The Second World War
In 1939 the School Headmaster was a relatively young man (born in 1910), Mr Robinson, who lived with his wife Olive at Wilmaton on Hall Lane. He wrote in the School Log on 1st September 1939 that he had received instruction to close the school owing to the crisis (the invasion of Poland leading to the declaration of war). Ten days later the school reopened but only in the mornings for the children of Mobberley. In the afternoon children from St Bride’s School in Old Trafford and Stretford Road School were taught by their own teachers. These children had been evacuated from Manchester because of the risk from German air raids. We don’t know how it was organised but it seems that they were brought to the Victory Hall and villagers were asked to take one or two children in to their homes in Mobberley, which was considered safer for them.
We don’t currently know all of their names nor how long they stayed because their school registers were kept by their own teachers. But they weren’t the only evacuees. Nearly twenty others arrived in Mobberley to stay with relatives. Some for several years. Some of them should have been going to Egerton School in Knutsford but the war had made travel by train and bus more difficult. Petrol for private car use (even if you owned one) was immediately prohibited.
In fact the fears of German air raids were a little premature and it wasn’t until August in 1940, nearly a year after war was declared, that the school reports air raids overnight and a delayed start to the school day (10.00). Another batch of St Bride's and Stretford Road Junior School children arrived in September 1940.
Once air raids started, elderly villagers remember looking north-east towards Manchester and seeing the glow of buildings ablaze in the distant night sky. Air raids also happened during the day but no mention is made of sheltering in air raid shelters that were built in the field by the car park, and not demolished until the 1970s.
In 1941, the Headmaster was called up to serve in the military and a succession of temporary headteachers took charge. An interesting note is that March 1943 was the first time that school meals were served. In August 1943, the first air raid in over a year was noted but in July 1944 the Germans started sending V1 and V2 rockets to London (and a few to Manchester) - a second evacuation took place. This time the children were recorded, mostly from Brixton, Kennington and Westminster in London. 32 children had to be found temporary homes with families they had never met around the village. These 32 children put the school under a lot of strain. In those days infants were taught at a different school in Hall Lane (from ages 5 to 8) and when some of them moved up to the juniors (where they would stay until they were 14), the building couldn’t cope and the Methodist Chapel Sunday School Room had to be used as well.
According to some, the Army requisitioned several buildings, including the Manor House (which used to be where the Rectory now stands), the Victory Hall, the Guide Hut (which was where the Scout Hut at Hall Bank is now), Hobcroft House where George Mallory had grown up, and even the Mission Rooms , now a private residence in Hall Bank. There doesn't seem to have been any military occupancy until the arrival of the US forces prior to D-Day in 1944.
We are fortunate because one of the units that arrived was the 167th Signals and Photographic Company and they left a record with narrative of their thoughts. The soldiers (who left in time to take part in D-Day in 1944) lived in Nissan huts behind the Manor House, and in tents at what is now Park Farm on Hall Lane. Elderly residents remembering the suddenness of the disappearance of the Americans after D-Day.
We don’t currently know all of their names nor how long they stayed because their school registers were kept by their own teachers. But they weren’t the only evacuees. Nearly twenty others arrived in Mobberley to stay with relatives. Some for several years. Some of them should have been going to Egerton School in Knutsford but the war had made travel by train and bus more difficult. Petrol for private car use (even if you owned one) was immediately prohibited.
In fact the fears of German air raids were a little premature and it wasn’t until August in 1940, nearly a year after war was declared, that the school reports air raids overnight and a delayed start to the school day (10.00). Another batch of St Bride's and Stretford Road Junior School children arrived in September 1940.
Once air raids started, elderly villagers remember looking north-east towards Manchester and seeing the glow of buildings ablaze in the distant night sky. Air raids also happened during the day but no mention is made of sheltering in air raid shelters that were built in the field by the car park, and not demolished until the 1970s.
In 1941, the Headmaster was called up to serve in the military and a succession of temporary headteachers took charge. An interesting note is that March 1943 was the first time that school meals were served. In August 1943, the first air raid in over a year was noted but in July 1944 the Germans started sending V1 and V2 rockets to London (and a few to Manchester) - a second evacuation took place. This time the children were recorded, mostly from Brixton, Kennington and Westminster in London. 32 children had to be found temporary homes with families they had never met around the village. These 32 children put the school under a lot of strain. In those days infants were taught at a different school in Hall Lane (from ages 5 to 8) and when some of them moved up to the juniors (where they would stay until they were 14), the building couldn’t cope and the Methodist Chapel Sunday School Room had to be used as well.
According to some, the Army requisitioned several buildings, including the Manor House (which used to be where the Rectory now stands), the Victory Hall, the Guide Hut (which was where the Scout Hut at Hall Bank is now), Hobcroft House where George Mallory had grown up, and even the Mission Rooms , now a private residence in Hall Bank. There doesn't seem to have been any military occupancy until the arrival of the US forces prior to D-Day in 1944.
We are fortunate because one of the units that arrived was the 167th Signals and Photographic Company and they left a record with narrative of their thoughts. The soldiers (who left in time to take part in D-Day in 1944) lived in Nissan huts behind the Manor House, and in tents at what is now Park Farm on Hall Lane. Elderly residents remembering the suddenness of the disappearance of the Americans after D-Day.
167th Signal Corps
Harry B Kidd in America has researched American Military Photographers and unearthed a range of Mobberley images from the 167th Signal Corps who were stationed here in 1944
US GIs marching out from the Church Inn Car Park with the modern day comparison
Evacuees
On 11th September 1939 the School reopened with evacuees from St Bride's School, Old Trafford and Stretford Road School. Initially the school opened in the morning for local children and in the afternoon for the Manchester children. Within a few weeks the two sets were merged and came onto the Cheshire Authority registers. There were also a number of unofficial evacuees (where families put up relatives) and some children who would normally attend schools in Knutsford but who were now affected by reduced train services. Another intake arrived in September 1940 but the school registers don't record further intakes until, in July 1944, thirty two evacuees from London arrived due to the threat from the Flying Bombs (V1/V2). The school log reports the school as now being full. As numbers increased further due to the routine arrival of infants from Hall Lane, the Methodist School Room was requisitioned.
Attached is a summary of the relevant school log entries and a list of those recorded in the admission registers. it appears that the official evacuees from Manchester were not recorded in the Mobberley books.
On 11th September 1939 the School reopened with evacuees from St Bride's School, Old Trafford and Stretford Road School. Initially the school opened in the morning for local children and in the afternoon for the Manchester children. Within a few weeks the two sets were merged and came onto the Cheshire Authority registers. There were also a number of unofficial evacuees (where families put up relatives) and some children who would normally attend schools in Knutsford but who were now affected by reduced train services. Another intake arrived in September 1940 but the school registers don't record further intakes until, in July 1944, thirty two evacuees from London arrived due to the threat from the Flying Bombs (V1/V2). The school log reports the school as now being full. As numbers increased further due to the routine arrival of infants from Hall Lane, the Methodist School Room was requisitioned.
Attached is a summary of the relevant school log entries and a list of those recorded in the admission registers. it appears that the official evacuees from Manchester were not recorded in the Mobberley books.