101-year-old WWII veteran to hold International Women’s Day talk in HarrogateThe extraordinary story behind one of the names on Harrogate’s war memorialA century in Yorkshire: Wetherby couple celebrate joint 100th birthdayHarrogate History: VE day 1945 – a day of rejoicing after the dark years of war
Malcolm Neesam (1946 – 2022) was a writer, archivist and historian, specialising in Harrogate and North Yorkshire history. He was born in Harrogate and studied at the University of Leeds as a professional archivist and librarian. He subsequently worked in Hereford, Leeds, London and York where, for twenty-five years, he was North Yorkshire County Music and Audiovisual Librarian. In 1996 Harrogate Borough Council awarded Malcolm the Freedom of the Borough for his services as the town’s historian, preserving much of the town’s heritage.
This article was first published October 2, 2020 as part of Malcom’s Harrogate History series for the Stray Ferret.
On Tuesday 8th May 1945, a full-sized likeness of Adolph Hitler gazed across West Park Stray surrounded by a replica of his Mountain retreat at Berchtesgaden.
It had been placed there as the crowning display of a huge bonfire and assembled by the Harrogate Home Guard, who, at dusk, stormed the display, and to frantic cheering from the assembled townspeople, captured the effigies of Hitler and his cronies, before the Mayor lit the bonfire that burned ‘Berchtesgaden’ to the ground.
Beyond this scene of rejoicing, Harrogate was a sea of bunting and the flags of allied nations, which filled not only the town centre, but nearly every suburban street as well. In the main shopping streets at the town’s centre were displayed large portraits of the King and Queen, Prime Minister Churchill and allied leaders, Field Marshall Montgomery and other military luminaries.
Joyous crowds surged through the town centre that day, whose drab and neglected appearance, the result of five years, eight months and five days of wartime austerity, was temporarily brightened by brightly coloured displays, although the need to conserve energy precluded the use of gas or electric power, exceptions being made at the Royal Baths, and Municipal Offices where Mayor G. Spenceley had greeting the crowds gathered in Crescent Gardens.
A street party in 1945
People continued to surge through the centre of the town throughout the day, despite heavy rain showers, although the streets cleared in time for both the Prime Minister’s broadcast, and the King’s speech.
The borough court continued to function on VE Day, the main business being concerned with granting licences for dancing and extensions for liquor and music, all essential aspects of the coming celebrations on the following Sunday, which at the request of the King, would be a day of national thanksgiving and prayer.
A service was planned at St. Peter’s Church attended by the Mayor and full Corporation, followed by a brief ceremony at the War Memorial in remembrance of the fallen.
In the afternoon, a grand parade was to occur on West Park, when participants would include American military personnel, units of the Home Guard and Civil Defence, representatives from the British Legion, St. John Ambulance Brigade, the Scouts and the Guides. Flag bearing youth groups present included the Sea Cadets, Army Cadet Corps, Air Training Corps, Girls Training Corps, Boys Brigade, and the Civil Defence Messengers.
Neighbours and friends celebrating
After a short open air service, the parade marched via West Park and Parliament Street to the Municipal Officers in Crescent Gardens, where the Mayor took the salute from a specially constructed platform.
The Mayor’s rousing speech reminded the townspeople of the ordeal they had undergone, and that until Japan had been overcome, the resolve of the people must be continued. He ended his speech with the sincere thanks of the entire Corporation for what the townspeople had achieved through their great sacrifice.
Memorable though the Peace Parade had been, for some of Harrogate’s residents, their most exuberant celebrations were reserved for the town’s many street parties, which involved whole communities.
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Gallery: Tears amid military decorations as Ripon gets ready for D-Day 80th anniversaryLt Col. Perry Bishop, the commanding officer of the Ripon-based 21 Engineer Regiment of the Royal Engineers, admitted to having an emotional moment when he saw knitted soldiers adorning the bollards in Ripon city centre.
He told a large crowd of civic dignitaries, volunteers, schoolchildren and members of the public, who gattered this morning on the lawns of Ripon Inn for the launch of the city’s D-Day 80th anniversary commemoration and celebration events:
“In my 20 years of army service, I’ve never known a town or city whose people have such a close affinity with the corps of soldiers who are based here.”
Lt. Col Bishop, who is coming to the end of his two-and-a-half year posting in Ripon in the next month, added:
“I must admit, that when I saw the knitted figures of sappers on the bollards around the Market Square, I had tears of pride in my eyes and I could not have a better send off than being here today to unveil this incredible tank made of wool and wood.
“It’s a manifestation of the respect that the people of Ripon have for the Royal Engineers and in return the respect that we have for the citizens of this wonderful city.”
The Mayor and Mayoress of Ripon, Councillor Sid Hawke and his wife Linda, along with the Dean of Ripon, the Very Revd John Dobson, were among those present for this morning’s launch
Today’s unveiling of the replica Churchill bunker buster tank signalled the start of D-Day anniversary events in the city
The badge of the Royal Engineers has been faithfully reproduced in wool by the knitters of Ripon Community Project
Community link
For a community proudly wrapped in rich military history, where the Royal Engineers have enjoyed Freedom of the City for 75 years, the countdown to the 80th anniversary, which marks the D-Day landings on five Normandy beaches, have a very special meaning.
On June 6 1944, one in four servicemen involved in Operation Overlord — the code name for the huge military operation that paved the way to the liberation of western Europe — were Royal Engineers, many of whom were trained in Ripon in readiness for their key role in clearing the way for troops who followed on behind them,
Among the weapons at their disposal was the Churchill Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers (AVRE) tank which was used with terrifying effect to blast enemy bunkers with huge and uncompromising shells
The life-size replica, which is 24 feet long, nine feet wide and seven feet high, has been created through a collaboration between Ripon Community Poppy Project and the city’s Men’s Shed who worked together in a hangar provided by the Engineers at Claro Barracks.
The tank, is a striking and symbolic centrepiece that will be seen at selected locations around the city between now and June 6, when an anniversary concert will be held at Ripon Cathedral, before Jack Churchill the great-grandson of war-time leader Sir Winston Churchill lights a beacon on the cathedral’s piazza,
Five of the people involved in creating the replica tank are pictured here, from the left: Carol Dunkley, Hazel Barker, Stuart Martin (Ripon Community Poppy Project) and Richard Thomson and Gordon Woods of Ripon Men’s Shed,
Hazel Barker, who was joint-founder of the poppy project with former mayor of Ripon Stuart Martin, told the Stray Ferret,
“We hope that the tank and D–Day anniversary decorations, which have taken tens of thousands of stitches from our tireless team of non-stop knitters, will remind local residents and visitors of the crucial part that the Royal Engineers played in securing allied victory in World War Two.”
Pictured above are some of the knitted servicemen that brought tears to the eyes of Lt Col Bishop, while a silhouette of a lone soldier can be seen below with other displays in Spa Gardens.
The D-Day heroes are remembered in this display (below) on railings in Ripon city centre
Main image: Lt Col Perry Bishop (pictured left) with Hazel Barker and Stuart Martin of Ripon Community Poppy Project
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War veteran to launch Harrogate war memorial centenary commemorationsA war veteran is set to launch Harrogate war memorial’s centenary commemorations this year.
The 12-week commemorations will begin on September 1 and mark 100 years to the day after the memorial was unveiled in Prospect Square.
World War Two veteran Sheila Pantin, who lives in Harrogate and will celebrate her own 100th birthday in October, will launch the programme.
She won a scholarship to Leeds Girls’ High School aged 11, and went on to become one of the first women in this country to earn her public service vehicle licence.
Sheila joined the army aged just 17 and trained as an ambulance and staff car driver with the Auxiliary Territorial Service, the women’s branch of the British Army, rising to the rank of sergeant.
She was also one of the first British service women to enter a German concentration camp in April 1945.
The Harrogate war memorial.
After being posted abroad in autumn 1944, she was detailed to lead a convoy of about ten three-tonne Bedford lorries across France and Belgium entering into Nazi Germany from Holland.
When she got there she was asked if she wanted to work in the camps.
Reflecting on the time, Sheila said:
“I thought they meant barracks but it turned out they didn’t mean that at all. There was the camp with this huge entrance and an awful lot of huts surrounded by barbed wire fencing.
“We were entering Belsen. I could see our boys digging out mass graves to give the bodies proper burials.
“The only people left alive were in rags and were in a terrible state. They didn’t even know how to eat.”
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It was Sheila’s job to look after the survivors in the camp, to clean them, dress them, show them how to use a knife and fork, to try to restore a little humanity after the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust.
As part of the war memorial centenary commemoration programme, a series of events will be held including 15 illustrates talked running from September 1 to Remembrance Sunday on November 12.
Meanwhile, to mark the anniversary, the names of 1,163 service men and women who died in the two World Wars and are etched onto the Harrogate memorial will feature in a multimedia exhibition called More than a Name on a Memorial.
Sheila will also give a talk on her experience during the war on Wednesday, September 27.
The exhibition and talks will be held at the West Park United Reformed Church and are free to attend.
More details of the centenary commemorations are available here.
Wartime bombing of Harrogate’s Majestic hotel told in new playThe bombing of the Majestic hotel in 1940 has inspired a new play written by a Pateley Bridge playwright.
Keith Burton has been writing plays for the last 10 years. In summer 2019 he was commissioned by North Yorkshire County Council to write a play about Harrogate’s role during World War Two as part of VE Day celebrations.
Harrogate Dramatic Society will perform the play, named ‘The Stray’ next weekend following covid delays.
The play begins on Sunday, September 8 1940 when Buckingham Palace was bombed. This triggered The Coats Mission – a top secret plan for the evacuation of the royal family from London.
One of the proposed temporary homes was Newby Hall, Ripon, with Winston Churchill staying at Grove House across from Harrogate Fire Station.
This plan made the RAF and the Secret Intelligence Service nervous due to Harrogate’s involvement in the war effort.
In nearby Yeadon, where Leeds Bradford Airport is now, bomber planes were being built at an underground factory. There was also a code-breaking centre that fed information to Bletchley Park in Forest Moor.
On Thursday, September 12 the Majestic hotel was bombed by a ‘stray’ plane as part of a larger raid. This was the only bomb to fall on Harrogate in World War Two.
Actors during rehearsals for ‘The Stray’.
‘The Stray’ is based on what might have happened in Harrogate during that week in September to cause the bombing of the Majestic.
Playwright Keith Burton said:
“Thanks to local historian Malcolm Neesam, everything in the play is historically accurate it’s just the ‘why’ that I’ve made into a story. As a dramatist, that is what I do.”
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Harrogate Dramatic Society will perform the play at The Crown Hotel November 4-6. To book tickets click here.
The Stray Ferret has teamed up with local historian Malcolm Neesam, to produce audio walking tours of Harrogate. The walks are sponsored by the Harrogate Business Improvement District (BID) and take you back to Harrogate during wartime. They’re easy to do and a great day out. For more information click here.
