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MEMORIES
AND INFORMATION - WORCESTERSHIRE
5th
WORCS. (HALESOWEN) BATTN.
and
MAJOR
DOUGLAS H. BRINDLEY
|
 The
defence of Halesowen in Worcestershire was the
responsibility of the
5th Worcestershire
(Halesowen) Battalion, commanded initially by
Major E. B. Holloway and
then, from
December 1940 and for the rest of the war,
by
Lt-Col. B. J. Keene
(right).
Battalion H.Q.
was at The Drill
Hall,
 Grammar School Lane, Halesowen and
Company/Platoon HQs were located at different places
in and near the town.
Amongst its
senior members was Captain, later
Major Douglas H. Brindley
(left), born in
West Bromwich
in 1905.
We remember his life and service on this page, with
the help of family information generously made
available to staffshomeguard which includes a
photograph album containing many Home Guard images
as well as glimpses of his personal life, from the
1930s into the post-war years; and the 1945
publication "Halesowen Home Guard" compiled by
Lt. J. G. Mountford
and reproduced in its entirety
elsewhere within this website.
THE HOME
GUARD YEARS
(1940-44) |
A SUMMARY OF
DOUGLAS BRINDLEY'S HOME GUARD CAREER
Little anecdotal or other unofficial
information survives regarding Douglas
Brindley's Home Guard service and in its
absence the main sources are restricted to
"Halesowen Home Guard", the published
history of the Battalion; and an
interpretation of the many Home Guard
photographs included in Douglas's album.
It is most likely that Douglas
volunteered for service in the days or very
few weeks following the announcement of the
Home Guard's formation, together with
hundreds of other men in the area. At that
time the local group was embryonic in the
extreme and even included a group in
Cradley
who were patrolling the evening before
Anthony Eden's announcement of the
establishment of the L.D.V. on the evening
of May 14th, 1940. Those men were under the
command of Major
E. B. Holloway who later, as the
organisation rapidly evolved over the
following weeks, became the first C.O. of
the Halesowen Home Guard Battalion from
August to December of that year.
In
February 1941 the Battalion, by now known as
the 5th
Worcestershire (Halesowen) Battalion
and under the command of
Lt.-Col. B. J.
Keene, decided to create a further
Company to be k nown as
Headquarters
Company and responsible for
administrative and specialist activities
such as Signals, Transport, Mortars,
Anti-Aircraft and Ground Defence, Pioneers
and Transport. This new Company was placed
under the command of
Company Commander
D. H. Brindley. In this period the
first Home Guard List (a list of all HG
officers) was created, effective February
1st 1941, and within that list appears the
name of Captain D. H. Brindley, together
with seven other Captains, three Majors,
forty-six other officers and of course the
C.O., Col. Keene. By that time, the entire
Battalion roll amounted to 1000/1100, a
membership level which was maintained for
four years although of course identities
constantly changed with the effect of losses
through call-up, ill-health, age and work
commitments; and of new arrivals, both
voluntary and conscripted.
To
Douglas's existing responsibilites from
those early days of 1940/41 was added the
role of Battalion
Adjutant-Quartermaster (normally
performed by a seconded, Regular Army
oficer) but in early September 1941 a
regular officer arrived,
Capt. H. Beaufort
Jones of the
Essex Regiment,
and Douglas relinquished his duties to be
transferred to serve as a staff officer with
No. 5 Group HQ
(later "K" Sector).
The responsibility of groupings such as this
within the overall Home Guard organisational
structure was to supervise and co-ordinate the activities
of the various Battalions in their area.
Douglas's contribution in those earliest days,
as Adjutant between December 1940 and
September 1941, was acknowledged by his fellow
officers with the presentation to him of a
handsome, silver cigarette box which survives
84 years later - very much a desirable gift of
its time.
The box is
engraved with this text:
Presented to
MAJOR DOUGLAS H.
BRINDLEY
by the Officers of
the
5th WORCS (HALESOWEN) Bn.
HOME GUARD
In appreciation of
his services as Adjutant
Dec. 1940. Sep. 41
|
|
Douglas's absence from the Battalion
lasted 10 months and then, in July 1942, he
was back to take up the appointment of
Battalion second-in-command at Battalion HQ.
The specific responsibilities within HQ Coy.
remained as they were and were now performed
by its Commander,
Major A. B. Hodson. But now Douglas
had a more general role as 2/i.c., in
support of Lt.-Col. Keene generally and for
the many functions for which the Battalion
C.O. had direct responsibility and were
essential for the Battalion's effective
functioning. This was not only for the
fighting units but also for the support
structure which was essential to them:
administration, supplies, medical, training,
catering, discipline, armoury, recruitment,
intelligence and even the Battalion band -
and also for the many officers, Warrant
Officers, N.C.O.s and Other Ranks whose job
it was to perform these specialist
functions.
Douglas performed this role as Battalion
second-in-command for the next
two-and-a-half years until stand-down in
December 1944.
BATTALION
OFFICERS
The following two
images show most of the Battalion's officers
photographed at different times and in
different locations - and appearing mainly
in different positions within each
photograph. In each of them Major Douglas
Brindley is shown sitting at the right-hand
of Lt.-Col. Keene
(front row,
centre).
The first image, from within Douglas's album, is of
the better quality, magnifies well to aid
indentifications and is dated July 1944; the
second, undated, provides names for faces.
(Please select/click on either to view
magnified versions).
Select image to view magnified versions
Select image to view magnified versions
And a smaller group of cheerful officers -
possibly many of the those serving at
Battalion HQ
(with Douglas
extreme left, front row):
Select image
to view magnified versions
A further group
image of officers during a training exercise:
Select image to view magnified versions
A group of officers take refreshment -
probably in a tent or marquee, possibly during
a weekend camp (but is it all too civilised
for that?!)
IN THE FIELD
Perhaps on another occasion,
Lt.-Col. Keene,
Douglas Brindley and a
further officer, almost certainly
Capt. J. H. Groves
and equipped with horn, view
how the exercise is developing:
And a further group in the same training
area, with Douglas nearest the camera.
(Local knowledge suggests several possible
locations for this latter image, none of which
include the
Leasowes area where the Battalion is
known to have had an assault course and range. Opinion
strongly favours the
Clent Hills
and especially an area beyond the pub at
Adams Hill).
Despatch riders in the field - probably
the
Clent Hills again and possibly on the
Penorchard Farm
fields .......
DEMONSTRATION
OF SUNDAY, 16th MAY 1943
The Battalion gave many public
demonstrations of its prowess over the years,
to large audiences.
Images of at least one survive in Douglas
Brindley's photograph album. This one Douglas is specifically credited with
organising, although he was probably
responsible for all or most of the others as
well; and it was held to celebrate the third
anniversary of the founding of the Home Guard.
The date was Sunday, May 16th, 1943, a
glorious May morning, and the venue the
attractive Grammar School Grounds. It was a
large and ambitious demonstration of many of
the Battalion's skills and capabilities by
that stage of the war, all of them acquired
through countless hours of spare-time training
and practice in evenings and at weekends by
men with full-time civilian jobs and other
responsibilities. The crowd was a large one
and included the Mayor, Town Clerk and members
of the Town Council. The demonstration went
off smoothly and to the minute.
The
most dramatic episode of the afternoon must
have been the attack by a German Mk. III Panzer
tank on the Home Guard defences. This fearsome
machine roars across the field......
......where it
is engaged by a Home Guard spigot mortar team
and almost disappears in a cloud of smoke, no
doubt to rousing cheers from the large
crowd......
......finally to expire, bearing its
casualties, a short distance away......
A survivor is
marched away at rifle point and a casualty is
about to be stretchered off.......
(Please see
further details of the Halesowen Panzer
below. And, based on his relatively short
stature, could the surviving "Panzersoldat"
have been one of its creators,
Eric Rudge?)
The same event included
much else to hold the attention of the crowd.
A demonstrations of the skills of the
Despatch Riders......
Home Guards
dealing with an assault course......
and no doubt much else, of which no record
seems to have survived. Finally, the March
Past, the salute being taken by
Col. W. A. Stirling,
D.S.O., M.C., Commander of the Worcestershire
Sub Area of the Home Guard.
A PARADE
AND INSPECTION
A Parade and
Inspection, on a Sunday morning in late autumn
or early spring, by the C.O., Lt.-Col. Keene,
and other officers including Douglas, on an
unknown date but at a familar location - the
Grammar School grounds.
Col. Keene's disability is obvious - no
doubt the result of a Great War injury - but
one which clearly did not prevent him from
undertaking the arduous duties of Battalion
Commander for four long years, on top of his
day job.
Select image to view magnified versions
CEREMONIAL -
THE BATTALION BAND
The
official History of the Battalion credits
Major F. P. Smith
(later of the
38th Staffordshire Battalion) with
the raising of the Band of the Halesowen
Home Guard. According to the History's
author, it was one of the first, if not THE
first Home Guard band in the country and it
was conducted from its formation by Orderly
Room Quartermaster
Sgt. W. B. Grove,
an enthusiastic and hard-working musician.
To him must be ascribed the major share in
the Band's successful career. It had
engagements throughout the West Midlands as
well as of course regularly appearing in support of
the 5th Battalion itself. Images survive of
its activities in Halesowen, the following
trio showing a parade through the town,
entering High Street, passing the
Drill Hall
and opposite the Municipal Bank, possibly in
May or June 1944.
Further images appear in
Douglas's photograph album - of the entire
band.....
Select image to view magnified versions
and in ceremonial marching mode.....
CEREMONIAL -
CHURCH AND DRUMHEAD SERVICES
There were, at the
very least, annual church parades for members
of the Halesowen Home Guard, sometimes at
Halesowen Parish Church and normally in
November, sometimes in May in the
Halesowen Grammar School grounds.
Images survive. The first two show the
drumhead service which took place on the
Grammar School field on Sunday 7th May 1944 in
celebration of the fourth anniversary of the
founding of the Home Guard. The Rector of
Halesowen, the Honorary Chaplain of the
Battalion, the Rev. J.T. Davies delivers the
Address.
To the left of the Rector stand the senior
officers and civilian dignatories who include
Lt.-Col. Keene
(centre,
nearest to the camera)
and behind him a row of officers including
Douglas Brindley (third man from left).
Select image to view magnified versions
This further, similar image at the same
venue may show the same event - or more
probably an earlier one, perhaps from May 1943. The Stars and Stripes
flies from the flagpost in honour of our
American allies and in all probability members
of the U.S. armed forces were there, as
respected guests.
Select image to view magnified versions
CEREMONIAL
- MARCH-PAST AND SALUTE - 1944
Here are a
sequence of images showing a March Past and
Salute at Halesowen Grammar School. This event
and an associated demonstration by the
Battalion
(see below)
has been dated as occurring on Saturday, 24th
June 1944 in which case it was in support of
"Salute The Soldier Week", a fund-raising
event throughout the country which raised huge
amounts of money in order to help fund the war
effort. Halesowen's contribution was £339,426
(£13m. in 2025
money).
|
(This remarkable effort, supported
by individuals, companies and other
organisations, was one of a series which
occurred in Halesowen during the war years: in
1941 "War Weapons Week" raised £410,000, on
top of the funding of a new Spitfire; in 1942
there was "Warship Week" with £300,000
donated to adopt HMS Achates, a destroyer, as
well as £92,000 for "Tanks for Attack"; and
1943, with £241,000 raised within a month to
fund a replacement for Achates following its
loss on Arctic convoy escort duty with heavy
loss of crew, and just weeks later a further
£258,000 for "Wings for Victory". This all
totals some £65m. over the war years,
expressed in 2025 money). |
The
reviewing party await the March Past......
(from l. to
rt. - 2nd, Lt.-Col. Keene; 3rd,
Brigadier-General
G. W. St. G. Brogan, V.C., C.B., C.M.G.,
D.S.O., Colonel-in-Chief of the
Worcestershire Regiment; 4th, the Mayor)......
......and the units start to march by
to an enthusiastic reception from the crowd,
not least the children amongst them........
and a closer up
view of just a few of the Halesowen men on
parade that day.
OTHER
IMAGES
A Home Guard squad
marches down a Halesowen street:
The location
of the above image is
Hagley Road
in the
Hasbury/Spring Hill
area of Halesowen. We are looking to the west
where
St. Margaret's Church
stands further up the hill on the left. The
men are marching back into the town which
stands behind us, past the
Beehive Inn
and a row of cottages located between the
junctions, on the opposite side of the road,
with
Quarry Lane
and
Blackberry Lane/Fairfield Road.
|
This is how the area and its then
buildings appeared on a contemporary
map. |
 |
Below, a group of Home
Guard men with lady Auxiliaries - the status
of the latter denoted by the badge worn by the
lady in the middle:
And finally, the tank
(seen previously above, in action).
This remarkable creation, a scaled-down
reproduction of a Panzer Mk III tank, was the work of the
Battalion Pioneers platoon,
No. 5 Platoon of
H.Q. Coy., under the command of
Lt. H. C. Raybould,
supported by Sgt.
W. H. Depper (both of whom are seen in
front of it in the top photograph). The unit consisted of
automobile engineers, carpenters, electrical
engineers and other craftsmen; and had been
responsible for other major projects in
addition to this one including bombing and
rifle ranges and temporary bridges erected for
display purposes. Probably some of those men
are the "German" crew and are in the line of Home
Guards standing in front of it in the bottom
right image (the latter includes
Pte. Eric Rudge,
second from right).
Select images to view magnified versions |
A glimpse into Douglas
Brindley's personal life
provides several clues suggesting the reason
that he, unusually, was appointed to a
position of authority when the Home Guard was
launched, even though it appears that he had previously had no previous military experience
and certainly no involvement in the Great War
because of his age. His personal qualites
must, by the age of 35, have become evident -
his administrative and organisational
capability, his ability to lead and motivate,
his social and inter-personal skills, his
drive and energy. And
because of his social and professional contacts such valuable skills and
qualities must have been known to those
who, in May 1940, were charged with the
desperate job of creating overnight a
defensive military force at a time of the
direst national emergency.
FAMILY
Douglas Brindley
(1905-2000) married
Dorothy Parkes
(d. 1997) in 1933 at the age of
28. Here are Douglas and Dorothy on their
wedding day.
They had one child, a daughter named
Janet
(b. 1938). Glimpses of her childhood survive and
indicate that her early life was a loving and
comfortable one. Janet retained her family
name of Brindley throughout her life.
SOCIAL LIFE
Douglas had an active social life, from
the late 1920s and up until his death in 2000 at the age of
95 - the life of a successful
businessman.
Images survive, including
his indulging as a young man in the unusual
sport of motor-cycle football! The Black
Country venue - perhaps even a soccer ground
such as Fellowes Park in Walsall or The
Hawthorns - is unknown, as is the precise
date. (This sport was popular from the late
1920s onwards and could draw large crowds.
Teams competed in different leagues throughout
the country).
Later his main sporting interest appears to
have been golf. His name appears in connection
with several golf clubs over the years in
whose competitions he regularly played
including
Harborne
(from 1951)
and
Stourbridge
(from around 1957).
But it seems that
his
main affiliation was with
Halesowen Golf
Club
(from at least the early 1930s)
where in 1935
he established a new course record with a
round of 65.
He acquired many
trophies over the years and the image below
shows him receiving just one of those. Many
years later all of those relating to Halesowen
were donated by his granddaughter back to the
Club.
Other images, of typical seaside and other
holidays, include a couple which suggest at
least one particuarly exotic adventure.
Glimpses of other aspects of Douglas's
life, both before and after WW2, appear
typical of that of a sociable and successful
Midlands businessman: social gatherings,
dances, Ladies' Nights and similar events with
friends, family and acquaintances. Douglas,
Dorothy and a now grown-up Janet are on the
left of this (very much pre-vaping) group; and
Douglas displays his ongoing taste in
desirable cars, in this case a 1960s Jaguar
E-Type.
Beyond his busy professional and social
life Douglas found time to contribute to his local
community: for a while he represented
Hagley on the Bromsgrove Rural Council before finally
resigning in 1962 because of pressure of work.
BUSINESS
LIFE
 Douglas's earlier
professional life
from the mid 1920s up to the end of the war is
unclear but it must have been connected with
his establishing in 1946, together with an old
Home Guard colleague and no doubt friend,
W.
H. Oliver, a company based in
Dudley named
Road Surfacing
Group Ltd. The Company's subsidiaries included
from the outset Brindley Asphalt
and by the time it ceased to be independent
twenty years later it had owned many others
based in the Midlands, including
G. R. Marson
Ltd., Caludon Engineering Co. Ltd.,
Baillie
Construction Ltd., and
Stills Concrete Ltd.
It was a successful and profitable group of
companies.
Douglas had been friendly with the
Galliford brothers and at a time when he, and
possibly close colleagues, were looking to
retire, it was decided to merge with their
Galliford & Sons civil engineering company
which had a younger executive team. This partnership
started in 1967 under the name of
Galliford
Brindley Ltd. with Gallifords being the
dominant partner and with Douglas as its
Chairman until his retirement in 1971.
In that period Douglas must also have acted as
Chairman of the various subsidiaries and
almost certainly held non-executive
directorships on the Board of other
organisations - at least one of these is
known, the Midland
Permanent Building Society.
Later, Galliford Bridley merged with
another group to form
Galliford Try
and thus the clear Brindley involvement in the
world of civil engineering finally faded from the history of Midlands industry.
|
*********************
In Memory of
Major Douglas Brindley
and of
all his comrades
in the
5th Worcestershire
(Halesowen) Battalion
(1940-1944)
|
 |
*********************
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
is gratefully made
to Douglas Brindley's grandaughter for most of
the above information and generously
permitting its publication in this website;
to Sally Weeks for one of the tank group photographs;
to the National Library of Scotland for the
map image; to the helpful members of the
Halesowen Remembered
Facebook group for the generous provision
of information - especially
about locations and local HG members - and for
the close-up march past image; and similarly
to members of the
Remember Britain's Home Guard Facebook
Group for helpful information.
Brindley Family Images © Fleur
Edwards 2025
And if you
can add anything to the history of the
Worcestershire Home
Guard, and especially the Halesowen unit, please contact staffshomeguard via the
Feedback link.
|
194 - June 2025
©staffshomeguard 2025
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