THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — www.findonvillage.com  created by Valerie Martin, contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, U.K.

THE CANADIANS IN FINDON

Copyright Valerie Martin 2000

During the Second World War, Findon became the training ground for many troops, principally the Canadians.  The year 1941 brought with it the invasion of Russia by Germany.  By the autumn, and the defence of the Sussex coast was largely in the hands of the 1st Canadian Army.

Between 4,000 and 5,000 soldiers from the North Nova Scotia Highlanders, Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders were stationed in the Findon area.  

The 2nd Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders were at Cissbury Park in tented accommodation and also in the ground floor of the house at Cissbury.   Others were at Park House.   They were here for the shore defence on the coast. 

At the mansion of Muntham Court, the house and gardens were mainly left untouched but the 2nd Gordon Highlanders took over the grounds. Here they camped in the surrounding woodland and built Nissen-huts and cookhouses.  The soldiers wore kilts and lined up in the front of Muntham Court every morning and played their bagpies (so Colonel Ulric Oliver Thynne's step grand daughter tells me).

Night exercises were often held on the South Downs Training Area. The Highlanders were constantly engaged in route marches, range practice, wireless training and mine clearing exercises.  I am told that their presence did much harm to the surrounding countryside.  Although I am told by Penny Charteris, now living in South Africa, the granddaughter of Colonel Ulric Oliver Thynne, that the children at the "big house" of Muntham were delighted when the soldiers lined up at the front of the mansion and played their bagpipes.

The Findon downland was transformed into a military training ground by the Canadians and heavy vehicles caused devastation. Most of the outlying cottages, including all the buildings at Cobden Farm were destroyed beyond repair.   Gunfire and the screech and clatter of tank tracks became familiar sounds in Findon.  Hilltops and farms, once isolated and havens of peace and tranquillity, were pounded day and night by all manner of artillery and small arms as training gained intensity for the men.

Three of the chalets originally erected by Emma Shroeter at Pony Farm were also taken over by the Canadians when they were manning gun emplacements nearby.

I am afraid Peter's theory has been dashed — although it was an excellent one.  When I looked at a map dated 1875, there it was as plain as anything — "Canada Barn".

We will have to try again for a solution.    A number of Findonians did go to live in Canada in the nineteenth century because of lack of work in the village — I can not help wondering if the answer lies somewhere there, but I can not quite see the connection.

Another interesting suggestion has been that Canada Barn could have been a sort of staging point for the immigrants leaving Findon for a new life in the 1830s?   Well, it's an interesting thought ― but rather a long way from the village, but who knows. 

You may not be as wrong as you think, Peter.   There used to be geese (not Canada geese though) kept on Nepcote Green earlier in the twentieth century when the Wattle House was occupied.

The relationship between a great many of the Canadian troops during the Second World War and the lassies of Findon is now something that is perhaps some of the Findon men would like to forget.  Most of the married men whose marriages were affected while they were abroad fighting Hitler's troops, have now past on.

It is difficult to imagine wartime Findon.  The late Tony Hammond was a schoolboy at the time and he recalled before he died that there were hardly any men left in the community between the age of eighteen and forty and news from those abroad was scarce.  There were hardly any luxuries, few sweets and no entertainment for the lonely girls left behind.  Suddenly young men in uniform with fascinating accents descended on the village and filled the Gun Inn.  Soon there were dances being arranged, free film shows in the Village Hall and sweets for all the children.  Life was looking up. 

The more adventurous ladies visited Windlesham House, north of Findon on the A24, (Windlesham House School having been evacuated to Glastonbury), on a Saturday night where they indulged in good music, lots of free drink and the company of an unlimited supply of desirable young men.  Needless to say, the remaining menfolk in Findon did not take too kindly to the presence of the brash and exuberant Canadians, there was much jealousy between them.

In addition to Windlesham being the home of the RCSI, it was also the headquarters of the Department of Petroleum Warfare. During their stay at Windlesham, the Canadian engineers built a small number of pillboxes on the South Downs.  Two of the ones sited on Highden Hill were of a most interesting construction.  Another example of a Canadian built pillbox can be seen on Lee Farm. Tony Hammond wondered if the pupils at Windlesham School have discovered the wall art (graffiti) in their loft, apparently there are poems and names left by the Canadians.   Yes, they were found by the groundsman during the winter of 2005/6.

The following I think is a touching story from wartime Findon.  This is of an interesting find many years later was at a property in Nepcote named Little Nepcote (previously known as The Hollies before the war).  When Mr. and Mrs McKenzie-Johnson purchased the house they discovered a love letter dated 1942.  It had been written by a Canadian soldier stationed in Findon during the war.  The McKenzie-Johnson's house during the hostilities had been occupied by the Canadian forces.

Sweet Caporal was a name that brought a grin to any schoolboy's face in wartime Findon. Not because it was a top brand of cigarettes that the Canadians handed out by the barrow load but on the back of each packet were conveniently printed highly prized aircraft silhouettes.  Most of the Allied and Axis military aircraft were featured and these images were eagerly sought by Findon children.  They were carefully cut out and saved to form a collection of "fag cards", or used as swaps.

The simple joy that that those aircraft illustrations brought to war torn Findon could not compare with the sheer excitement of watching our Canadian cousins displaying their wood chopping skills.  On one occasion they put on a magnificent display during a wartime "sports day" meeting at the Worthing Football Club in Woodside Road.  Nothing had been witnessed like it before and, of course, the Findon children went to watch the lumberjacks as gigantic trees were swiftly climbed and their tops duly lopped.  Massive pieces of trunk were quickly sawn in half and large axes wielded with great strength transformed large pieces of timber into mere matchwood in the twinkling of an eye.  For the Findon schoolboys who had watched nothing more hectic than a session of Sussex trug making in the past, this was the stuff that heroes were made of.

This wartime photograph of bren gun carriers is of the Canadian army on the move through an English village at some time between 1939 and 1945.  The scene was originally forwarded to me by Glen McClean in Ottawa wondering if it could be Findon.  In May 2002 he wrote to me again and suggested the road might be in Alfriston.

Martin Mace of the Historic Military Press in Storrington was definite that the location of this shot is Alfriston in East Sussex — but none of my scouts seemed to know for sure.    

For once and for all, at last, all is now revealed in the following e-mail......

I will leave the last word to Aimé Martin....

Continue if you would like to read Findon Cricket and the Canadians.

THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — was launched by Valerie Martin in January 1999 and will grow to be a historical record of life in Findon, West Sussex, U.K.