{"id":2017,"date":"2020-08-25T13:40:54","date_gmt":"2020-08-25T13:40:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/recordsandarchives.westminster.ac.uk\/?page_id=2017"},"modified":"2020-08-25T13:40:54","modified_gmt":"2020-08-25T13:40:54","slug":"lifeatthepoly","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/recordsandarchives\/ww2\/lifeatthepoly\/","title":{"rendered":"Life at the Polytechnic"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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<\/span><\/h5>
In the September 1939 issue of The<\/em> Polytechnic Magazine<\/em>, it was remarked that \u2018the contrast between August 1914 and September 1939 is extraordinary.  In 1914, the national order was to carry on as usual, and we did\u2019.  In contrast, on 3rd September 1939, all teaching in the Polytechnic’s buildings ceased and, for the first ten days of the war, classes were cancelled.<\/span><\/h5>

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The Poly soon established a way of carrying on with activities and by 13th September, a course in Electricity began for members of the Signal Corps who were quartered at the Chiswick sports ground.\u00a0As the initial threat of air raids came to nothing, daytime classes began to resume.\u00a0 The Technical School restarted its classes in October 1939.\u00a0 However, new styles of teaching were required.\u00a0 The Old Gymnasium at 309 Regent Street was turned into a temporary air raid shelter and The Polytechnic Magazine<\/em> reported that \u00a0<\/p>

\u00a0\u2018it is no exaggeration to say that more time was spent in the shelters\u00a0 during that Autumn Term [of 1940] than in classrooms\u2026Both students and staff adapted themselves to these conditions without fuss or bother\u2026and before the term was many days old, an improvised form of class work was being held in most of the shelters.\u2019<\/em><\/p>

The Craft School and Secondary School were evacuated at the beginning of September 1939 – see Evacuation<\/span><\/a>\u00a0for more information.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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Clubs and societies tried to continue their activities as much as possible.\u00a0 The \u2018Phoney War\u2019 of 1939-1940 meant that normality almost returned to some of the clubs. The table tennis, rambling and cricket clubs were among those that continued to meet. \u00a0Nevertheless, all sport at Chiswick immediately ceased because the recreation ground was requisitioned, initially by Middlesex Country Council for use as an emergency mortuary and later by the armed forces.<\/p>

The war had a significant effect on the German Society. The Society continued to run in 1939 but membership was strictly limited to British citizens and only the study of the German language was permitted.\u00a0 However, a sufficient number of Polytechnic members opposed its continuation and it stopped meeting in March 1940.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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The War Comforts Section had been very successful at fundraising and supporting members on active service during World War One.\u00a0 It was up and running again by November 1939.\u00a0 The object of the Section was to send comforts to Poly members who were serving in the armed forces.\u00a0 Poly members were asked to send in details of other members known to be serving abroad so that they could be put on the distribution list.\u00a0 To raise funds it organised Saturday night dances, concerts and White Elephant sales (sales of second-hand items).\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>

\u00a0At the start of the War, it was the Section\u2019s policy to keep stocks for its ‘Poly Parcels’ very low in case of aerial bombardment and consequent loss.\u00a0 Nevertheless, as rationing came in, it became necessary to stockpile items when they were available.\u00a0 In October 1944, The Polytechnic Magazine<\/em> reported the following story<\/p>

\u2018[Poly members] staggered into the Poly with vast quantities of sweets.\u00a0 This, of course, was just before sweet rationing came into force [in July 1942].\u00a0 Several wide-awake Poly people found that manufacturers of sweets were anxious to sell considerable quantities of sweets; and so we bought very heavily; so heavily in fact that stocks have lasted until now [October 1944]\u2019.<\/em><\/p>

By 1946, the War Comfort Section had raised over \u00a36,500 (approximately \u00a3231,000 today).<\/p>

In September 1939, a Knitting Circle was also formed to make items for those fighting.\u00a0\u00a0In the first six months, it was estimated that 400 garments were made and in the following six months around 800 garments.\u00a0 The Circle obtained its yarn by donations and coupons but when this supply became harder to come by production decreased.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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By February 1940, 338 members were serving in the armed forces, 90 of which were in the Rangers (for more information on the Rangers visit the World War One<\/a><\/span> exhibition).\u00a0 Older members also joined the Home Guard.\u00a0 For example, the masters of the Craft and Secondary Schools joined the Home Guard in Somerset where they were evacuated.\u00a0 The boys also joined the local Cadet Corps.<\/p>

The Poly\u2019s first member to be killed on active service was Surgeon Lieutenant Herbert Cornelius when HMS Royal Oak was sunk by a German U Boat in the Orkney Islands on 14th<\/sup> October 1939.\u00a0 A further 207 members of the Poly are known to have died fighting in the war.<\/p>

Other members were held as prisoners of war in various countries.\u00a0 The Polytechnic Magazine<\/em> relates the story of Rifleman Jimmy Wood who was held prisoner for 4 years and only freed at the end of the war.<\/p>

‘Jimmy Wood was taken prisoner in Crete on June 1st 1941…<\/em>\u201cAfter spending three weeks in Salonica living on water and very little bread, we were transported by cattle trucks (50 men per truck) into Germany.\u00a0 The journey lasted seven days. We arrived at Stalag VIIA, Moosburg, Bavaria, a very sorry sight and in a poor state of health. \u00a0However, after a fortnight, Red Cross food parcels arrived from Switzerland, and believe me, if it wasn\u2019t for those parcels not many of us would have been alive today\u2026[after spending time in Poland] on January 11th<\/sup> [1944], the Germans moved 4,000 of us bound for a place called Gorlitz.\u00a0 The weather was terrible, snow and ice, and bitterly cold.\u00a0 Many chaps dropped out on the march with frost bite and were left all over the place…The Germans gave us very little to eat and we had to scrounge potatoes, swedes or anything we could get hold of.\u00a0 We arrived at Gorlitz after fourteen days\u2019 marching.\u201d\u2019\u00a0<\/em><\/p>

You can read more of Jimmy Wood’s experience here<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>

It is much harder for us to research those that were on active service during this war due to the lack of records.\u00a0An active service register has survived from World War One and is held in the University Archive.\u00a0 It is unknown if one was kept for World War Two.\u00a0 If it was,\u00a0<\/span>it either did not survive or was not transferred to the Archive.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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On 25th<\/sup>\u00a0August 1939, the Foreign Office told all tourists to return home to the UK because of the imminent threat of war.\u00a0 This left the Polytechnic Touring Association with an enormous task on its hands.\u00a0 The Polytechnic Magazine<\/em> reported that \u2018not less than 1,500 British subjects who were in Switzerland with the Poly Association tickets had to be informed of this sudden evacuation\u2019.\u00a0 Every single tourist was safely returned to the UK, even a tourist who had got lost in Zurich and had to be searched for! Each tourist was send off with a picnic basket of provisions in case they could not get anything on the journey.<\/p>

On 1st September 1939 the Polytechnic Chalets in Lucerne were then turned into a military camp for the duration of the war.\u00a0 The Magazine <\/em>reported that<\/p>

‘All through the night, heavy carts and cars were rolling up and down the road till thirty of them found place in the premises of the Chalets.\u00a0 Next day…straw was brought to the social room, the armchairs had been removed, and 300 soldiers were expected to spend the night there.’<\/em><\/p>

The Polytechnic Touring Association stopped it tours and only kept a small staff on in their Regent Street shop.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\"Drawing
Drawing of a soldier returning home, Jul 1943<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/a><\/div>
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Advert for evening classes, March 1942<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/a><\/div>
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Contents of a Poly War Comforts Parcel<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/a><\/div>
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War Comforts appeal from Jun 1940<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/a><\/div>
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Polytechnic Chalets at Lake Lucerne, Switzerland<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/a><\/div>
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Advert for a Grand Dance, Mar 1941<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/a><\/div>
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An Auxiliary Territorial Service company featuring some Poly girls, Feb 1940 <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/a><\/div>
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Advert for a play, Mar 1940<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/a><\/div>
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Advert for the Polytechnic Marathon, Jun 1941<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/a><\/div>
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Advert for White Elephant Sale and Assault at Arms, Aug 1941<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/a><\/div>
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A solider opens his Poly Parcel, Aug 1943<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/a><\/div>
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Competitors in the Cycling Club's first wartime 25 TT race, Girtford<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/a><\/div>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBack to exhibition menu<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the September 1939 issue of The Polytechnic Magazine, it was remarked that \u2018the contrast between August 1914 and September 1939 is extraordinary.  In 1914, the national order was to carry on as usual, and we did\u2019.  In contrast, on 3rd…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133,"featured_media":0,"parent":1833,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2017","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/recordsandarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/recordsandarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/recordsandarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/recordsandarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/133"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/recordsandarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/recordsandarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2017\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/recordsandarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/recordsandarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}