And so it comes to an end…sort of

This is my final blog post, the National Cataloguing Grant has come to an end and so must the Second World War Cataloguing project.  Or at least my part in it.  Thanks to the enthusiasm of our volunteers, they will continue to keep numbering and indexing away at the personnel cards, so the amount of information available at the click of a mouse will keep increasing.

And with that, I can announce the release of the next batch of index cards.  The Warden Service at C TYR/1 are now searchable up to surnames starting with C.  The Control and Report Centre at C TYR/2 searchable up to surnames starting with K.  The Cyclist Messenger Corps at C TYR/3 searchable up to surnames starting with L.  The Rescue Service at C TYR/9 searchable up to surnames starting with S. 

We have also released some registers, which are not indexed, for the Warden Service, the Control and Report Centre and the Cyclist Messenger Corps. 

There will be more to come so please keep checking the History Centre website for further updates on the collection.

I doff my cap to all the staff and volunteers who have been a part of the project and to those who have given it the publicity the subject deserves.

Victoria.

Keeping vigilant

As with a lot of professions, accuracy is extremely important in the archives world.  However, as we are dealing with material produced by other people, we can not control their accuracy, or indeed correct any errors.  We can, however, draw attention to known errors through finding aids.

The Civil Defence cards have been a great example of this.  With the project, we have endeavoured to record the information as it appears on the card as there are cases of spelling where it is not clear what the correct form should take.  There are times when it is quite obvious that the original writer has entered the information as it sounds like it should be spelt. 

On occasion, this can have an amusing outcome such as the one I came across where the warden’s occupation struck me as perhaps not being correct.

I checked the address in the 1939 edition of the Kelly’s directory and found that the real purpose of the association was quite different.

In the spotlight

We had a very positive response to the Lunchtime Lecture last Tuesday (13 Nov).  It was counted that about 90 people attended.  The talk was given to coincide with Remembrance Day and for us to announce the release of the first wave of records.

These are:

C TSCD – City Engineers Civil Defence Records

C TSWD – City Engineers War Damage Records

C TYG – Recommendations for acknowledgements and Gallantry awards

C TCVC – Victory Celebrations (Special) Committee

Also, we released 3500 names from the Civil Defence personnel cards. 

The series released in their entirety are:

C TYR/5 Ambulance Driver personnel cards

C TYR/6 First Aid Service personnel cards

C TYR/7 First Aid Attendant personnel cards

C TYR/8 Decontamination of Personnel personnel cards

C TYR/10 Highways personnel cards

C TYR/11 Transport Driver personnel cards

C TYR/12 Messenger personnel cards

C TYR/13 Clerk personnel cards

C TYR/14 Office personnel cards

C TYR/15 Storekeeper personnel cards

C TYR/16 Sewers personnel cards

C TYR/17 Dresser personnel cards

Other series are still being indexed but have been partially released, these are:

C TYR/1 for surnames beginning with ‘A’

C TYR/2 for surnames beginning with ‘A’ to ‘F’

C TYR/3 for surnames beginning with ‘A’ to ‘F’

C TYR/9 for surnames beginning with ‘A’ to ‘G’

I’d like to take this opportunity to once again than the volunteers for their time and effort put into this. 

You can find out more about the records here:

http://www.hullhistorycentre.org.uk/discover/hull_history_centre/our_collections/second_world_war_records.aspx

We have updated the Second World War source guide to include these records and a PDF can be downloaded here:

http://www.hullhistorycentre.org.uk/discover/pdf/SecondWorldWar_v3.pdf

We received a lot of media coverage for the release of these records with appearances on Calendar and Look North.  BBC Humberside Online put together an article based on the Look North and both the Hull Daily Mail and The Yorkshire Post produced articles.  See the links below.

http://www.itv.com/news/calendar/2012-11-13/photos-show-wartime-devastation-of-hull/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-20341765

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/at-a-glance/main-section/city-that-could-not-speak-its-name-1-5129818

http://www.thisishullandeastriding.co.uk/Unearthed-Amazing-tale-Hull-brickie-Second-World/story-17317986-detail/story.html

Lunchtime Lecture Club

To coincide with Remembrance Day, myself and Carol Tanner will be giving November’s Lunchtime Club Lecture.  We will be talking about the project, the work of the volunteers and the records I have been cataloguing.

It will take place from 12:30pm – 1:30pm Tuesday 13 November in the lecture theatre at the History Centre, come along, admission is free.

More information about the Lunchtime Club can be found on the History Centre website:
http://www.hullhistorycentre.org.uk/discover/hull_history_centre/whats_on/lunchtime_club.aspx

Food, Glorious Food

Not only did the men of Hull give their time to their own city, they also gave it to London.  In 1944 the wardens in London had been under such duress and all annual leave had been cancelled.  A call was made for assistance from other cities and Hull, having great experience, stepped forward.  Some went for just a few weeks, other went until their services were no longer needed.

In the records of the Warden Service, I have found copies of letters written by some of the men who went to London sent to members of the Warden Service back in Hull, letting them know how things were.  One of the biggest causes of excitement seems to be the food allowances!

J Longford, 19 August

“We arrived at our Depot about 5-10pm and after a clean up we were directed to the recreation hall where a long table was set out with plenty of plates full of tomatoes, cold potatoes, Russian Salad, and a liberal supply of ham, with a pudding to follow.  The Chief Warden was there, but like a sensible fellow he said tuck in and I will formally welcome you after the meal.”

On 20 August, he goes on to write,

“We were told that we obtain our tea at the Post, and supper at approx 8-30pm. at the Depot.  Mark those words well my noble William, those four words TEA AT THE POST.  I was mystified about this, but boy did I get a shock.  My co-full timer said ‘What would you like for tea?’ Well, being a polite sort of cove I gave a conventional reply, of I’ll have what you say.  Well, he got the tea ready.  A tin of salmon between the two of us, (it could have been tinned meat, sardines, herrings, corned beef) plenty of bread and margarine, jam and a slab of fruit cake which would not have gone in my haversack.  Of course I had been told during the morning that all posts were supplied with rations, but boy what rations.”

F. E. Baskerville, 20 August

“I have a permit for 1½ lbs. of tea, 3 lbs. of sugar and 20 pints of milk per week.  The Police Inspector, who is also the Chief Warden, gets this for me and I settle with him every Saturday.  We have an electric boiler in our billet and so we can make a cup of tea any time we like.  We have been issued with three teapots.”