Wartime miscellany

On the 20th of March 1945 a Lancaster crashed near the village of Nieuwdorp in Zeeland, Netherlands. All the crew members were killed. The rear gunner John Edward Taylor (Johnny) RAF(VR) 1869191 came from the Coventry area. He was 19 years old at the time of the crash. Parents: John William and Ada Kate Taylor of Radford, Coventry, UK. Two months ago the engine of the plane (PB677-MG/Q) was recovered and donated to our local WWII museum. I am trying to find relatives of the crew members to find out what happened before this fatal day in March 1945. I've already retrieved 3 out of 7 crew members. The museum is planning to build some sort of monument for the crew members. I hope someone can send us some pictures of Johnny and give us info about him and possibly other members of the crew. Crew: RAAF 62186 FO Bacon, L P, Captain (Pilot) RAF(VR) 1592648 Sgt H McClements, (Flight Engineer) RAF(VR) 1652888 Flt Sgt R R Evans, (Navigator) RAF(VR) 154615 FO Huttlestone, G H (Bomb Aimer) RNZAF 455771 WO P A Tennant, (Wireless Operator) RAF(VR) 2210978 Sgt J A Cornwall, (Mid Upper Gunner) RAF(VR) 1869191 Sgt J E Taylor (Rear Gunner) Thanks in advance

Side of Golden Cross?

Correct! And it is . . . . . ?

Sorry Cliff, can't make out the text, is it actually information or an advert of some sort?

I understand they are directions to air-raid shelters in Cow Lane, Little Park Street, Hay Lane (which is where the signs are) - although I think I can make out the name Broadgate as well Does anyone have a clearer indication of what it says and can anyone confirm what the markings were for?

I thought this might be of some interest for discussion. When I was at GEC in the 60s, we had a toolmaker in charge of the lab workshop, who was keen to brag about his pay. I heard him one day telling someone that, during the war, he was able to put in a lot of overtime, and made loads of money, his best week reaching close to £90 wages. I don't know whether he was exaggerating or not, but that much seems more than a bit excessive for the time - or is it? I know there were quite a lot of strikes during the war, and that people who were required to work long hours on rush jobs got very much premium rates, but was £90 p w possible? He also reckoned that he moved job several times; I thought that was rather hard to achieve during the war, especially as he must have been in a reserved occupation? Perhaps someone out there may know more?

I heard similar stories from a very reliable stories. It was more like £40 per week which was still a huge amount at the time. By comparison a pre-war assembly worker at Standard's received a basic wage of £2.50 but in practice was more like £5.00. My source actually named some of the people involved and claimed that is how they could afford to set up businesses of their own after the war. I knew some them personally but am not going to name them here.

Hi Dutchman I would expect that pay went up quite a bit during the war anyway, because I know that a skilled craftsman's basic wage in 1950 was in the region of £12-14 p w, and of course there was a lot of overtime being worked in the early years after the war. Didn't someone say "One man's war is another man's profit" or something like that? I certainly wouldn't expect you to name anyone! The person I knew is unlikely to be alive now - he'd be over 100 - but I still wouldn't name him here. Thanks for the information.

My father served in the Navy for the 6yrs of the war, while his elder brother and brother-in-law worked in the Coventry factories and I remember a certain amount of resentment that he came back to find a woman in his old post (working for less pay) and was encouraged to train for another trade at his own expense, while other family members all had houses, cars and could afford holidays!!

Pay for a woman doing war work was about £2.50 per week, which was a lot less than a man but still far more than a woman would have earned in peace time. It wasn't consistent though, women doing 'traditional' women's jobs such as sewing were paid exactly the same as before the war. Servicemen's pay was always low, even for career servicemen. There was subsidised accommodation for men with families but this was withdrawn immediately if there was any change in circumstances.

When my brother did National Service 1946-8 the officer whom he drove around told him that he had come up through the ranks, and couldn't really afford to be an officer, with paying mess bills, uniform, etc. He said that it was virtually essential to have independent means to be an officer, even then. An issue that I've heard caused both serious resentment and hardship was that Merchant Navy seamen had their pay stopped the instant a ship was torpedoed - literally. And not only that, but PoWs were encouraged to escape, risking their life; when they did so, their pay too was stopped as soon as they were beyond the wire. It only resumed when they were either recaptured or got back into the forces. As you say, it affected their families. What price loyalty?

Wartime recipes It's a shame as my daughter-in-law had the recipe books for the war, now gone she threw them away I recall rocket cakes being in there, also my mum said they used to mix marg with butter to make it go further. Not sure if this was wartime, but my mum said they used to weigh the butter then pat it into a shape, my nan her mum after patting it into shape would tell the shopkeeper now weigh it again, as it loses weight when patting. When I use to take her shopping she would never buy anything with egg in it, she would read the ingredients to see if it had egg in, I now know why. I'll see if I can find any on the net.

During the war, many people had to do with what they could when it came to cooking. From the versatile powered milk and eggs to the boiling of the chicken bones for the stew. Dripping on toast, to a cup of bovril and a slice of bread (anyones mouth watering yet?) Stew and dumpling is my favourite. One lady told me of Spotted Dick rolled using a bit of old bed sheet she used in the kitchen. Do you have any recipes from that era? The Government put out a number of recipe books to help in dark times. Here are a few reminders. With many fresh foods not available, most larders would have looked like this..... The powered potato is still used in my house, with some chopped ham, grated cheese and salad cream. WARNING - Dribbling over the keyboard can cause problems.

Do any remember any recipes from them days? I would love to give them a go. All I have is the photo's, not the books themselves