|
Regrettably none of the above men
has so far been identified. In fact the names of very
few members of the Witton HG unit are known to staffshomeguard.
One of those few was Pte.
Peter J. Allen (1921-2006). After initial service
on the Witton site he was transferred to AA rocket
battery duties at Walmley.
Another member was Miss
Christine Smaldon to whom we are indebted for
the following memories. She joined the Women's Section
and, she recalls, had a uniform and even one stripe.
Like most female members she was engaged on non-combative
activities, such as typing reports and so on. At that
time she was working for Gladys
Clarke, Women's Staff Officer who, it is thought,
organised the Witton HG Women's Section together with
Linda Holloway.
Christine's father, Mr.
H.O. Smaldon was an officer in the unit, together
with his C.O. Mr. H. Cann
who probably worked in Witton's Labour Dept. Surprisingly
neither seems to have been present at the time of
the above photograph.
Lt. Walter Parry (d. 1967) joined the unit as a lieutenant after service in the Norwegian campaign with the Shropshire Light Infantry. He is described as being responsible for training and administration and may well therefore have been the unit's adjutant, drafted in by the Army and not therefore an employee at that time. At the cessation of hostilities, however, he joined No. 5 Labour Office. His motto, well known to his comrades and colleagues, was "Example is the soul of British discipline".
After the Home Guard stand-down in December 1944 the Home Guard and Ex-Service Association was formed on the Witton site and survived for many years. Walter Parry succeeded Mr. Harry Tyler as Secretary and served in that capacity for the rest of the Association's life. Mr. A.G. Harper was a Chairman of the Association and he and Mr. Tyler had very probably been members of the Works Home Guard Unit. (Source: Metals Monitor -April 1967) |
