Stories From History And More

  To Be Involved-  In 1939 Stewart Blackburn started work as a clerk at Eaton, Smith & Downey, a firm of Huddersfield solicitors. On September 3rd  of that year the Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain declared that Britain was at war with Germany. Inevitably the war began impacting ordinary peoples lives and there was a feeling of wanting to be involved and to “do your bit”. During the nights of the early 1940s Stewart volunteered as part of a Fire Watch. A team which sat in various town centre buildings and provided early warning of the effects from incendiary bombs. During 1940 Stewart’s father, Percy, gave up Tailoring for the war duration and became a Progress Clerk at Hopkinson’s engineering works as part of their war production effort. While sister Annie had taken two evacuated students into her household. Huddersfield wasn’t totally untouched by direct enemy action during these years. German bombers attempted to hit David Browns factory at Lockwood, but...