Tin Hats, Dragons’ Teeth and Squander Bugs: David Warwick – Sept 2025
Dave Warwick described growing up in a rural Hampshire village (Wickham) in the 1930’s and 40’s when invasion was imminent and the outcome uncertain. He opened his presentation with amusing anecdotes about the ‘larger than life’ characters in the village and stories of no electricity, water pumps, carrying water for baths, lice inspections at primary school and the grinding of salt blocks into powder. His presentation was interspersed with lively readings by Judith Atkins from “Home Front Wickham”, his 2024 book, based on his mother’s diaries which she began in 1938. She was a billeting office for the 100’s of wartime evacuees and was also the first lady on the local Rural District Council, which was quite intimidating for her at first. Wickham had an active Home Guard and experienced its first air raid in 1940. David showed us some old photos of Wickham village, the large square and the shop over which his family lived. David explained that the title of the talk was his original idea for the title of the book, but the publishers persuaded him that Tin Hats etc would be meaningless to modern readers so the title of ‘Home Front Wickham” was chosen instead.
He revealed in the Q & A after the talk that he took 18 months to write the book based on the diaries discovered after his mother’s death and his memories of childhood. He was concerned that the history and characters of the village would be lost over time and hoped that his book would go some way to preserving the history of those eventful years. This was a most entertaining insight into village life in wartime rural England. Discounted copies of David’s books were on hand for audience members to buy after the talk.
Note:
Tin Hats – worn by Home Guard
Dragons’ Teeth – defensive concrete blocks to deter invading Germans
Squander Bugs – those who were wasteful of precious resources in wartime
Warwick, David. Home Front Wickham. Crumps Barn Studio £8.99 pbk. 148p, 2024
Lois Coulthart