropped and a number of incendiaries which brought disaster and damage to many shops in the same street. Immediately after the attack on street resembled a shambles with wreckage, glass and plaster covering the road and pavements and fires burning at some of the establishments. But within a few minutes of this ruthless attack on an open town Civil Defence workers, including Police and NFS, as well as troops and members of the Home Guard, were on the scene effecting rescues which became fantastic spectacles. Members of the public also helped in the heroic task, while members of the London Transport Passenger Board gave much valued assistance with buses for the transport of casualties. The combined services accomplished many feats of skill and daring, and worked feverishly throughout the late afternoon and night.

The attack on this quiet little country town will long be remembered for the manner in which defenceless women and children were massacred, and the viciousness of the attack by the Nazi raider on a locality which had not military pretensions. The attacking plane first circled round a near by station in an attempt to machine-gun a London train just as it was running into the station. There were no casualties or damage in this attack. The raider then circled the town twice before releasing its cargo. Bombs were dropped, also a number of incendiaries. The one high explosive which caused the greater number of casualties was that which penetrated the roof of the attractive cinema. It actually dropped among the cheaper seats in front of the auditorium, which were mainly occupied by women and children. Included amongst these were five WAAF’s who had been sitting together. There were also a number of soldiers who had come into the town from the surrounding district. The cinema, which has seating accommodation for 400, was fairly full at the time. Most of the children in the audience had gone to the cinema straight from school, a regular Friday night ‘habit’ among them. Instantly the whole place was in ruins. Masonry and heavy girders crashed on to the audience and buried them in a mass of rubble. There were many who were almost blown to pieces, but others lay pinned in the debris suffering from wounds of a ghastly character.

SICKENING SIGHTS
In the dust ladened atmosphere it was a pitiful sight. With all possible speed Rescue and Demolition Squads and First Aid Units were rushed to the scene. Other calls went out for further assistance, which was soon forthcoming and everyone worked feverishly in their attempts to bring relief to the sufferings of those trapped among the fallen masonry and plaster. The work went on in relays. The workers toiled unceasingly, and several who were ordered to take a rest refused to do so and worked on until they were at the point of collapse. At the same time as rescue work was carried on in the ruins military and other ambulances were rushed to the spot, as well as special casualty detector. Buses also came to the rescue, helping to take many of the wounded to hospital.

One by one, two by two, pale faced and lifeless children were brought out of the ruins. Some were found almost naked with their clothes blasted from them. Then there was a woman without shoes or stockings. There were others who were also devoid of much clothing and soldiers in battledress who were brought out in the same manner as might have been the case had they been in action against the enemy and across the road they were taken and gently lowered on to the floor of a local newspaper office which had been blasted.

AUDITORIUM OF DEATH
It was a sickening scene, one which brought tears even to the stoutest hearts among the gallant lot of rescuers who toiled on through the night. It was an eerie sight during the night with four candles stuck round the cash desk to give light to those ascending and descending the plush carpet steps leading to the auditorium of death.

A representative of the ‘Courier’ who visited this town of sorrow saw the interior of the cinema. Here and there one came across a shoe, a khaki cap, a man’s hat and a woman’s dress. The seats were torn to ribbons, seats which only a short time earlier had been occupied by light-hearted men, women and children. In a moment their joy had been turned into death or painful injury. In the rescue work a chain of soldiers handed out the much damaged seats which had to be removed, together with chunks of masonry and twisted girders before the majority of the killed and maimed could be reached by the rescuers.

INDESCRIBABLE MASS OF RUINS
In turn the bodies were taken from the newspaper office to a garage to await an identification parade. A mere glimpse at some of the victims made one realise what scenes of pathos would be forthcoming when processions of tearful mothers and fathers, brothers or sisters or sweethearts would make their way to that mortuary to see if they could establish the identity of someone who had been dear to them. By the following morning most of the bodies had been recovered, including 16-years-old Mollie Stiller, the little usherette. Among some of those who had miraculous escapes was the assistant operator, William R Henn, who was leaving the box when the roof crashed. He escaped with a few minor injuries. The senior operator, Tom Wickenden, was badly injured.

In the indescribable mass of ruins inside one could distinguish the screen curtain above which was a plaque of the Prince of Wales feathers. The curtain was in ribbons. Attached to the cinema was the Rainbow Ballroom, where dances were held with fairylike lighting effects. The dome shaped roof hung down in one great massive piece stretching to the floor, while the room itself was just another lot of rubble. And the same can be said of the room generally used by the Rotary Club for their usual weekly gatherings, but curiously enough the restaurant on the ground floor facing the street was hardly damaged.

The attacking plane is believed to have been a Dornier 217. It has been established that one-third of the total casualties were women, one-third children, and the rest mainly soldiers who had come into the town. [Abridged]
Contemporary report from the East Grinstead Courier

Whitehall Cinema Bombing – Felbridge victims
The original report of the bombing did not give any figures for the dead and wounded, and although it wrote graphically about the scenes of devastation it was reported in the typical ‘war style’ that did not give much away that could be used against the country and its people by the enemy. Later articles on the event put the death toll at 108, and the injured at 235, and many died later through injuries sustained during the bombing. Mr Lewis Bennett, who was the deputy Civil Defence chief for East Grinstead at that time, stated that at the time he issued 123 death certificates and logged 393 people as being injured. One of the original statements that ‘The attack on this quiet little country town will long be remembered for the manner in which defenceless women and children were massacred, and the viciousness of the attack by the Nazi raider on a locality which had not military pretensions’, is also slightly inaccurate. The area behind the old Whitehall cinema was, during the war, being used as a depot for Canadian Army vehicles and was more likely to have been the intended target. Also, not more that two miles North in Felbridge, was the Hobbs Barracks, yet another military target.

There was also controversy about the identity of the aeroplane that dropped the bombs. It was reported as a Dornier 217 and twenty-seven years after the bombing, wreckage of a Dornier 217 was found buried in a wood near Bletchingley, Surrey, believed to have been the plane responsible for the attack. However, an eyewitness believed the plane to be a Junker 88. On further investigation with the RAF Air Historical Branch, it was discovered that two Dornier 217’s were shot down on the day in question but that they had been operating over Croydon, Orpington and West Malling, with one being shot down over Bletchingley and one near Kenley, all in the Surrey area. There are no records of a Junker 88 being brought down on that day, and German records claim only two planes were lost out of ten sent on the raid. Based on this information it would seem likely that the plane responsible for bombing the Whitehall cinema returned safely to Germany.

Of the numerous people killed or injured, not only in the Whitehall cinema itself but also in the vicinity of the building in London Road, the following victims came from Felbridge and the immediate area:

Winifred Dorothy Catterick
Winifred was born in 1904 on at the time of her death was working as a S.R. N., probably at the Queen Victoria Cottage Hospital, and was living at Pixiewood, in Stream Park, Felbridge. Winifred was aged thirty-nine when she was killed in the Whitehall cinema bombing, and was buried on the 14th July 1943 in one of the two communal graves at Mount Noddy for victims of the Whitehall bombing.

Joyce Constance Coomber
Joyce was born in 1919, the daughter of Henry Thomas and Rose Still of 31 Imberhorne Lane. She married John Albert Coomber and they set up home at 24 North End. Joyce was aged twenty-four when she was killed in the Whitehall cinema bombing. She was buried on 13th July 1943 in Mount Noddy Cemetery, being joined four months later by her husband, John Coomber.

Sybella Edmonds
Sybella was born in 1883 and was the wife of Marcus Edmonds. They lived at Rose Walk, Mill Lane in Felbridge. Sybella was aged sixty when she was killed in London Road, East Grinstead, as a result of the Whitehall cinema bombing.

Ellen France
Ellen France was born in 1875 and was the widow of Arthur France. The official war graves information lists her living at Merxies, Copthorne Road, although the Felbridge burial register gives her address as Green Platt, Copthorne Road. Ellen was aged sixty-eight when she was killed in the Whitehall cinema bombing. The only memorial to Ellen France in Felbridge is a margin note found in the burial register. She was buried on 15th July 1943, in an unmarked grave, in the churchyard at St John’s, now just a patch of grass, located to the northwest of the grave of Charles James Valentine Hewitt.

Alice Maud Meadmore
Alice was born in 1900 and was the wife of Joseph Lewis Meadmore of 9 Sackville Gardens. Alice was aged forty-three when she was killed in London Road, East Grinstead as a result of the Whitehall cinema bombing.

Eunice Meyers
Eunice was born in 1901 and was the wife of Henry Thomas Meyers of 3 Stream Park in Felbridge. Being as Winifred Catterick was a neighbour in Stream Park, Eunice and Winifred had probably gone to the cinema together. Eunice was aged forty-two when she was killed in the Whitehall cinema bombing and was buried on the 14th July 1943 in one of the two communal graves at Mount Noddy for victims of the Whitehall bombing.

Clara Louise Mitchell
Clara Louise was born in 1883, she was the widow of John Mitchell and they had two children a daughter named Ena and a son. Clara and her husband had run a small nursery garden behind their bungalow, ‘Hollybush’, in Rowplatt Lane, now the site of the close of houses called Tithe Orchard. Their daughter Ena married a Mr Parks and they ran a small farmstead near the Lincoln Imp, now the motel, at the bottom of Woodcock Hill. Again, like Ellen France, the memorial to Clara Louise Mitchell is a margin note in the burial register as she too was buried in an unmarked grave in the churchyard at St John’s on 13th July 1943. The grave is located on the second row north of the raised area at the lower South end of the churchyard, in a central position.

Ethel Smith
Ethel was born in 1913 the daughter of Mr and Mrs McCollum of 39 West Street in East Grinstead. Ethel married Herbert Smith and they lived at 66 Dorset Avenue, East Grinstead. Ethel was injured in the Whitehall cinema bombing but died of her injuries five days later on the 14th July, aged thirty, at the Queen Victoria Cottage Hospital.

Herbert Edward Smith
Herbert was born in 1911, the son of the late Mr and Mrs Smith of Halsford Croft in North End. He was the husband of Ethel Smith and they lived at 66 Dorset Avenue, East Grinstead. During the war years he was a Constable in the Police War Reserve. Herbert was aged thirty-two when he was killed in the Whitehall cinema bombing. He was buried on the 14th July 1943, the day his wife died of the injuries she had sustained in the bombing, in one of the two communal graves at Mount Noddy for victims of the Whitehall bombing.

Molly Iris Lillian Stiller
Molly was born in 1929, the daughter of Mr and Mrs J Stiller of 86 Sackville Gardens. Molly had just left the De le Warr School and was working as an usherette at the Whitehall cinema the day the bombs were dropped. Molly was just fourteen years old when she was killed in the bombing and was buried on the 14th July 1943 in one of the two communal graves at Mount Noddy for victims of the Whitehall bombing.

The Felbridge Fire Brigade
During the war Felbridge had its own Fire Brigade made up of men who were either, too young, too old or unfit to fight. The Felbridge Fire Station that was situated in Copthorne Road, next to the old Felbridge Institute, still standing it is now part of Southways the printers, the large blue double doors the only testament to the building’s previous use. Members of the Felbridge Fire Brigade included Arthur Dossett, Samuel Wren, William Norman, Sidney Dean, Stanley Walder, Richard Back, Alfred mills and William Pentecost. The equipment they were issued with was a Morris Commercial lorry and pump, powered by a Coventry Climax engine that was towed behind the lorry in what looked like an old side car.

Incendiary bombs land on Furnace Wood
The residents of Furnace Wood, being a bit our in the sticks, had battled for years to be connected to the mains water and just before the outbreak of the Second World War mains water arrived in the ‘Wood’. Enjoyment of this facility was short lived though, as very early on in the war, incendiary bombs were dropped and, in accordance with Sod’s Law, one shattered the water main. The result of this was that fire kept shooting up through the ground at the weak points along the length of the newly laid water main!
Ken Housman

Exchange is no robbery
One day in the early 1940’s, when day-light raids came into being, a convoy of Canadian soldiers had to pull in off the main road. They were parked all under the big trees in Furnace Wood, covered with camouflage netting. We made friends with the group outside our house and they came and chatted on the lawn and had a cup of tea and told us about their families at home. We had a heavy crop of plums that year, more than we needed after we had bottled, jammed and scoffed them. We used to take bags of them up and they seemed to appreciate them. One family man bought out his photos and showed us, and gave us stamps and chocolate. His name was Dennis and he came from Saskatchewan.
Marion Jones née Pike

The Ministry of Food
The Ministry of Food had a kitchen which developed recipes to make the most of rationing. I still have some recipes in my scrap book that I cut out as a youngster from papers, magazines and old pamphlets from the shops.
Marion Jones née Pike

FUEL CAN BE SAVED BY MAKING UNCOOKED JAM
But it Takes Five Months
What ever fruits you have in the garden or can manage to buy, make preserves with them against the time when they may be scarce.
This is how to make Uncooked Damson Jam.
Break the skin of each damson with a needle; take ¾ lb. of honey or sugar to each pound of fruit, place a layer of sugar in a stone jar, then a layer of damsons, then sugar, and so on until fruit is used up. Top with a layer of sugar. Soak a bladder in water to tie closely over the jar and store for five months.
Recipe by Elisabeth Ann of the ‘Sunday Dispatch’ during the war years

Barley Mince
Corned beef and barley make just about the most delicious mince you’ve tasted! The barley makes it more nourishing – stretches the beef, too.
Ingredients (enough for 4)
3oz pearl barley
1 level teaspoon mixed herbs, 1 medium-sized leek chopped
1 level tablespoon flour
1 level teaspoon beef extract
½ level teaspoon pepper
4oz corned beef
gravy browning

Method: Cook barley in about a pint of water with leek and herbs until tender.
Strain off water and make up to half a pint.
Blend flour with a little of the liquid, then add rest, stir until it thickens and boil for 5 minutes.
Add beef extract, pepper, beef, barley and a little browning.
Warm, through for 10 minutes.
Serve with vegetables.

Spam and Egg Pie
Ingredients –
2 reconstituted eggs
6 wafer slices of spam or other tinned meat
salt and pepper
chopped parsley
¼ lb short crust
knob of margarine

Preparation –
Roll out the crust, divide in half, use half to line the pie plate.
Spread the slices of spam to cover the crust completely, season to taste.
Melt a little margarine in a saucepan, pour in the egg, cook lightly until just set.
Stir in the chopped parsley.
Spread over the spam slices, cover with a lid made with the rest of the sort crust.

Cooking –
The spam and reconstituted egg are already cooked in this dish, so you merely need to cook the pastry.
Put in a quick oven for about 30 minutes or until the crust is brown.

Wartime Chutney
1lb Green Tomatoes
3 to 4 onions
2 oz Dates or prunes, chopped
3 tablespoons Sugar or 2 tablespoons Syrup
Few peppercorns or red chillies (crushed)
1 rounded teaspoon salt
1 ½ gills (teacups) vinegar

Slice Tomatoes, chop onions, mix in basin with salt, stand overnight. Next day dissolve sugar or syrup in vinegar and boil up, add chopped dates and peppercorns or chillies – simmer for 5 mins. – then add Tomatoes and Onions and simmer till of thick consistency.

This recipe comes from a collection of hand written wartime recipes belonging to Vera Pike. Along side the recipe is the following comment: This recipe would be improved if the salt was increased to 1½ teaspoons and about twice the quantity of onions, ½ Treacle and ½ Syrup can be used.

Lord Woolton’s Vegetable Pie
2lb (1kg) potatoes
1lb (450g) cauliflower
1lb (450g) carrots
½lb (225g) parsnips
½lb (225g) onions
3 or 4 spring onions
water for cooking
1 teaspoon vegetable extract
1 tablespoon oatmeal
Chopped parsley
2oz (50g) grated cheese

Cook half the potatoes, the vegetables, the vegetable extract and oatmeal for 10 minutes in enough water to cover them. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking. Cool and place in a pie dish. Sprinkle with chopped parsley. Boil, then mash the rest of the potatoes: spread them over the vegetables to make a crust. Sprinkle with cheese on top. Bake at 190ºC, 375ºF, gas mark 5 until lightly browned. Serve with gravy and vegetables. Serves 6-8.

This recipe was named after the popular Minister for Food, Lord Frederick Woolton.

Liquid Paraffin Cake
My mother was unable to make a sponge cake before the war, they would never rise, but during the war when food was rationed, she found this recipe for a sponge cake that never failed to rise:
3 tablespoos flour
3 teaspoons Baking Powder
3 tablespoons dried egg
3 tablespoons liquid paraffin
3 tablespoons sugar
milk and water
Mix all the ingredients together and bake in a moderate oven.
Marion Jones née Pike

Thank God for the W.I.
I don’t know how we would have managed without the W.I., they taught a great many things, Make Do & Mend, bottled fruit, jam making, drying apple rings on bamboo canes over the stove, the list was endless, much needed help to those who had not done things themselves before. They certainly helped the war effort.
Marion Jones née Pike

Felbridge Herb Gatherers
With the onset of World War II, Britain was once again in the same situation as it had been in World War I, with many of the plants used in medicines being imported from the Continent, and supplies disrupted or even blocked altogether. To counteract the shortfall a list of essential plants that needed to be cultivated and collected was drawn up. A simple and effective way to re-establish a supply of these plants was to encourage the people of Britain to collect and dry the plants found in this country. An effective system was established by Kew with assistance from the National Federation of Women’s Institutes, the Scottish Women’s Rural Institutes and the Women’s Voluntary Services for Civil Defence, who in turn involved the school children, and Scouts and Guides of Britain.

One such organisation that was formed in Felbridge to help the ‘war effort’ was the Felbridge Herb Gatherers, in which Dora Wheeler, a member of the Felbridge WI, played an active and prominent role. She mobilised the children of Felbridge School to gather and dry the required herbs from hedgerows, waste ground and the Commons of the Felbridge area to help meet the shortage of imported botanical plants and herbs. The herbs, once dried, were then sent to the companies that had, before the onset of war, dealt in importing botanical drugs.

The Felbridge Herb Gatherers set to work, and from two surviving receipts it is evident that they collected and dried huge quantities of plants from the Felbridge area. One receipt reveals that they collected 3lbs/1.3kg of foxglove seeds and 1lb 12oz/790g of red rose petals. Bearing in mind the weight loss during the drying process, these equate to about 15lbs/6.75kg of fresh foxglove seeds and 35lbs/15.75kg of fresh rose petals! A local newspaper article dated 12th August 1944 stated that the Felbridge Herb Gatherers had been active since 1941 and the two receipts dated 15th September 1943 and 12th September 1945 suggest that they were active until at least the end of the war and possibly longer. Money raised from the collection of the plants during the war was donated by the Felbridge Herb Gatherers to the Red Cross Agriculture Fund, which was run jointly by the Red Cross and St John Ambulance Service, to enable parcels to be sent to Prisoners of War and supplies to the sick and wounded.

The following is a list of plants that the Felbridge Herb Gatherers regularly supplied: Agrimony, Balm, Bay, Blackcurrant, Black Horehound, Burdock, Centaury, Clivers, Coltsfoot, Dandelion, Elder, Feverfew, Figwort, Foxglove, Garden Mint, Ground Ivy, Lavender, Lily-of-the-Valley, Meadowsweet, Mullein, Nettle, Periwinkle, Pilewort, Plantain, Raspberry, Red Rose, St John’s Wort, Sage, Scarlet Pimpernel, Tansy, Thyme, Violet, Wood Betony, Wood Sage and Yarrow.

Several of the Felbridge School children who were involved in herb collecting during the war also recall collecting plants after the war had ended. Rose Hips were collected from the hedgerows of Gullege Lane and from fields between Crawley Down Road and Copthorne Road, (Hedgecourt Common), being used for Rose Hip syrup. As an incentive the children were paid for rose hip collection at a rate of 3d a pound. Barbara Cornish also recalls other hedgerow plants collected for the ‘war effort’, which included blackberries, sloes and elderberries for jam, (if sugar was available from the ration), Hawthorn and Rowan berries, Deadly Nightshade to dilate eyes, and Chamomile for a blonde hair rinse, (vinegar was used for dark hair). Other plants gathered included dandelion leaves for greens and salads, chicory roots for a coffee substitute, and cabbage leaves for chilblains!
Taken from Fact Sheet SJC 01/04

In case of a major incident
During the war years, Felbridge School was designated a Rest Centre for the Women’s Royal Voluntary Service and should a major incident have occurred the school was to become the Co-Ordination Centre for the dead and injured. It was the job of the Felbridge Scouts to muster, along with their handcart, to ferry the dead and injured to the school.
Brian Roberts

Substitutes for sweets
We only had 1lb of sweets per month, I used to save my coupons and use them all at once at the end of the last week. I had a real feast. I am sure quite a number of our generation went more for saving things as we’d been used to limited amounts of sweeties and had to make do with other things like Tiger Nuts and Locust Beans which were very sweet, but you needed good teeth as they were quite hard. We discovered a little provisions shop in Middle Row in East Grinstead which also stocked Matzos, the Jewish unleavened bread, not on coupons, like great big water biscuits about 8 inches square and ⅛ inch thick, they were good to chew as well.

We dug pignuts in the wood, chewed wood sorrel, field sorrel stalks and raw rhubarb (this was best dipped in sugar first). When no one was looking we scrumped currants, gooseberries, half-ripe strawberries and green apples, but we left the crab apples alone. It was a wonder our stomachs survived this weird diet; we certainly couldn’t eat it now!
Marion Jones née Pike

No milk today
There were no milk delivery men as they had all been called to the war. My sister and I took an oblong shopping basket up to the local farm and balanced 3 jugs in it, carefully covered with a tea towel on top. Some days they felt very heavy, but we didn’t spill much of it. To make butter go further, my mum used to mix it with margarine and slowly melt it down with a few spoonfuls of dried milk powder all whisked in. This mad a large bowl-full of a light spread, similar to today’s Flora or Benacol mixes, it went a long way. We did manage to keep a baker’s roundsman, and whoever was home first made a bee-line to the new crust, 1 inch thick, with or without butter.

We grew our own fruit and veg and picked blackberries for pies and jam. When chestnut time came mum would boil up a pot of chestnuts to help out potatoes and we'd squeeze them into long worms through the top of the nut. The best way was to prick and roast the nuts on a coal shovel on the fire, sometimes they'd jump out the hearth but they did taste good.
Marion Jones née Pike