Dad's Army - Halsall Men of the Home Guard
Introduction
On 14th May 1940, the Secretary of State for War, Anthony Eden, made a broadcast asking for men aged between 17 and 65 to enrol in a new force, namely the Local Defence Volunteers (LDV). By July 1940, almost 1.5 million men had enrolled and the force’s name was changed to the Home Guard. Sometimes it was nicknamed Dad’s Army as members were often veterans of WW1, men above the conscription age or those who were unfit for front line military service.
Members of the Home Guard were volunteers and their responsibilities included:
- Guarding coastal areas and factories.
- Dealing with unexploded bombs.
- Patrolling the countryside and manning fixed defences and road blocks
- Operating search lights and anti-aircraft guns.
- Training younger men before they were called up to the Army.
- Relieving the regular army so they were able to carry out other tasks.
The Leeds Liverpool Canal at War gives detailed information about road blocks, pill boxes, block houses etc during WW2.
Ormskirk and the surrounding area, including Halsall, supported the Home Guard enthusiastically. However, in November 1940, the Ormskirk Advertiser reported that some of the younger farmers in the South West Lancashire area were not as keen to join the force, referring to these men as ‘slackers’!
On a more positive note, again in the Ormskirk
Advertiser, only a month later, a successful gathering of the Halsall platoon of the Scarisbrick Company of Home Guard earned a mention in the press.
The table below shows just some of the men from Halsall who volunteered with the Home Guard during WW2, there will have been many more. If you know of anybody who was a member of the Home Guard and would like to add them to this list, please get in touch via the contact details on this website.
Table of Home Guard members
| First name | Family name | Birth | Death | Address | Occupation | FS Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jack | Ainscough | 1909 | 1982 | Station Road | Teamsman | GJBQ-9VV |
| Ernest | Aspinwall | 1901 | 1942 | Halsall Road | Joiner | GR2Y-VDT |
| Edward | Banks | 1916 | 2002 | Narrow Lane | Farmer | GP74-11J |
| James | Cheetham | 1903 | 1981 | Station Road | Teamsman | GNRV-188 |
| Thomas | Craven | 1922 | 1998 | New Street | Labourer | G1QN-G2X |
| William | Craven | 1899 | 1963 | Scarisbrick | Corn Miller | G953-DBJ |
| Thomas | Fairclough | 1900 | 1987 | Gregory Lane | Farm Horseman | GGD8-LGH |
| Ernest | Grimshaw | 1920 | 1982 | Primrose Hill | Farmer | GPQV-HLQ |
| Job | Grimshaw | 1892 | 1944 | Renacres Lane | Farmer | KJ2Y-6GW |
| Richard | Haslam | 1921 | 1991 | Station Road | Teacher | G1HV-STF |
| Robert | Heaton | 1909 | 1987 | Upholland | Teamsman | GNRK-7YG |
| James | Howard | 1888 | 1949 | Carr Moss Lane | Produce Merch. | GP6D-S3B |
| David | Huyton | 1916 | 1968 | Gregory Lane | Farm labourer | GPFS-PXV |
| George | Little | 1904 | 1988 | Halsall Hill | Cow man | GMZX-SZ5 |
| Fred | Moorcroft | 1897 | 1984 | Carr Moss Lane | Farm labourer | K2GG-KRN |
| John | Rimmer | 1913 | 1975 | New Street | Joiner | GLYF-K8P |
| Thomas | Shacklady | 1920 | 1995 | Plex Lane | Farm labourer | GXGX-ZH8 |
| Thomas | Threlfall | 1904 | 1982 | Carr Moss Lane | Grocer | GLPC-BTC |
| Job | Witter | 1910 | 1995 | Plex Lane | Market gardener | G2BF-8L8 |
John Ainscough (Jack) [GJBQ-9VV] was born in 1909 at Gettern Farm East, Plex Moss Lane, Halsall to Dorothy Rimmer and Edward Ainscough. The family were still there when the 1911 census was taken but in 1919 they moved to Park Road in Toxteth, Liverpool as Edward had secured work there as a chauffeur.
However, they left the city in 1931, when, due to the Great Depression, Jack suggested they return to farming and they found themselves back on Halsall Moss – Plex Moss Farm to be precise.
In the summer of 1934, Jack married Alice Savage at St. Michael’s church in Garston, Liverpool. By 1939 the couple and their young family were living just down the road from Jim and Dorothy Cheetham in Barton. Jack was also a teamsman by day as well as being in the Home Guard.
Ernest Aspinwall GR2Y-VDT was born on 4th October 1901 in Southport to Hannah and Reginald Aspinwall, a stonemason. Ernest became a joiner and married Florence Cork on 12th September 1928 at St. Peter’s church in Birkdale. They lived at Morningside, Halsall Road, Halsall (New Cut Lane end). During WW2 Ernest joined the Halsall Platoon of the Home Guard as a despatch rider and Florence was part of the auxiliary nursing reserve. Tragically, on a summer’s afternoon in August 1942, Ernest was involved in a road accident with a bus and lost his life. Towards the end of the war, Florence enrolled to train as a nurse and qualified 1947-1948. She never married again and died on 11th January 1995, at the age of 94 years old.
Ted Banks – Tiggy GP74-11J– lived and farmed on Narrow Lane.
James Edward Cheetham (Jim/Jem) GNRV-188 was born in Halsall on 3rd July 1903 to Catherine Culshaw and James Cheetham. Initially the family lived in Plex Lane but they moved to Leigh’s Cottages, Station Road, Barton when James was a youngster. James, a farm teamsman, married Dorothy Ainscough in June 1934 at St. Cuthbert’s church, Halsall. After their marriage, the couple continued to live with James’ father at Leigh’s Cottages, eventually moving to Haskayne in later life. During the war years, James joined the Home Guard as did his wife’s brother, Jack.
Jack’s son, Trevor, recalls the time he went to a Home Guard meeting with his father and they were served triangle shaped sandwiches with the crusts cut off. Ever since then, this type of sandwich has been known as the Home Guard sandwich!
No doubt, as part of their Home Guard duty, Jim and Jack would have manned the two pill boxes at the end of Station Road, Barton – close to Gorsey Lane and Heathy Lane.
Just down the road, also on New Street, lived Thomas Craven’s family G1QN-G2X.
Ernie Grimshaw GPQV-HLQ was a farmer at Primrose Hill
Richard Haslam G1HV-STF was born on 27th February 1921 at Poplar Villas, Barton, Downholland. His parents were Mary Prescott and William Haslam who was a teamsman for Richard Haslam at Hesketh House Farm in Barton. The family were regular attendees of St. Oswald’s mission church and as a child, Richard regularly performed in the Sunday School shows arranged by Mrs. McCoy. He decided to train as a teacher and in 1939, aged 18, he was lodging at 47 Saughall Road, Blacon, Chester whilst studying at Chester Diocesan Training College (now Chester University).
During the war Richard was also a member of the Home Guard. In 1944, he married Doreen Winifred Wait who was a teacher at Halsall School and they settled in Longacre, Southport. Then two years later, on 29th March 1946, Richard began teaching at Halsall school as well. He is remembered by many past students as the best teacher they ever had. He was also known for his love of sport and was a member of the Southport Trinity cricket club. In later life, Richard and Doreen moved to Ferryside Lane, Marshside. Richard Haslam died on 19th May 1991.
Robert Heaton (Bob) GNRK-7YG was born at 165 Carr Moss Lane, Halsall on 17th February 1909 to May Aspinwall and Robert Heaton, a farm labourer. Not long after his birth, the family moved to Parsonage Farm, Upholland because Robert Snr. had the chance to take on that farm as a tenant farmer. As Bob grew up, he worked on the family farm and during WW2 he joined the Home Guard and did his bit for King and country.
After the war, he returned to Halsall with his wife Sally, his son and his sister Lilian and her husband Harold Gaskell along with their children. They had gained the tenancy of Green Kettle Farm, Plumpton Lane – a place his mother knew only too well as she had lived there when her father, Richard Aspinwall worked the moss land in the mid 1800s. The Heatons and the Gaskells remained in Halsall for the rest of their lives – and many of their descendants still do.
James Howard GP6D-S3B was born in April 1888 in Formby to Alice and Henry Howard, farmers. As a child, James grew up in Altcar because his father farmed at New Hill House farm. James also worked on the family farm after leaving school. He married Winifred Sutton in 1918 and they went on to have two children, Margaret and Henry. At the beginning of WW2 when the 1939 Register was taken, James, Winifred and family were living at Ashcroft Villas, Carr Moss Lane, Halsall. The Home Guard photograph of James Howard and Richard Haslam was taken in the garden at Ashcroft Villas.
David Henry Huyton GPFS-PXV was born on 19th July 1916 to Isabella Anderson GPF9-BRH and her husband, William Huyton KJGZ-NLV, a produce buyer for a fruit merchant. The family lived in Gregory Lane, Halsall. David was the second youngest of five siblings (William, Edward, Jane Ellen, David and Arthur)
In 1921 the family were still living on Gregory Lane, David’s father, William, was working for John Dickinson Ltd in Ormskirk. Isabella, David’s mother, had been a domestic servant for the Dickinson family in Liverpool before she was married; maybe this is how the couple met?
By the time the 1939 Register for England and Wales was taken, William Huyton had died but we can see that Isabella and her two youngest sons David, now a farm labourer and Arthur, an apprentice motor engineer GPFS-2PL, were still living in the family home.
In addition, they had taken in two evacuees – sisters, Olive GPFS-VKM and Edith Swansbury GPFS-24T who were 13 and 12 years old respectively. They had a little brother, Albert GPRH-7KV, who was 8 years old and he was billeted with one of Isabella’s elder sons, Edward GPC4-LKS and his wife Elizabeth (Longton) GG9P-YQQ at their home on Cross Lane.
Playing his part in the war effort, David Huyton was another member of the Halsall Platoon of the Home Guard. After the war, David met Edna Taylor P933-LQZ and in 1949 they were married and went on to have their own children. David died on 7th April 1968 and Edna passed away on 1st April 2007; they are buried together at St. Cuthbert’s church, Halsall.
George Garner Little GMZX-SZ5 was born in Workington, Cumberland to Grace Lightfoot and George Little on 31st October 1904. His mother died three years later and George Snr. married again, but sadly his second wife died in 1917. Even worse, George found his deceased step-mother on his return home from school (he was only 12 years old at this point).
At the age of 16 George was working as a farm labourer for the Teasdale family in a small village called Faulds, Caldbeck, Cumberland. It is not clear how he came to be in the Halsall area – probably employment. However he married Adelaide Mawson who also came from Cumberland in 1936; the marriage was registered at Southport.
When the 1939 Register was taken, the couple were living at Halsall Hill with their son, Stanley Little. George was still working in farming as a cow man as well as being in the Halsall Home Guard. We know this because it is mentioned on the BBC’s People’s War website along with an interesting description of life in Halsall during WW2.
George and Adelaide moved just down the road to Sumner Avenue, Haskayne in later life; George died in 1988 and Adelaide passed away on Boxing Day, 1994.
John Rimmer GLYF-K8P was the local joiner, coffin maker and funeral director who lived in Rose Cottage, New Street. (see Landmarks:Rose Cottage for more about John Rimmer)
Tommy Threlfall GLPC-BTC lived on Carr Moss Lane and was a grocer with a small fleet of green vans that travelled the local area selling groceries to the villagers.
Some of the men were in the successful Scarisbrick and Halsall Home Guard football team when they played in the Southport & District League. Many of them in these photographs are well known amongst the local community even now; some of their descendants still live in Halsall and the surrounding area.
Grand Farewell Concert
The Home Guard concert for the village mentioned on the BBC’s People’s War website would have been held at St. Cuthbert’s Hall, Summerwood Lane in Halsall. (The history of St. Cuthbert’s Hall is on the Landmarks page of this website).
When the Home Guard was stood down after the success of the Allied Army in France, celebrations were in order up and down the country. In this part of the world, a parade was held on 3rd December 1944 followed by a ‘Grand Farewell Concert’ which was hosted at The Regal Cinema in Ormskirk. On 31st December 1945, the Home Guard was disbanded, eight months after the surrender of Germany.
Nowadays, most Home Guard records are kept by the Ministry of Defence and can be supplied, by application, to next of kin and other members of the public, after the Home Guard member’s death.
Visit IWM The Real Dad’s Army for more information about the Home Guard.
Finally, thank you to the following people for sharing their photographs, stories and anecdotes that are contained in this article: Susan Roberts, David & Trevor Ainscough, Christine Huyton, Alison Newnham, Graham Sutton and Sue Hulm.
