ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½

ALAN MEIKLE

Wartime on a hopyard near Pershore, Worcs.
The ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Guard defend the A 44 road from German invaders.

Most of the men left behind on our farm were in reserved occupations so most of them joined the LDV and then the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Guard as it became later. We provided most of the training weapons, pitchforks, axe handles. And hoes were used before proper firearms arrived. Being a hopfarm we had an abundance of long poles and heavy wires. The poles were used in the flat fields outside Pershore, (also at Upton ) to provide obstructions to any gliders that might land. The wire had a more deadly use.

At the corner of our front orchard at the cross roads at Wick on the A 44 a defensive trench was dug, behind it attached to a tree was one of the coils of wire .The idea was that when a German motorcyclist was driving along the road from Evesham, one of the men would run out across the road and attach the wire to a tree opposite at the right height to decapitate the motor cyclist. How did they know whether it was a German or a local who was coming along the road? Well we had about ¾ of a mile of road frontage towards Evesham, so scouts were to be posted along the hedge that would shout out whether it was a friend or foe. Thankfully no Germans ever came our way. If they had got past our defence line they would have met a 6lb ant-tank gun sided in the south side of Pershore Bridge, (now converted to a pumping station for Pershore College) and the Bridge itself was to have been blown.

ameikle@ukonline.co.uk

© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.