THE WAR and YEARS UP TO 1954 (written by Les Pearce)

Come the summer of 1941 the blitz was not over. Everywhere you looked was damaged. Bomb raids were still happening and Charlton, while not a target, was in the firing line. Too close for comfort to the Artillery HQ and Barracks, the Dockyards and the Arsenal.

We had come to regard Charlton Park as our home. Situated behind Charlton House and Gardens it offered a seclusion on three sides. It is estimated that six bombs fell on the pitch (but none in the park). Charlton House itself, which had been utilised as a hospital in WW1 was badly damaged although the basement was still used by the air wardens as their HQ and the summer house as an air raid shelter. For those of us not conscripted it was an equally perilous existence at home. A parachute mine had landed on my old school in Invicta Road, which at the time was being used as an Auxiliary Fire Service Station and killed about 20.  Among them was John Dixon’s older brother, Harry and Rosie Johnson, only twenty-one years old, the wife of one the Johnsons, Bert. They had only been married a month. Fortunately, all of us residents of Invicta Road had been evacuated by then. I had been commandeered in a reserved occupation by the MOD to work at Redpath Brown, structural steel engineers. I can tell you now that we were responsible for building landing craft, although it was supposedly secret at the time. Anything armoured was probably built by us.

Our works were Thames side next to Norton’s Barges and a group of us from Redpaths together with a couple or so from Nortons would take on a group from Delta Metal in lunchtime football matches in their yards. Over the war years these matches got bigger and bigger – there was a lot of companies along this stretch of the Thames that were in exempt occupations and a lot of young men with energy to burn. Talk began of playing structured matches, football and cricket but the reality was that there was no facilities. All the parks and sports grounds or any stretch of land such as Blackheath Common had been barricaded against air attack by a spread of cable drums, courtesy of Johnson & Phillips mostly, concrete blocks and mutilated by trenches.

It sometimes felt that normal life would never return. If it did it would not be same for me. I found myself something of a focal point for news or get togethers for returning servicemen but some would never return and their loss was deeply felt. George Wall had been my friend from five years old and surely would have become one of our best ever cricketers. He was gifted at all sports and a great competitor. Forty years on from his death his cheery presence is still missed. Young Roy Hand so enthusiastic about playing and just as committed to helping out. Will Wallace married to a Walden, Phyllis was already an accomplished cricketer. He and Phyllis had an eighteen-month-old daughter, Sharon when he was killed. Neither Roy’s widow, Win, or Phyllis remarried. Spud Hayter was reported “missing in action” and never returned. Twice we were told Ron Stevens was missing in action. After the first occasion he was discovered as a prisoner of war and Harold Tozer would visit Ron’s mother and write him a letter sending him his chocolate and tobacco ration. Dear old Harold, we all told him it was a waste. In 1943 Ron went missing in action for a second time and we all thought the worst when we heard nothing for more for a year. Harold’s surprise is unimaginable when in 1944 Ron knocked on his door in McArthur Terrace asking Harold if he knew what had happened to his family. Ron didn’t know they had been evacuated, fortunately Harold had maintained contact with them.

I had kept in touch throughout the war with Harold, an RAF dog handler who was stationed in London, sometimes at RAF HQ at Lord’s cricket ground, Bill Ash, Len Ritchie, Reg Webb, Les Walden and Ted Smith in particular. Ron was enthusiastic on his return to resurrect the Club but it wasn’t going to happen for a while. Redpaths had played Delta Metal in some makeshift games in the summer months but these were often impromptu although we took scoring and umpiring seriously. However, things were to get better. Sieman’s Social Club, next door to the The White Swan in Charlton Village High Street had been bombed in 1940. Rather than restore it Siemans built a new clubhouse at their sports ground neighbouring Charlton Park and began restoring the sports fields for the benefit of their employees. Exempt occupations had seen Siemans double their employees from 5,000 to nearly 10,000 and with air threat long over it was felt organised sport could return. I’m not sure whether it was in 1944 or 1945 I first put together a Redpath’s team for a fixture against Siemans. We played them quite frequently but we couldn’t keep playing them so in 1945 I started to find other fixtures. There weren’t many other clubs, so I started to put together opposition teams as well. We had a young apprentice, Johnny Long, at Redpaths only 14 years old but a member of a local ATC. Not only were his friends keen to play they were useful cricketers, Pete Cocklin, possibly the best we’ve had, among them. Others were Frank Cambridge, Bill Miller, Cliff Chard, Frank Hassett and Len Mason. Fortunately, Doug Gibbs was out of uniform and catching on leave some of the other pre-war players like Len Ritchie and Ron Stevens I cobbled together a useful side and for want of a name for this assembled bunch we played as Grenfell. I would also play for this side against Redpaths and in the absence of any formal structure since I captained in 1940 I skippered this lot.

Although first class cricket had resumed in 1945 club cricket was still in disarray. Hopes to reform the club for 1946 foundered because the old members were all still conscripted for 1946 and Pete, Frank Cambridge, Cliff, Bill Miller and Frank Hassett were all called to National Service.

We were well organised for 1947 even if we didn’t know what players we would have. I took on the Secretary/Treasurer role and Ron Stevens was elected captain. We had a hard core of players, me, Ron, Harold and Bill Ash. There was good support from pre-war members Len Ritchie, Reg Webb, Ted Smith and Les Walden (although poor Les had the kind of season that bedevils the best of players from time to time). It would be fair to say that all of us had played very little or no cricket for seven years and Les was not alone in struggling to find form. Doug Gibbs, one of our best players, wasn’t able to play very frequently but did introduce a workmate, Arthur White who, in his mid-thirties was an experienced and useful acquisition. Other than that, we scraped an eleven together by calling on a number of non-cricketers from our friends or families to help. My football team-mate, Micky Shopland, was a lively fielder but a much better footballer than he was a cricketer despite eventually playing over 100 games for us. My brother-in-law,Ted Peake did alright as did Bill Ash’s brother in law, Denis Staples but Ron Stevens’ brother in law, Sid Fisher, was generally regarded as the worst player we have ever had. However, credit to them all for turning out when we needed them. Of the ATC crowd, twenty-year-old Frank Cambridge showed immense talent in finishing second in the batting averages with a maiden fifty. Sadly though, his appearances were restricted by his National Service.  We saw nothing of Peter Cocklin who was stationed overseas and little more from Cliff Chard, Frank Hassett and Bill Miller who were also still in National Service. Bill Ash introduced us to a work colleague, Alan Godbehere who looked and subsequently proved a good proposition. At this time the youngster, Johnny Long was often in the team and we had high hopes that he would become a good cricketer. Time has taught us we probably didn’t give him enough opportunities. The following year, at just eighteen, he was opening the bowling with Harold Tozer and topped the averages with 41 wickets. He missed 1949 with National Service but returned much stronger and faster and formed a formidably genuinely quick opening partnership with Peter Cocklin. The two taking 92 and 97 wickets respectively. He was also developing as a batsman.

Ron Stevens did an admirable job as captain in managing often ramshackle elevens (sometimes not even eleven) and drew out many good performances none more so than his own, culminating with the club’s first century and setting a club record with a remarkable 443 runs for the season.  He and Harold Tozer formed a reliable opening batting partnership; Harold also enjoyed an excellent season and was his chief ally with 355 runs and 82 wickets.

The first five seasons after the War were a glorious testament to Harold who took an astonishing 369 wickets in that time. He thought he was not as quick as before the war, maybe he wasn’t but he was too quick for many batsmen. A brute of a bowler and a real workhorse alas the demands took their toll physically. His knee cartilages wore out and the early onset of arthritis afflicted his performances from 1952. He rarely bowled after 1954.

Until 1951 it had been a matter of putting an eleven together with no thought beyond the next game. Ron Stevens was our best bat, Harold Tozer our best bowler and with Pete Cocklin it was like two players. If they were playing we always stood a chance. In 1951 Harold introduced a quartet of young players, Derek Dennis, Len Johnson, Keith Newton and Pat Harris all of whom worked with him at the Post Office. Bill Ash introduced a J & P colleague, John Strelley all of which heralded a promising future.  The Post Office connection was soon to also bring us Stan Chisnell, Gus McAllister and Jack Foster.