This article written by Jackie Rickenberg was published in the Parish Magazine in September 2020
The site of the V2 rocket explosion which demolished Lambeth Public Baths
Thursley History Society, before lockdown, was preparing to mount a 75th anniversary exhibition of VE Day. We are thrilled to be able to announce that the exhibition has been rescheduled for Remembrance Day, Sunday 8th November. The exhibition will be mounted in the Village Hall and is being made possible by a generous grant from The Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust. Members of the society have been busy beavering through lockdown and beyond, putting together an exhibition that will take the visitor through Thursley’s involvement in the war effort as well as fascinating tales of its inhabitants. Whether they went off to fight in foreign lands, stayed behind to help the war effort or indeed came to Thursley as a result of the war, we have their stories to tell. Tales of bravery, of excitement, trepidation, anxiety and tumultuous upheaval are intertwined with revelations on how Thursley served the home and allied forces so valiantly.
Thursley was a vital hub in World War 2’s history. It offered essential training areas for troops carrying out manoeuvres and operations and as a result, the village helped to look after those troops and visitors alike. This exhibition will be of interest not only to Thursley villagers, but also to anyone with connections to the surrounding area, the Canadian, Polish, French and British regiments based nearby and anyone interested in military history. We hope there will be something of interest for all ages, as well as live entertainment and refreshments.
The exhibition is free and will be open from 12-4pm. Please come and visit and bring family and friends! NB. We will keep you posted regarding Government guidelines nearer the time, but fingers crossed it will go ahead.
Following on from last month’s profile of our esteemed past chairman, Michael O’Brien, and in keeping with our WW2 theme, we have a short reminisce from him entitled “My War – On the Home Front”.
“In September 1939 I was six years old, the only child of my parents, and living with them south west of London. I remember with great clarity the announcement on the wireless by Neville Chamberlain, the Prime Minister, that we were at war with Germany.
Later came the first warning on the sirens of an impending air-raid. It must have been at a weekend as my father was at home. As the last wails of the siren died away, all was action in our sitting room, the designated area for shelter during an air attack. Sofa’s were rearranged behind which we could all lurk and other dispositions made of heavy furniture. Unfortunately, the room possessed a large bay window with doors that gave access to the garden. The area of glass was considerable and the possible effect of bomb blast upon it disturbing to think about.
Under my father’s direction we all set to collecting every book in the house, of which there were quite a number. Slowly a magnificent wall of books rose behind the dreaded windows. It was fine work, but took so long that the “all clear” sounded before completion. This great effort was never repeated. It could only be done at weekends when father was at home, and the Luftwaffe were hardly likely to co-operate in this!
Later in the war, when we were living elsewhere, the house was almost totally destroyed by a V1 Flying Bomb. The only room to survive complete collapse was the sitting room, and from within a Morrison shelter in that room, the survivors were hauled forth. So at least part of the original plan proved sound in the event.
By 1942, after having been relocated to a village near Newbury, we were now back in London. Day and night raids by German bombers were by no means over at this stage of the war and many occasions were spent by us under the stairs as the world boomed and banged around us. The supersonic V2 rocket bomb campaign then started in due course but was relatively short-lived. Mercifully, I and my relations were unaffected by this new horror. The sudden terrible and seemingly inexplicable explosions these weapons caused baffled nearly everyone and there was constant talk of exploding gas mains as a possible explanation. Those in authority knew better and were deeply concerned, but the success of the D-Day invasion and all that followed put paid to this fiendish German invention. Little did we know that it was the first step towards putting man on the moon!