WWII Battle School & 1940's Fete Re-Creation

This Re-Creation of WWII Life represents everyday life at Kentwell during WWII at a time before the Hall was requisitioned. Mr & Mrs Starkie Bence (the then owners of Kentwell) are represented living at the Hall and suffering shortages (like everyone else). The Hall at this time (1942) had not yet been requisitioned.

The main thrust of the Re-Creation are the attempts made by Mrs Bence to assist the War Effort. This takes two principal forms. First, allowing the Hall's grounds to be used for Home Guard manouevres. Secondly, raising funds. The Government encouraged all sorts of activity of this kind, which included exhorting Councils and private individuals to dig up gates and railings and citizens to surrender pots & pans in order to make armaments. In fact little of the metal collected was of any use for military purposes. It was more to engender a sense of national unity and to make everyone feel they were contributing to the war effort.

Mrs Bence's efforts this year are in support of Warships Week. In fact all monies raised from this year's Fete will be donated to a Royal Naval charity.

What the Visitor May See

ORDER OF THE DAY
(Enemy action and other unknown forces permitting)
1130hrs Home Guard PT Instruction
1150hrs Norfolks Bayonet Drill
1200hrs Home Guard Drill on the Courtyard
1245hrs BATTLE SCHOOL at the Barns
1315hrs Mrs Bence's Luncheon

1345hrs FETE Opens by Mrs Bence
1545hrs Fete Closes;
Prize Giving by Mrs Bence
1600hrs NFS Display
on Front Lawn opposite Fete
1615hrs Norfolks Rifle Practice
1645hrs Home Guard Drill on the Courtyard
1700hrs Event Closes

The Home Guard
The Home Guard will be in evidence, practising drills and engaging in a Battle School. The Home Guard struggled for weapons and often had to make do with broomsticks and toys. However, the Kentwell section is now equipped with a light armoured car which, thanks to Mr Bence's generosity and the ingenuity of the local smith, has been adapted from a Bulnose Morris. Some Home Guard sections resorted to making their own weaponry like this. A Battle School is a mock battle scenario designed to train men for the real thing. The Home Guard comprised men too young, too old or too unfit to enlist. Therefore, the mock battle was not particularly taxing. One diarist of the time recorded finding that a member had left a Note pinned to a tree: "I was mortally wounded so have gone home for tea." The Home Guard also assist at the Fete and do some light training.

The Norfolks The Home Guard sometimes were assisted (albeit rarely) by a small number of regular soldiers to help in their training. Such a body is today represented by a detachment of re-enactors of the Norfolk Regiment. They will try to show the Home Guard how it really should be done.

The Fete and Fundraising
More perhaps for morale than for effective raising of money fundraising was encouraged throughout the War with specific aims to finance Spitfires (the Spitfire Fund), Warships (Warships Week) or the Army (Salute the Soldier) or similar. Visitors may have a go for 1d or so at different stalls.

Others
There should be Civilians, perhaps some Evacuees from London (Kentwell in fact housed evacuees during the early part of the War), the School Mistress from TV's Evacuation, Farm Workers, WVS and the AFS with their fire pumps on practice and likewise an ARP warden insisting on practice using the air raid shelter.

The Kitchen becomes a 1940 kitchen producing much from very little making use of produce from the Garden. People in the country suffered less than those in towns as they had so much more available to them: home grown produce, their own chickens (or pigs), their own fruit a'plenty (including wild fruits such as blackberries). Some items were almost unobtainable and highly-prized, such as meat, bananas and oranges. Hence these items form the Fete prizes.

Other Weekend Re-Creations of WWII Everyday Life:
Home Front in August
Country House Requisitioned in October

More About WWII Re-Creations