Libby’s Letters to the Forces 1939 -1945
reviewed by Carol Powell M.A.
The village is prepared for the conflict:
with doctors, nurses and ambulance volunteers
Betty Sivertsen said: Mumbles Red Cross Hospital was the hub of the Mumbles, but now in War time it was worth its weight in gold ...
Libby’s Letters to the Forces: 1939 - 1945
by Mumbles United Comforts Fund and Correspondence Committee
Reviewed by Carol Powell MA
Editor: It is evident throughout the (almost) six years, that this series of letters were a true labour of love, of pride and patriotism and richly deserving of republication here.
Mumbles United Comforts Fund
published this record of its work in 1945:-
WHAT WE HAVE BEEN DOING
1- SENDING PARCELS TO THE FORCES
We received 7,910 garments. We sent 2,602 parcels, containing 7,811 garments.
2- MAKE HOUSE TO HOUSE COLLECTIONS totalling £2,293:1:7d
3- DESPATCHING 5/- POSTAL ORDERS TO FORCES 4,644.
4- MAKING GIFTS TO PRISONERS OF WAR.
5- MAKING GRANTS TO MERCHANT SERVICES.
6- WE HAVE OVER 1,300 NAMES OF SERVICING MEN AND WOMEN.
WE HAVE RECEIVED 688 LETTERS FROM THEM DURING THE YEARS.
AT WAR AGAIN
It was 1939 and, with a brief space of only twenty-one years, Britain was again at war with Germany.
At home in Mumbles, Harry Libby, a veteran of the previous conflict, decided to write monthly letters to each of the Mumbles people away serving with H.M. Forces. He formed a Committee, known as the Mumbles Correspondence Committee, which included The Vicar, Canon Wilkinson, George Ace, Mrs. Heron and Mr. A. Stacey.
Their aims would be ‘to let the lads and lasses know that Mumbles has not forgotten them, to give them some local news and to keep them informed with news of their pals.’
It was intended to continue the communications throughout the duration of the war, a task they ably and willingly fulfilled until the armistice in 1945. In October 1939, 140 letters were despatched, (A copy of the October 1939, letter) increasing by the following month to 600 and by October 1943, they sent 1200!!
Miss Betty Howard joined the ‘team’ in February 1942 to keep in touch with the girls in the Women’s services and Miss Peggy Daniels saw to the duplication of all the letters on a Banda machine—a messy and time-consuming task. No photocopiers then! The postage was paid by about 30 locals ‘dibbing up.’(HL June 40)
Forty years later in 1979, Mrs. Mary Newey and Mrs. Janet Leach, nieces of Harry Libby, deposited copies of those letters, a valuable archive recalling times sad, grim and dark, yet clearly determined, friendly and positive, with the Mumbles Library. This section seeks to retell just some of the snippets of news contained in the missives, which were addressed to ‘Dear Friend’ and written to ‘you’ from ‘us at home.’ To me, they are a fascinating and eminently readable ‘snapshot in time’ of war-time Mumbles—at home and away.
They begin with the request that the ‘boys’ should regard the Committee as an ‘extra friend’ at home and go on to relate some of the minutiae of daily life in the village, interspersed with news to and from the Boys and Girls away in the Forces.
One can picture Harry Libby sitting quietly composing one of his letters—‘Tis 11.30 p.m. Monday and the last train has gone up, there are puddles in the station square, a calm tide and September tomorrow. Three years of war and nearly 900 of you away from here.’ (HL 31 Aug. 42). Even his descriptions of the weather induce a longing for home— ‘Everyone trying to dodge the bitter blast around Taylor’s Corner’ (HL October 1939); ‘weather like Finland at Southend and the Swiss Alps at Newton’ (WDGW 17 Jan 40); ‘water not warm enough for midnight splashes off the concrete’ (HL 30 May 40) or later at Langland, ‘weather fine, tide half-ebb, westerly wind, no beach tents yet, a few strollers, Mrs, Edward’s café open’ (HL 31 March 45).
He could really pull at the heart-strings with evocative word-pictures of walks around the village, sometimes in local dialect —‘Theese ought to be home here and have a stroll out through the Cut, past Broslut, up through Plunch, apast the Pool, down Tichbourne and the Lane, over to the Piles and then outalong on the concrete.’(HL 30 Nov 44) He remarked on the difficulty of finding Donkey row, Tiddy’s Ood and Lamb’s Well in the blackout (HL 9 Oct 39)
No one is more homesick than at Christmas and he must surely have brought a little Mumbles Cheer to those faraway as he described ‘that shops are decorating for Christmas,’ (ACS 30 Nov 39); ‘wild shepherds have begun to ‘ark the ‘erald’ every evening ‘(HL 30Nov 44) ‘Scouts are going to see that every Serviceman’s kiddie gets a toy’ (HL 30 Nov 44) and ‘The boys who are home on leave are invited to drop in at Forte’s about 11.00 a.m on Boxing Day for a cup of coffee, a smoke and to “swap yarns”.’(GA Dec 39.
Local news such as the deaths of elderly villagers e.g. Billie Lewis and Dick Eynon (Mrs. H Feb 40) and the Golden Wedding celebrations of Mr. and Mrs. Sanders of Norton (HL Sept 41) was imparted. The folk away would undoubtedly have been able to visualise ‘Richie Gamon trying to dig bait in the cold’ or ‘ “Braddie” taking a class in the cold school playground’. (HL Oct 39)
The letters told of tragedy and heartbreak as casualty details came in —Joe Davies and Bill Hancock being the first (HL Oct 39) and many more such as ‘Harry Stevens who was killed in Italy, never having had the chance to see his young baby’(HL May 44); until five years later it was reported that Warnock Hunt, Dave Hinds and David Woolfe had been killed in action.(HL Nov 44).
They also imparted happy meetings of local boys in faraway places—‘ Blackpill must be in the Middle East en masse’(HL Aug 42) and Eric Nicholls and Frank Wilding bumped into each other in Burma (HL March 44)
The patriotism of the locals shone through —Don’t worry about us at home because if any German parachutists choose to land in the cutting, ‘Ship and castle’ Quarry or Venns Farm, we’ll give ‘em a warm reception.(HL 30 May 40). Nanna Todd displayed photographs of those serving boys and girls in her shop window on the Parade, just as she had done in the previous conflict (HL Oct 41) and Varley’s also had a display in their window (HL 30 Sept 43).
Perhaps the most tangible expressions of support were the many fund-raising events which took place— Sewing Shirts for Soldiers and the Mumbles Comforts Funds amalgamated and hoped that within two weeks, every Mumbles man would receive a parcel (HL Nov 39). Paraclete Church raised £10 in its support with a jumble sale (HL March 40) and by April 42 the Fund was able to send out 660 parcels plus 5/- postal orders to each person. By September 42, the fund was raising £10 per week on average. In November 41, Dunns Lane school raised £1020 during Warship Week and Park Street sent £17..10s to the nation for war weapons (HL Aug 42). Woodville Road made £50, the ‘folk living between Newton Road and Norton Road’ raised £52 and the following week, Newton took £102 with raffles and stalls all for the ‘Aid to Russia Fund.’(HL Sept / Oct42). ‘Newton Road raised £400, which will go to send each person a Christmas box and to provide a war savings certificate for each of our POWs’ (HL Oct 42). During ‘Wings Week’ in June 1943, Mumbles raised over £90,000 with ‘street does’ everywhere—Norton Village, £241, Southend, £200, Langland Bay, £86, Oakland Road, £70 and the two schools, over £100.
The following September, there was a ‘Merchant Navy ‘ week, which made £700. By the end of May 1944, Mumbles ‘had sailed past her £100,000 salute’! A magnificent achievement.
In February 1942, Miss Betty Howard joined the team and kept the ‘Lassies’ informed of the goings-on at home and declared that ‘a shopping trip to the village is a mixture of happiness at seeing one of you home again . . . or of sadness . . . when one meets someone who’s worried at the lack of news.’(BH Feb 42) She observed that ‘sunburnt children build castles while with anxious eyes, their mothers scan the horizon.’(BH June 44) She told them that the Castle grounds were being given over to the plough, (BH Apr 42) of the joys of cooking with ‘dried eggs, national milk, soya-bean flour and saccharine;’(BH Sept 43) the difficulties of rationing —fruit at 24 points per pound. (BH Nov 42) and that Mumbles babies were receiving milk, cod liver oil and fruit juices from the Government. (BH Mar 42). She kept them informed of the wherabouts of Beryl Pearce, Mary Owen and Teresa Gorman (BH Oct 42) and that Dilly Wilkins, Veronica Weeks and Dorothy Savage were home on leave.(BH Nov 42)
Towards the end of the war when the blackout was at an end, Harry Libby wrote ‘Wass think theese ‘a seen? Lamps on. Aye, ‘tis true. Bill Edwards has bin up more ladders lately than Thrush. There thee art—after five years a two candle power lamp is twinkling in Hall Bank lighting up Henry Smith’s house and Skinner’s bakehouse where we used to carry up the dough, and across the nets thee coos see Sketty and Townhill just as if you wast using Will Llewellyn’s prisms.’ (HL Nov 44) By March 1945, it was noted that the boys were coming home in ‘shiploads’ —Ken Lang was first! Descriptions of the VE and VJ days with street parties and dances, bonfires, fireworks and lifeboat trips for the children, were recounted.
He finished his final letter with an emotional and heartfelt farewell—To see all the lights go on around the Bay and up on the higher reaches of Swansea has been a tonic. To realise that our POWs will be home soon is another. To realise that the war is over is profound. Aye! War brought its trials, but it also engendered in Mumbles a spirit of comradeship and Brotherhood. (HL Aug 45)
They died for peace, so we must live for it
(BH Sept 44)
Mumbles United Comforts Fund published this record of its work in 1945:-
It is evident throughout the (almost) six years, that this series of letters were a true labour of love, of pride and patriotism and richly deserving of republication here in the year 2001.
GA = George Ace; Mrs. H = Mrs. Heron; BH = Betty Howard; HL = Harry Libby; ACS =A. C. Stacey; WDG = W.D.G. Wilkinson
A similar scheme to that mentioned above is noted on this card
'a token of appreciation from
Mumbles United Welcome Home Committee.'
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