PADDY GREENWOOD

THE NORWICH YARMOUTH RAILWAY LINE

The railway line through Cantley was a busy one and as stationmaster, Paddy’s father was responsible for the running of freight trains taking sugar beet to the Cantley factory, and also for the passenger trains which ran between Norwich and Yarmouth, and Norwich and Lowestoft. 

SUGAR RATIONING

At the start of the Second World War the United Kingdom was importing about 70% of its sugar.  Ships bringing food across the Atlantic were heavily bombarded by the Germans and very soon sugar was in short supply.  By January 1940 rationing was introduced and sugar from UK beet factories was in demand.  Plants such as the one at Cantley became targets for German bombing.

RECREATION TIME

German air raids were mostly in the winter when the planes could fly under the cover of darkness.  It was much  safer in the summer and so  it was possible for Paddy  to catch a bus into Peterborough to enjoy a dip in the Lido.  Opened in 1936, the Corporation Swimming Pool was a striking Art Deco building. Surrounded by gardens and adjacent to the embankment of the River Nene, the Lido was unlike any other open air facility of the time and was of a Mediterranean design. 

Whilst living at Whittlesey Paddy attended March Grammar School but was only there for a year before Paddy’s father was promoted again, this time to Scunthorpe station . Paddy's father was one of three Assistant Yardmasters and the family lived near the steelworks yard.  Paddy changed schools again, this time attending Scunthorpe Grammar School.  

JOINING UP

On the day Britain declared war on Germany, 3rd September 1939, Parliament passed The National Service (Armed Forces) Act.  This imposed conscription on all males aged between 18 and 41 who were obliged to register for service. Those medically unfit were exempted, as were others in key industries and jobs such as baking, farming, medicine, and engineering.  

 Whilst he was at school Paddy was fully aware that he would have to join up and at March Grammar School he was asked to state a preference for which branch of the armed services he would like to enlist in.  He selected the Royal Navy and his brother Richard chose the Royal Air Force. To the relief of their father neither of his sons opted for the army.  Robert Greenwood had fought in the Norfolk Regiment during World War 1 and having experienced  trench warfare, first at Salonika and then in France, he did not want his sons to experience the same horrors.

PADDY'S SCHOLARSHIP

By 1944 Paddy and his family had returned to Norfolk and were living at Foxley.  Paddy had secured a scholarship to Norwich School where he prepared for the Special Entry Examination for the Royal Navy.  He won one of only 24 Executive Cadetships from a field of over 1000 applicants

LISTEN to Paddy talk about the navy here 

PADDY 'S NAVAL TRAINING

The naval college at Dartmouth, where Paddy was due to train, had been evacuated because of bomb damage and moved to Eaton Hall near Chester, one of the ancestral homes belonging to the Duke of Westminster.   Paddy began his training here as a Special Entry Cadet and eventually completed it with a seamanship course  in the Firth of Forth.

                                                                    HMS Nelson 

HMS Nelson was the name ship of her class of two battleships built for the Royal Navy in the 1920s. Entering service in 1927, the ship spent her peacetime career with the Atlantic and Home Fleets, usually as the fleet flagship. During the early stages of World War II, she searched for German commerce raiders, missed participating in the Norwegian Campaign after she was badly damaged by a mine in late 1939, and escorted convoys in the Atlantic Ocean.

In mid-1941 Nelson escorted several convoys to Malta before being torpedoed in September. After repairs she resumed doing so before supporting the British invasion of French Algeria during Operation Torch in late 1942. The ship covered the invasions of Sicily and Italy in mid-1943. During the Normandy landings in June 1944, Nelson provided naval gunfire support before she struck a mine and spent the rest of the year under repair. The ship was transferred to the Eastern Fleet in mid-1945 and returned home a few months after the Japanese surrender in September to serve as the flagship of the Home Fleet. She became a training ship in early 1946 and was reduced to reserve in late 1947. Nelson was scrapped two years later after being used as a target for bomb tests.

1. EXTRACT FROM NAVAL-HISTORY .NET

August

27th August 1945 - At 0900 hours the NELSON, CEYLON, ATTACKER, HUNTER, TARTAR, PETARD, VOLAGE, PRINCESS BEATRIX and QUEEN EMMA departed Great Nicobar Island for Penang.

(27/8/45 the Local Surrender Agreement was made by the Supreme Commander, Japanese Expeditionary Forces, Southern Regions, with the Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia at Rangoon)

28th - At 1200 hours the NELSON, CEYLON, ATTACKER, HUNTER, TARTAR, PETARD, VOLAGE, PRINCESS BEATRIX and QUEEN EMMA arrived off George Town, Penang Island.

At 1600 hours the first emissaries of the Japanese forces came on board the NELSON and were made to board the flagship by rope ladder. On board Admiral Walker accepted the surrender of the local Japanese commanders who also signed an undertaking that no attack would be made on the Fleet.

Further meetings were held on board the NELSON on 29th, 30th, and 31st August.  The Japanese proved cooperative and provided the necessary information relative to their minefields, including those at Singapore and other areas.

September

1st - At 0730 hours the CinC Eastern Fleet Admiral Sir Arthur Power arrived on board NELSON from CLEOPATRA. On board, Admiral Power had meetings with Japanese envoys

2nd - NELSON was at George Town for the official surrender of Japanese forces. The Japanese commander Rear Admiral Uozomi was met by Captain Caslon and Vice Admiral Walker's Chief of staff, Captain Abbott, and lead below to the Vice Admiral Walker's cabin were the articles of surrender where signed.

8th - At 0500 hours, NELSON, light cruisers CEYLON and NIGERIA, escorted by destroyers NUBIAN, PALADIN and RELENTLESS sailed from George Town for Singapore, calling at Port Swettenham en route.

10th - At 0830 hours, NELSON arrived off Singapore.

12th - NELSON was at Singapore when the Japanese Forces in South East Asia officially surrendered.

(At 1141 hours the formal surrender document surrendering all Japanese forces in the region was signed by General Seishiro Itagaki and Admiral Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander South East Command at a surrender ceremony held at the Municipal Building of Singapore)

30th - NELSON sailed from Singapore for Trincomalee.

P o s t W a r   N o t e s

HMS NELSON returned to Trincomalee and sailed from Colombo on 11th October 1945 to return to UK . After calls at Kilindini, Malta and Gibraltar she arrived at Portsmouth on 17th November. 

AFTER THE WAR

Paddy  had a very distinguished Naval career .  He  lived in Kettlestone for the final years of his retirement and here he  made many friends, participating in social events  and enjoying a chat when he was out for a stroll.