Holy Trinity Pupils Hear All About the War Years

Published on: 15 May, 2012
Updated on: 15 May, 2012

Pupils at Guildford’s Holy Trinity School dressed as wartime evacuees and enjoyed a field trip to find out about Guildford during the Second World War.

The Year 3 pupils have been studying the wartime period and how people in Guildford were effected. One of their study aids has been the book Guildford The War Years by Graham Collyer and David Rose.

Pupils from Holy Trinity School on a field trip heard about life on the home front in Guildford during the Second World War from Alderman Bernard Parke.

The book (published by Breedon Books in 1999) contains a number of eyewitness accounts of events between 1939 and 1945, such as air raids, rationing, evacuees from London, the Home Guard and peace celebrations. One of those who contributed his memories was Alderman Bernard Parke, who was a small child when war broke out.

He was invited by Holy Trinity School to meet up with the pupils and their teachers as part of their field trip. One of the places they went to was Stoke Park, where, on April 17, 1943, two RAF Mustang aircraft crashed after they had collided in mid air during a training exercise. Both pilots were killed in the accident.

They listed intently as Mr Parke told them his recollections of the incident and some of the wartime hardships endued by local children all those years ago.