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The dimming of lichts on
streets an movin motors an the blacken oot o lichts in hooses an ither building
was ti mak it as dufficult as cud be enemy pilots fleeing over toons an roads
tae see lichts an tae be guided tae they lichts, a kind o like moths fleeing
roond the lichts in yer hoose. In this day at the present time its no aisy yo
think thur might be a puckle enemy pilots in their planes hain a bit flee round
in the nicht time jist ti see if they cud find ony thing tae share ar, or ti
drop a bomb on, weel that wis the wy it happened aven in quiet country places
whaur this was lickts tae be seen wis whin a decoy aereoplane runway wis lichted
up hoping the enemy wid cum along and drop their bombs there and so save the
real aeroplane runways.
…
Whit I am trying ti say is as food seemes ti git a bit scarce, ferms and fowk
that worked there, got a bittie mair noticed, so the ferm lads started to fei a
bit mair pay (wages) this wis reflected in the bairns coming tae the schule
better cled than afore the war, I kane that cus whar I happened to be wurkin the
village and shule wis kind a in the missle o the ferm land and wi wid be passin
the schule whiles whan wi were working, an seein the bairns playin aboot if it
happened to be meen ities or dinner times.
…
The Government are now askin fae volenteer tae band together (you might say) ti
defend thir local bit o the country against an invasion bi the German ermy, wha
seem ti hae the ba ut thir feet, an seemed they cud jist aboor gine as har they
liked.
So nae buddy kante whaur the invasion wis gaena tak place, so the call for the
LDV.
There must hae been some planning going on a kent the scenes, cuz thir wis
already a chappie appinted wha wis ti be the head o the volunteers at St. Cyrus
whar I wis ti be based.
The heed man hid been a sodger on the First World War so he kent a bit aboot
whit he speekin aboot, ab ge wis guid lad as weel. I see fae this scroll I kin
here, I hid found the LDV on the 7/7/1940 an if the heed man kent something
aboot defence, weel I kente nuthin, hoo ever a wis ti learn as time wis ti tell.
Thur wasna jist a great rush to jine in this defence force, at the start thur
wis jist ten fellows what we caad a section. Fortunatly thir wis ither man wha
hid been a sodger an he wis made section leader, an a strange as it may seen I
wis made Deputy Section Leader. O coorse thir wis nae pay (money) fae been in
the LDV your service wis for free, thir wis ither voluntary organisations for
which fowk got payed, such as plane spotting.
We now set aboot gittin some sort o order in tae oor section, oor section ladies
hid ti start dreelin each ither so that we wid be able ti dreel the section in
ti some sort o shape. I ma sell hid a bit o bather gitting oot o the sloo step
an cheenain in tae a quicker step like a sodger.
Mair lads keep comin alang ti volenteer thir service so it was na that lang
maybe twa three weeks when we hid as mony blokes as mak up a hale platoon. This
of coorse ment we hid ti hae three sections, so that meant thir hid ti be
anither twa section laders, also thir deputy lsders. Noo this ment mair dreelin
ti get the new laders in tae the hang o the thing. We cud only dae lict dreel
like left turn, richt turn, quick merch an halt.
The wye am sayin that is be cus we hid nae rifles or guns o ony kind at the
start nae uniform jist a band ti ware on yer erm, wi LDV printed on ti the band
which wis pinned on ti the sleeve o yir outer garment jist dependin on whit yer
wis wearin at the time. We wid meet twice a week, one evening of a week day and
then Sunday fore nane maybe twa oors in the week day whin wi wid dae somne sort
o traenin in the hall, actually it was an unused kirk which wis oor heed
quarters, an the pub wis jist across the road, if yi happened ti want a pint
efter the meetin wis feenished…
…
In the mean time oor plattoon had got one 303 rifle and some blank cartridges
and also a clip of five live rifle rounds, we had also got one .22 rifle and one
ordinary twa barreled shot gun. Now we hir one 303 rifle and blank rounds we kin
a hae a shot a boot a lernin ti load the thing, also a wee bittie o slope erms,
it wis a slow job but better than nowt.
Ony wey we did na kane whit the reason was but oor section lader ma sel anither
boke wur caad oot late one evening, we hid ti man one o the road blocks. The
section leader hid the 303 rifle and the five live rounds, I hid the bouble
barrel shot gun but nae smmunition, the fellos hid the .22 rifle also wi nae
ammunition. We hid ti bide there a nicht.
It micht worth a mention even if we hid been oot o nicht we still hid ti turn up
at yo kin time for oor usual work, an of ccorse we wid na hae ony sleep that
nicht. An I best further mention that if thir hid been an invasion we wid jist
hae ti bide awa fae oor work, cus shairly fowk wid understand yi cood na have
aff fightin an invasion jist tae git ti yer work. The ither rasins of coorse is
that a fellow micht hae been wounded or worse still … deed!
…
As it so happened one o the ‘big shots’ o the LDV unknown tae us, hid passed
through block, the result o that wis at oor next meetin he wis there ti tell us
that we hid the block the wrang wye, cus hid hanks cum alang they wid hae jist
puched the blocks an they wid hae roaed o thir road, an that is jist whit the
blocks wur na meant it day! The blocks should hae been placed wi the end o the
block facin the traffic, so that the tanks wid hae ti clime our the tap o them
or stop. Weel on that occasion thir wis nae tanks nor ony ither enemy traffic
come alang, an once again we ‘Thanked the Lord’ for that.
…
As it so happened it [the Home Guard was] never pittin ti the test but as I keep
on saying that we didna kane that at the time Hoo ever thur come a Seturday
evening whan we railly thockt the balloon wis gaen ti gine up an oor nerve an
trainin wis gine ti be put ti the test, cus apparently, invasion by the enemy o
this country wis imminent.
The Home Guard wir a caad oot ti man oor road blocks, wi the few lads at heed
quarters of coorse. I canna gie yir ony date for this ca oot but it was
certainly in the first six months o the Home Guard. We wid be a at oor post bi
seven o clock in the evening an the day licht wid na be a fadin until a tween
ten an eleven o clock in the evening, and up ti that time it wis very quite an
nae buddy aboot, keep in mind it wis a Seturday nicht. Noo on this occasion the
warnin wis si serious thit al the buses wur stopped movin aboot, so that they
cud be gotten handy ti move troops an the Home Guard people ti whar the wur
needed.
…
The settin up o the new plattoonlands me inti some thing that I hid na planned,
cus the fowk that has set it a goin, ask me ti come an jine them, which I did,
cus we hid already sade the ‘heed quarters’ wur quite near ti oor hame. The
‘heed quarters’ this time wasna an unused kirk as at the twa places I hiv spoken
aboot earlier wur, this time it wis the local schule which wus still bein yased.
I hiv jist teen a thocht we must a moved the desks, as we sometimes did dreel in
the schule an held lectures an demonstrations. Of coorse if it wis day licht we
yased the playgrund for dreelin. I wis ti tell yi whit I wis landed in ti dayin.
Be thus time, I wid a been nearly twa year in the Home Guard. In this tilme of
courseI hid lerned jist aboot athing thir wis ti lern, except of coorse, the new
things that wis still ti come alang. So noo I hid ti pass on a this lernin ti
the new lads, a thing wis dune in a freendly sort o wey, thir wis nae buddy
pushed around, sort o sodger wise am meanin. A buddy that wis there, wis there
cus they wanted ti be, and ti be able ti help in an emergincy, if such a thing
happened ti come alang, an that cud asey happened, cus we are no oot a the wid
yet, the enemy are still lookin greedily across the the water at us, an as far
as we kant we hidna gotten ony thing new ti hud them back.
…
The lads wi caa the Major is really a regular sodger retired. An in the regular
ermy he wis a Colonel, funny it sounds Ceernel.
Commander o a Regiment in the Home Guard he hid ti be content as a Major. Thir
wis nay pey whit ever yer rank in the Home Guard. The reason I hiv been made a
Second Lieutenant is cus wi hiv noo got ovwer mony neen at Logie Pert, so we noo
an ither platoon at Craigo. The heed quarters o the Craigo platoon is also a
schule which is also still in use, as a schule … We noo need twa new Sergeants
plus a Corporal and a Lance Corporal for each section, this means each platoon
his a Sergeant wha of coorse is in charge o the hale platoon next ti the Second
Lieutenant. El raither an unusual set up cus next morning we a cud be a Jock
Tamsons biarns nooin neeps the gether.
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