The Story of a WWll Evacuee,
By Richard Holdsworth,
“Six spoons of sugar, Mister, What’s that about?”.
“It’s the Rationing allocation during the war. Six tiny teaspoons.”
“For kids like me?” Continue reading Six Spoons Of Sugar
Category: World War Two
Rye Bombing Pictures Discovered
Marilyn Martin (Purrington) has discovered these wartime pictures of bomb damage to the Methodist Church among her mothers possessions. Continue reading Rye Bombing Pictures Discovered
Meet Viv Your Local Spiv
Richard Holdsworth bumps into a real live WWll Spiv and it brings back memories he’ll never forget!
How many readers of town magazine remember WWll? More to the point, how many of you remember the flashy Spiv with his pockets stuffed with nylons and ciggies and a truck-load of prime pork sausages for housewives suffering under the rule of the Ration Book? Continue reading Meet Viv Your Local Spiv
Wartime Evacuee
As we bemoan the fact that life is getting tougher as the recession bites ever deeper into our pockets, let us just reflect back to a time when things were much harder and be grateful that we do not have to face the problems of an imminent invasion as was the case when Fred Heritage was at school. This article was published in “Rye’s Own” 10 years ago – Fortunately Fred is still with us to tell the tale. Continue reading Wartime Evacuee
RAF Bomber Command Memorial
By Barry Floyd
(Publicity Officer, RAFA Northiam & Rye Branch)
Sixty-seven years after the end of WWII , and almost seventy years from the height of RAF Bomber Command’s offensive against targets in Germany and Nazi-occupied territories in Europe, a fitting If belated memorial to all the heroic aircrews involved was dedicated and unveiled in Green Park, London, on 28 June 2012 Continue reading RAF Bomber Command Memorial
Rye A.T.C. Wartime 1941
This wartime photograph of the 304 Squadron (Rye) A.T.C. pictured outside the south door of St. Mary’s Church was originally sent in to Rye’s Own by Len Fuggle Continue reading Rye A.T.C. Wartime 1941
Bombed by Both Sides
by Graham Watson. From the November 2010 issue of Rye’s Own
I was born in Rye East Sussex, in May 1936, and lived at Godfrey’s Row which was a terrace of five houses situated opposite the Pipemaker’s Arms Public House, in Winchelsea Road. In 1940 the first kits of the Anderson shelter, the outdoor type, which consisted of a large hole dug by the householder, with curved sections of corrugated iron bolted together and placed in the hole to form the walls and roof . The earth which had been dug out to from the hole was then thrown back over the shelter to give it added protection. Continue reading Bombed by Both Sides
Hastings in Wartime Part 2
Memories From A Life In Hastings Through Two World Wars (Part 2).
By Tony May.
One of my Nan’s most remarkable memories from a lifetime in Hastings, concerns the day in (or around) 1930 when, walking the promenade with her mother and father on one of the family’s regular Sunday walks, she saw the Zeppelin Airship R101 flying slowly along in the distance. Continue reading Hastings in Wartime Part 2
Aerial Warfare Over Rye During World War Two
Aerial Warfare Over Rye and Environs During World War II
By Barry Floyd
My sister and I were evacuees from London at the outbreak of the war, on 3 September 1939, and were accepted as pupils at Rye Grammar School by the Headmaster, Mr. Jacobs. That first hard winter – – there were very heavy snow falls in January 1940 and East Kent buses were unable to reach Winchelsea Beach for many days – – was a phoney one so far as military activities over East Sussex and Kent were concerned. The situation changed dramatically by the summer, with the fall of France and a threatened German invasion of England. Continue reading Aerial Warfare Over Rye During World War Two
The Story of the Storaa a Wartime Warrior
The Ship that Woke Hastings
By Jenny Ridd
At 12.30 on the night of 3 November 1943, there was an almighty explosion about ten miles off the coast of Hastings. Convoy CW221 was sailing from the Thames to Cardiff laden with supplies for the D Day invasion when German E Boat S138 fired a torpedo. The starboard bow of the SS Storaa was badly holed and she sank bow-first within thirty seconds, taking with her the bodies of 21 men. Sixteen men survived, but the Captain, a hero named Jens Fage Pedersen, and the Dover Pilot, Watson Peverley were both among the casualties. Continue reading The Story of the Storaa a Wartime Warrior