Portsmouth women wonder when their men will return from war | Nostalgia

By Bob Hind
Published 5th Jul 2020, 19:05 BST
Updated 6th Jul 2020, 11:28 BST
Some of the local women on Tipner Green, Stamshaw, on VE Day, 1945. Picture: John Regnard collectionSome of the local women on Tipner Green, Stamshaw, on VE Day, 1945. Picture: John Regnard collection
Some of the local women on Tipner Green, Stamshaw, on VE Day, 1945. Picture: John Regnard collection
This photograph, sent in by John Regnard, of Lee-on-the-Solent, should have been published on the anniversary of VE Day in May, but it didn’t make it. Apologies to those who might have been told it was going in.

It shows wives, mothers and perhaps sisters of servicemen who lived at Tipner Green, which is at the end of Tipner Lane, Stamshaw.

They look so happy because it is VE Day, 1945, the war is finally over and they are no doubt expecting their menfolk home in the following weeks and months.

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I don’t have all the names but in the back row, left to right, are: Mrs Young and Margaret, anon, Mrs Regnard, anon, Mrs Brown, anon, anon, anon, Mrs Silk standing.

This little girl is Mary Forrester, from Portsmouth, rehearsing for the London Music Festival. Picture: Getty ImagesThis little girl is Mary Forrester, from Portsmouth, rehearsing for the London Music Festival. Picture: Getty Images
This little girl is Mary Forrester, from Portsmouth, rehearsing for the London Music Festival. Picture: Getty Images

And in the front row, again left to right, are: Mrs Green, Mrs McNeil, Mrs Weaver and Mrs Hearn with her baby.

• This little girl in the photograph with her teddy is Mary Forrester from Portsmouth and the picture was taken on March 28, 1956.

The caption along with the photograph states that 11-year-old Mary was rehearsing her ‘Don’t Worry’ act with her bear before competing in London Musical Festival’s Stage Dancing Contest at Conway Hall, London W1.

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The hall is named after Moncure Daniel Conway (1832-1907), who was an anti-slavery advocate and outspoken supporter of free thought.

Students on their rag day in December 1929. Picture: Getty ImagesStudents on their rag day in December 1929. Picture: Getty Images
Students on their rag day in December 1929. Picture: Getty Images

I wonder, did Mary proceed with her career on the stage? Might she still live locally does anyone know? Please let me know if you know anything about her

• At first glance you might think that the terror of the United States of America in the middle of the last century, the Klu Klux Klan, had arrived in Portsmouth.

Not so.

What our final picture today shows is in fact students from Portsmouth Polytechnic dressed as members of the Spanish Inquisition.

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They were having their rag day and, so the caption states, they were about to raid the Guildhall (of course they were).

Do rag days or weeks still happen, does anyone know?

It was obviously a very wet day in December 1929 and I would think this little lot would have made quite a frightening sight back then, let alone today.

In the distance you can see the high level platforms at the town station (Portsmouth and Southsea) on the bridge over Commercial Road.

To the right a tramcar passes through Guildhall Square.

The bridge is about all that’s left to readily identify the location. Everything else has changed, either as a result of the blitz or when Guildhall Square was pedestrianised in the early 1970s and surrounded by council offices.

Related topics:PortsmouthNostalgia

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