Wartime Hockerton - Richard Craven-Smith-Milnes

• A German bomber  dropped 5 incendiary on bombs on Hockerton in 1941 (?). one landed in the School field . None did any damage.
• About this time one of the men in the village patrolled with a pistol every night in case an enemy parachutist landed
• Most of the men in the village were in the Home Guard. One day the Hockerton section were told to defend the village against an army unit who would launch a surprise attack on the village. By 4 p.m. nothing had happened and most of the men were anxious about milking their cows. My father suggested they all went off to do this.  He had staff to do milk his cows so could remain. He, said he would explain if the army did  arrive..        When eventually they did arrive they were angry that there was no one there. My father explained about the cows needing to be  milked. Captain Carr (who was from Farnsfield was furious and threatened my father with a court marshal & said that as Private C-S-M he had no authority to dismiss the Home Guard men.  Eventually this was calmed down by Mr Anthony Jackson from Kirklington who had played county cricket with Carr (before the war (Carr captained an English team in the West Indies). I don’t think my father & Carr ever spoke again!There were  regular whist drives throughout the war  in the school which were very well attended.
• In 1944 I remember  watching as bombers congregated over the village before the 1000 bomber raids against Germany. I was told they used the Minster & Lincoln cathedral as marker points.
• At about this time  we saw parachutists jumping from planes.Most people thought they were Germans and all the men gathered with pitchforks and shot guns. Eventually someone with more nous pointed to that the planes were British!   
• Because of petrol rationing there was virtually no traffic.  We village boys rode things what looked like sledges with wheels down the Caunton road & the Church Lane across the main road. Eventually our mothers discovered & put a stop to it (Luckily!)  
• I remember a convoy of US lorries stopping in the village. All the soldiers were chewing gum, which we had only heard about.  We asked “Have you got any gum chum?” they gave us half chewed gum from their mouths. You can imagine our parents’ reaction when they found out.
• I don’t think the war affected us children very much.  We continued to behave as normal children
• There was a Land Army barracks in the village with about 50 Land Army Girls. The Matron (?) had a son of about 10. He knew words which we had never heard & I for one got into trouble with my mother when I repeated them
• I think during the war there was only one tractor in the village     
• Nearly every house in the village kept a pig. You were allowed to kill two a year.    No one had a fridge.  You salted the hams which would then keep for months. The person whose pig was killed gave sausages & pig’s fry  throughout the village. This was reciprocated when others in the village killed their pigs.   
• Rationing was very strict & you fed the chickens and pigs on food waste