Ivor recalls Dad's Army days for TV
THE LAST surviving member of Battle's Home Guard inspired an episode of a recent television series.
Ivor White, 78, who runs a website on the town which receives up to 3,000 hits per day, was contacted by researchers on the History Channel show 'Home Front'.
They were looking for someone with in-depth knowledge of Britiain's civil defence, a real life 'Dad's Army' member of the '40s.
The episode on the Home Guard appeared on UK screens last month, and is being repeated on Tuesday, February 15, at 8pm and Wednesday, February 16, at 8am and 2pm.
Mr White, who now lives in St Leonards, advised the show's producers on whether uniforms were correct and drilling up to scratch.
He said: "The researchers wanted to find a Home Guard who remembered the war but there are not many of us left.
"Making the episode was a great experience, there were no scripts.
"I joined Tony Kennedy from the Royal British Legion but I was the only one who had actually been a Home Guard."
Mr White was born at the Battle Abbey lodgehouse and he, his brother, father and grandfather worked on the Abbey estate as gardeners.
He then became a projectionist at the Senlac cinema and joined the Battle Home Guard in 1942 where he remained for three years before joining the Irish Guards at the age of 18. Men were on duty one night in every three, depending on how many were available.
"I worked at the old Battle cinema until 10.30pm. I took my uniform and rifle to work then went to the headquarters at the top of Marley Lane and kept guard all night.
"I had to have a pass to get back home; there was a sentry box outside as the Canadian army had taken over the Abbey.
"At first the guard was voluntary but later on they felt the need to recruit people and made certain age groups join.
"The joining age was officially 17 but I wasn't asked my age so I signed up straight away. I remember my head teacher joining on the same day.
"My boss at the cinema was also in the Home Guard.
"I was 15 - two others were about 17 or 18 but all the others were retired or in essential jobs including farming.
"I think we had an air raid warning the very first day that war was declared. We were used to bombing - we got so blas that we didn't bother to go down the shelters any more. After a few weeks of trying to sleep in there we just gave up.
"We had put up with all this bombing and we wanted to find someone to strike back.
"We would have liked to have captured one - we were told to challenge first and if they surrendered we would have taken them prisoner.
"I saw a lot of German aircraft crashing but there were seldom any survivors.
"I honestly thought that one day there would be a German invasion."
The Home Guard had almost two million members at the height of the war: men who were too young or old to fight, or involved in necessary industries joined to defend their village or town.
Mr White had the honour of being the first to lay a wreath at the Cenotaph for the guard in November 2002.
He has run his website, www.battle-abbey.co.uk, for four years and also has another on the Irish Guards.
"With my two websites I am kept very busy. I get up to 3,000 hits a day on the Battle site but around 6,000 on the Irish Guards. I taught myself how to build websites. Then people started emailing me and giving me more information. I have several things I am working on."
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for St Leonards-on-Sea
Friday 10 February 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: -7 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: -5 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North east
