A WW2 Air Raid Warden Post coat of arms, which will be on display at the talk.
This month we are remembering the efforts of the brave soldiers, sailors and airmen who took part in the D-Day landings eighty years ago. But the Second World War affected the “home front” as well, and thousands of Wembley residents, men and women, played an important part in keeping their neighbours safe from German bombing.
Many had volunteered to be Air Raid Wardens as early as the Spring of 1938, and carried on giving up their free time right through until the warden service was disbanded in June 1945. Others took on roles in First Aid, Rescue or the Auxiliary Fire Service, putting themselves “in harms way” to protect the lives and property of their fellow residents, with some paying the ultimate price.
A German V1 flying bomb (or “doodlebug”) in the air.
Hitler responded to the Allied invasion on the Normandy beaches by ordering the use of his Vergeltungswaffen (“vengeance weapons”), beginning with V1 flying bombs. The first of these to land in Wembley came less than a fortnight after D-Day, and fell not far from Barham Community Library, where I will be giving a talk on Saturday 15 June.
My illustrated talk, on “Wembley’s Air Raid Wardens in the Second World War”, will include a number of other stories local to the Sudbury area, but covers the whole of the former Borough of Wembley. It is a joint event, between the Library and Wembley History Society, but there are still a few seats available for anyone who wants to attend.
Please see the poster below for details, and contact Paul at the Library if you would like to come along, from 3pm until c.4.30pm on Saturday 15 June. All ages, probably from about ten upwards, are welcome if you would be interested. It is a free event, but donations to Barham Community Library would be appreciated. I look forward to seeing you there!
Philip Grant
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