Home Guard sees Keighley pals join up to help defend nation

ON the evening of Tuesday, May 14, 1940, Anthony Eden – the Secretary of State for War – gave a radio broadcast to announce the formation of the Local Defence Volunteers, shortly to be renamed the Home Guard.

They wouldn’t receive any payment, but would get a uniform and be armed.

Volunteers had to be at least 17 years old and men with previous military experience, particularly those who had served in the 1914-18 conflict, were keenly sought.

The LDV initially had no clear direction other than to watch for enemy aircraft and a possible parachute invasion.

Four Keighley pals in their late teens – Fred Ogden, Jim Whitehead, Derek Longbottom and Jim Berry – signed up and were soon taking part in one of the first exercises on Harden Moor.

They had all been issued with uniforms – including army greatcoats – however only a few had steel helmets, whilst others had to make do with forage caps, and Jim Whitehead wore his uncle Sam’s First World War flying helmet. Only about one in three men had a rifle, and they were obsolete and lacked ammunition. When the exercise was over the men gathered at the nearby Guide Inn, where someone produced a camera. After a few impromptu snaps were taken, it was decided to have an ‘official’ one of the platoon. A ram was grabbed from a neighbouring field to be the ‘regimental mascot’ and the landlady of the Guide was provided with a greatcoat and forage hat and included in the photograph.

By the end of 1940, the LDV had been renamed the Home Guard and was organised on a much more military footing. The Keighley Battalion, the 27th West Riding, now consisted of four companies, and the four lads who had joined the LDV were all under the command of Major Tillotson in C Company. John Edwin Tillotson was a salesman for Timothy Taylor’s Brewery and had fought in the Great War. As a second-lieutenant, aged 21, he had led an attack on an enemy strong point and captured it, together with two trench mortars, for which he was awarded the DSO.

The four lads were all keen motorcyclists, and along with others who had motorbikes, they were made dispatch riders. The group was under the command of Sgt Fred Bailey. He was a butcher living in Edensor Road but had originally been a joiner and had served in the Royal Engineers during the First World War. The dispatch riders were all photographed at Lawkholme playing fields towards the end of 1940; those whose bikes wouldn’t fit into the picture stood at the back. By this time the company had been issued with full kit and Lee-Enfield rifles. They were also sent a Lewis machine gun but there was no ammunition for it.

The dispatch rider's role was to take messages, usually one of ‘all clear,’ between the commanders within the Keighley area. The first port of call was to Colonel Bateman in Sutton, he always gave the rider a few cigarettes. The next destinations were a command house in Park Lane, Bingley, one at Beckfoot, Cottingley, and then on to Waterloo House, off Long Causeway, in Denholme. After Waterloo House the next stop was Wadsworth House in Oxenhope, the home of Charles Pawson who had been in the Territorial Army Reserve prior to the outbreak of war. Wadsworth House was the last port of call before returning to the Drill Hall in Keighley.

Fred Ogden, Jim Whitehead, Jim Berry and Derek Longbottom were eventually called up to serve in the regular army. However, Derek Longbottom was deferred due to war work and remained in the Home Guard. The Guard was stood down in December, 1944, and formally disbanded on December 31, 1945.