13. Conscription

The conscription was speeding up and during the second week of October some of the lads the same age as myself received their calling up papers. Apparently, they were being called in alphabetical order, so I was in anticipation that I would be receiving mine. Sure enough, on the Saturday morning, October twelfth, I received a phone call at work to say my papers had arrived that morning and, like the other lads, I had to report to Shrewsbury, Shropshire, Copthorne Barracks, on Thursday, October seventeenth. That left me very little time, so I finished work that Saturday at twelve o’clock. The next few days were very hectic. I should have been on LDV duty on the Sunday evening but decided to give it a miss. We had all been issued with regular army uniforms and a rifle (but no ammunition). I never got to wear mine, although we had been issued earlier with denims and an arm band denoting we were on military service. Wednesday night came and I had to say goodbye to Alice. On the Thursday morning the tension was very severe as we were being picked up at Hills Café to go to Manchester. Mary saw me off. Our manager had arranged we should do that. In the event, when we arrived at Chorley to pick up the last of the six of us who were travelling to Manchester, this particular boy was nowhere near ready, so I nipped out and went to 21 St. Thomas’s Road where Alice worked. She was surprised when I knocked on the window as the shop was not opened, so we had a further goodbye. One of the last things I had said to my mother was, quote, “I shall be thirty when I get out of this lot.” That nearly proved to be correct as I was just four months short.

When we arrived at Manchester London Road Station, which is now Piccadilly, there were what seemed like hundreds of lads like myself all saying their goodbyes to the people who were seeing them off to different locations. I understood later that October seventeenth 1940 had been one of the largest call-ups of the war years. We finally left Manchester and proceeded to Shrewsbury. During the journey we were held up on the line for some considerable time as it was believed there was a German bomb on the line. We eventually arrived at our destination in the mid-afternoon and some of the boys suggested having a look round the town but that was soon put paid to as the Military Police were waiting (known as red caps). They marshalled us into formation, so along with our suitcases we marched up to Copthorne Barracks and we were in. That afternoon, some of the three hundred of us were issued with their uniforms and kitted out with everything a soldier would need (except rifle). But as it drew near to four o’clock issuing ceased and that left some of us still in our civilian suits and gas masks. Our first meal was a boiled egg and an apple plus tea to drink. We had been issued with pint mugs which we had to retain along with a knife, fork and spoon and plates. The evening was spent looking round the town and we were allowed out till 23.59 hours but before that time we had settled into our billets and the beds consisted of what was known as three biscuits put together to form a mattress along with three rough blankets and a pillow of sorts. The following morning at six a.m. the billet door was opened by the sergeants who ordered us out of bed as reveille had been blown on the bugle, a tune which I never forgot – that and the last post in the evening. We were paraded for breakfast which consisted of porridge and some bacon and thick bread. After breakfast we were assembled and the remainder of us were issued with uniforms and army numbers. The number stayed with you throughout your army career. My number was 764806. All the draft’s numbers were proceeded by 7648. We were also issued with identity labels which we always had to wear. These had your name, number and religion stamped on. We also were issued with “pay books” parts one and two. Part one I still have, and part two was for entering your weekly pay, which for me, my first pay was ten shillings (50p), and 7 shillings to mum, sixpence barrack room damages.

Continue to 14. Childhood Holidays & Homelife