Introduction

My Dad (Des)was born in June 1926 at home at 10/5 Hermitage Street, Sheffield. These were ‘back to back’ houses. Hermitage Street ran from the bottom of London Road to Shoreham Street. When Dad was only seventeen months old, his mother, Ethel, died of meningitis, which led to him being brought up by his grandparents until Walt remarried when Dad was seven. When this happened Dad was offered the option of remaining with his Grandparents or moving in with Walt and Eveline at Oaks Fold Road. Dad chose to move in with his Dad, partly I suppose believing that the grass was greener, and partly because he wanted to live with his Dad. I understand that later he wanted to move back to his grandparents' house, but he was told, no, he had made his decision.

Dad attended Wooley Wood Junior School; I have two certificates proclaiming his punctuality in 1934 and 1935, stamped by the Head Teacher, Christina Maskell. Dad always said that at this time either he or a girl named Cynthia Topham were always top of the class. In later years Dad’s school attendance was much worse, at one point having nine months off until caught by the truant officer. On returning to school, no one knew him. He’d been off that long the teachers had changed as well as a lot of the kids!

Dad always shared Walt’s passion for lorries, learning to drive as a child sitting in on Walt’s knee in his lorry. It was inevitable that he would follow Walt into a life of driving for a living.

His first job though, was as a shop lad for Thrift Stores at Shiregreen. A lot of this involved loading and bagging flour in the back of the shop, which apparently led to some very lively flour fights!



I don’t know exactly when, but at some time in his teens Dad got a job with S.B. Hogg, a Sheffield removal firm. Dad did removals all over the place including Wentworth Woodhouse. Dad recalled being impressed with the place, but had a laugh by riding a bath chair along a corridor and down a flight of stairs!

Also around this time Dad bought his first motor-bike, an Ariel Red Hunter.

On July 14th 1944 through the letterbox at dropped something that was going to change Dad’s life completely for the next three years. His Call-up papers! Coldly informing Dad that he was to present himself at Fort George, Inverness-shire, on Thursday, July 20th 1944 between 9am and 12 noon and that his nearest Railway Station was Gollanfield Junction.

Very nicely, His Majesty’s Government had also included a Travelling Warrant for the journey and four shillings in respect of advance pay!

And so, on the following Thursday morning, armed with Gas Mask, Razor and all his Ration Books, Dad left Oaks Fold Road (his Dad took him to the Station) for Inverness-shire and a whole new way of life!

When Dad went into the army, like everyone else, he wrote home regularly. Luckily, Granddad (Walt) kept a good portion of his letters, so we can read what it must have been like for a young man being called up in 1944 and we can read about his hopes and fears including what it was like to be drafted overseas to Germany.

The following letters are, as much as possible, in date order and are presented here exactly as the originals appear (even down to the number of kisses for the kids!). It’s a pity that the letters Dad received from Granddad and other people haven’t survived down the years; otherwise we would have had a wonderful picture of life in the 1940’s for a typical Sheffield family.