Dad, what did you do during the war?
My father (right) with his work colleague George Whitley (Left) at Fischer Bearings (Wolverhampton) in 1942. During the early part of the war, my father wanted to join the Royal Navy, but was precluded because as a toolmaker in an industry deemed vital to the war effort, his job was considered to be skilled and therefore labelled a reserved occupation.
He recalled to me how a man from the Ministry (War Department?) came around the factory unannounced, seemingly selecting at random, people whom he considered reserved occupation and who he did not. When he walked into the engineering shop where my father worked, dad was at that moment at work on a grinding machine, so was instantly seen as a skilled worker and retained. Near him, another worker who had completed a job on a lathe and was cleaning down his machine, was on the other hand thought to be a cleaner and selected for conscription; that was the luck of the draw.
My father told me that he was disappointed and later tried to join the RN, but was refused. I can't think why he wanted to join the Navy, as he never showed any interest in the sea or travelling? In frustration he joined the Home Guard and that was the nearest he got to a career in the Military. Even so, he still did his bit for the war effort, working long and arduous 12-hour shifts making tools for a factory producing precision bearings for just about every mechanical thing the Army, Navy and Air Force used to defeat the Axis powers. The other ironic thing was that Fischer Bearings Ltd had been a German owned company prior to the outbreak of war!
Dad, what did you do during the war?
My father (right) with his work colleague George Whitley (Left) at Fischer Bearings (Wolverhampton) in 1942. During the early part of the war, my father wanted to join the Royal Navy, but was precluded because as a toolmaker in an industry deemed vital to the war effort, his job was considered to be skilled and therefore labelled a reserved occupation.
He recalled to me how a man from the Ministry (War Department?) came around the factory unannounced, seemingly selecting at random, people whom he considered reserved occupation and who he did not. When he walked into the engineering shop where my father worked, dad was at that moment at work on a grinding machine, so was instantly seen as a skilled worker and retained. Near him, another worker who had completed a job on a lathe and was cleaning down his machine, was on the other hand thought to be a cleaner and selected for conscription; that was the luck of the draw.
My father told me that he was disappointed and later tried to join the RN, but was refused. I can't think why he wanted to join the Navy, as he never showed any interest in the sea or travelling? In frustration he joined the Home Guard and that was the nearest he got to a career in the Military. Even so, he still did his bit for the war effort, working long and arduous 12-hour shifts making tools for a factory producing precision bearings for just about every mechanical thing the Army, Navy and Air Force used to defeat the Axis powers. The other ironic thing was that Fischer Bearings Ltd had been a German owned company prior to the outbreak of war!