Ron's 18th birthday was Wednesday, September 6th 1939 and this is when he should have moved from the foundry to the pattern shop. However war had been declared on the previous Sunday, the 3rd, and all movement of staff out of the foundry was suspended. As the company was making, or about to start making, things deemed vital to the war effort, Ron's job was classified as a “Reserved Occupation '' meaning he had to carry on working as a moulder for the duration. Unfortunately by the time the war ended Ron was 24 years old and now was deemed to be too old to be an apprentice pattern maker meaning he would never get the chance to do the job he really wanted -  he would continue as a moulder for the rest of his working life. A further problem for the family  was his mother's health which seems to have deteriorated as he grew up; she died in 1941 when he was still just 19.

Ron's brother, Henry Smith, joined the army, eventually ending up seeing action in N.W. Europe in 1944 and 1945 while serving with the Gordon Highlanders, as part of the 51st Highland Division. (Apparently at that time a fair few of these “Highlanders” were Black Country men, like him, or Brummies.) Ron's Reserved Occupation status meant of course that he was blocked from joining up, and this led to him joining the Home Guard. His Battalion was the 39th Staffordshire (Enville) Battalion: this unit of between 1000 and 2000 men is likely to have been responsible for the area in which Ron lived or worked, or even both.

THE WAR YEARS AND THE HOME GUARD

Locations associated with the 39th Staffordshire (Enville) Battalion,  Home Guard are as follows:

The 39th was known as the Enville Home Guard but seems to have recruited from three main areas - Wordsley, Kinver and Enville.

- Wordsley is on the edge of the Black Country and was a centre for glass manufacture, as well as other industrial activity; most of the recruits from there are likely to have worked in the local industries.
- Kinver is a sizable village in its own right, surrounded by mostly agricultural land and considered as something of a tourist destination.
- Enville, on the other hand, is a very small village, and presumably most recruits from Enville would have been from an agricultural background from surrounding farms or the Enville estate.

It seems that there would have been a wide mix of backgrounds and occupations amongst the men of the 39th. 

Years ago Dad pointed out to me the location where he reported for Home Guard duty - a building off Brierley Hill Road, at the junction with Mill St. This is now known as Wordsley Hall Care Home and seems to have been much enlarged in more recent years for its current purpose, though it seems that at least some of the original structure has been incorporated. At the time it was used by the Home Guard it was a large old house which was, I believe, originally constructed as the family home of one of the wealthy Wordsley glass makers. Interestingly Dad always referred to this place as “K sector HQ”, which infers it might have been used as more than just the reporting centre of the Wordsley contingent of the 39th South Staffs. 

The other location Dad was familiar with was Enville Golf Club: this was used by the Home Guard, though the wooden club house of the 1940s seems to have been demolished in later years when the club's current facilities came into use. I found the following online reference to the Home Guard use of the Golf Club:

“In the war the 39th Battalion Enville Home Guard used it for nights out and training. John Henry Edwards, son of founding member S. J. Edwards died after shrapnel pierced his abdomen in one exercise. His son Brian Edwards has been a member for more than 50 years”. (Express & Star 23rd November 2010) .

I don't know if the reference to “nights out” meant accommodation for sleeping, or for post-exercise refreshments, but as far as Dad was concerned sleeping out with the Home Guard  generally involved old Army issue bell tents, though he did say that they were surprisingly dry and warm - from the heat given off by the multiple human occupants even in the depths of winter. As far as post exercise refreshments were concerned then “The Cat” at Enville seemed to have been a favourite of the men.

Webmaster comment: The reference to "nights out" might also mean purely social functions, such as dances and whist drives and concerts, organised on a Battalion, Company or even Platoon basis.  After the first few months of frenetic activity when invasion had threatened and as the Home Guard gradually settled down, such events were regarded as important - as fund-raisers for the Social Fund which most units created for the provision of a few creature comforts for men on duty; and, equally important, as morale-boosters for members and their wives and families. Almost every unit followed this practice. There is, elsewhere in this website, a detailed account of the typical ups and downs encountered by those Home Guards who had taken on the task of organising social events in those extraordinary times: the Minutes of the Social Committee of a London unit - and especially, within that section, The Trials and Tribulations of Pte. Purdy.

John Edwards was the fellow who died following the sticky bomb demonstration I previously mentioned. Dad wasn't present when it happened and didn't know John personally but it must have been upsetting particularly as it happened at a time when the direct threat from the Germans seemed to be receding a little for those on the Home Front. He is commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission:

EDWARDS John Henry Rank: Sergeant Regiment: 39th Battalion Staffordshire Home Guard Date of death: 13th October 1943

On Friday, October 15th 1943, the following appeared in the Birmingham Evening Despatch:

HOME GUARD KILLED BY BOMB Accidental Death Accidental death was the verdict at to-day’s inquest on John Henry Edwards, aged 28, Pencoed, White Hill, Kinver, a sergeant in the Home Guard, who was killed by a piece of metal flung from a steel plate on which a bomb was exploded during a demonstration at Enville on Sunday morning. Capt. Cyril Cotton, Baycot House, Kingswinford, who gave the demonstration, stated that the first bomb exploded quite satisfactorily, and a second one was then placed on a double steel plate, and when this bomb exploded Edwards was struck. The members of the class were standing only a certain distance from the exploding bomb and were all standing up. He had, he said, read the official pamphlet issued by the War Department concerning such demonstrations, but was not aware of one which specified the distance waiting throwers should be from exploding bomb, nor was he aware that they should be lying down. He agreed that his party were not as far away from the bomb as they should have been according to the regulation referred to.

Various training facilities were constructed by or for the Home Guard in the areas near to the Golf Club, particularly on Enville and Highgate Commons. A 1000-yard firing range was set up on land off Chester Road, this is now a forestry plantation and was close to the area shown as “The Million” on modern OS maps. I did try to have a look for remains of this range some years ago, based on Dad's memory of where it had been but could see nothing of interest; it is possible it was all ploughed out when the trees were being put in but I also suspected that the tree cover was such that you might have got within a few yards of it and still not be able to see anything. From Dad's description it seems to have consisted of firing trenches at one end with a second set of trenches at the target end. Targets were fixed to wooden frames which were raised into view by operators working in the safety of these trenches. Following each shot or series of shots a fellow in the trench indicated where the bullet or bullets had hit the target by holding up a long stick with a coloured disc on its end (a bit like a lollipop), holding the disc over each bullet hole for a few seconds so a score could be given. Targets could then be lowered, patches pasted over the holes, and then reused. 

When I was a child I once walked with Dad from Swindon to Halfpenny Green. During the walk Dad was able to point out a pill box and the remains of trenches used by the Home Guard: these were located either side of Whitehouse Lane at OS map ref. 849 903. I was unable to relocate these a few years ago when I was in the area and assume they have been removed. There were, though, still a couple of pill boxes on the perimeter of Halfpenny Green airfield visible at that time.

One final location Dad mentioned was a large house at Aldridge. Its location suggests that it wasn't directly connected with the 39th, and Dad was never able to pin down its exact position. He got to visit this large house as a result of volunteering (or being volunteered) to assist in the kitchens in connection with a Burns Night supper. Dad's role seems to have been peeling spuds and washing up but the incentive was a promise that there would be plenty of food left for all concerned, the supper itself being for officers only, I would assume. It is the only time Dad ever witnessed a haggis being piped into a room, all in proper style despite wartime shortages, and he wasn't disappointed with the food provided for him and the others who had assisted. Because it was winter and therefore dark, in the blackout, and they travelled over in the back of an army wagon, he was unable to figure out exactly where this property was but he described it as seeming to be a large manor house set in extensive grounds. He only ever did this once, I don't know if it was just a one off or even if it was a Home Guard only event or involved other organisations in the area.
&n 

Webmaster comment: Aldridge was at the heart of the 32nd Staffordshire (Aldridge) Battalion and its Battalion HQ was there. The event Ron attended might well have taken place at The Manor House in Aldridge - a building which still survives and might also have been the home of the Aldridge Home Guard. The assistance rendered by Ron and his comrades - in return for a good meal - was likely to have been the result of a personal association between the Battalion Commander, Lt.-Col. Reading and his opposite number at the 32nd Staffordshire, Lt.-Col Charles Cartwright, M.C.

 

THE LATER YEARS

After the war Ron continued to work as a Moulder although he moved on to a new company in the 1950s, Wellman Alloys foundry in Amblecote. This company specialised in the production of castings in high temperature alloys which can often be difficult to work compared to cast iron or other conventional cast steels; but Ron seems to have found that the additional challenges this work presented gave him a high level of job satisfaction, even if the work was physically very hard - and certainly not the job working with wood that he had originally hoped for. 

In the 1950s Ron married Cissie and they had one son, Ray. To start with they lived in Stafford Street, Dudley, but moved to the Russells Hall area of Dudley in the early 1960s and lived there for the rest of their lives. Outside of work Ron had an interest in technology, particularly electronics, often tinkering with old radio or TV sets, and also enjoyed walking and exploring the local area.

Ron remained quite active until he was around 90 years old. He passed away in 2016, aged 94.