Reg Little – Video and articles
Reg Little talks about his life in Kingswear from 1932 to the present day – 38 Minutes.
Includes:
Arriving in Kingswear from Weymouth – his father, Frank Little, worked on the GWR buses which became the Western National
Growing up in Wartime Kingswear:
- The declaration of war – the day after the 1939 regatta finished – the King and Queen attended this regatta and stayed on the Royal Yacht – the Victoria and Albert…..driven by steam. This is when Princess Elizabeth first met Prince Philip.
- The invasion scare after France fell
- Mining of the beaches – except Lighthouse Beach where the local people used to swim
- Bombs dropping – off the railway footbridge in Kingswear, in Duke Street, Dartmouth where he pulled bodies out of the wreckage at the age of 15 – Nobody was protected from the trauma of exposure to death in those days, you just got on with it.
- Reg’s brother, Bert, was killed on September 18, 1942 – Noss shipyard was hit and 20 employes were killed
- Small boats went to Dunkerque but the Mew (ferry boat) was considered too deep
- The Royal Dart Hotel was named HMS Cicala – one night Lord Haw Haw (German propagandist) broadcast that HMS Cicala had been sunk – the local people found that very funny.
- The Secret Fleet – bringing back downed pilots from Brittany and taking spies across the English channel and landing them in France – no locals even knew that – there was a saying “Be like Dad, Keep Mum” !
- Defences – anti aircraft gun Coronation Park, Noss, above the railway line at Hoodown, South Town,
- Building of slipways for landing craft – was the American base. Americans took the BRNC over
- Amusing saying about Americans – “over paid, over sexed & over here” !
- Landing craft used to leave the river and head for Slapton via out Lyme Bay protected by a couple of old destroyers.
- The local populous from Stoke Fleming to Hallsands and 8 miles inland including Blackawton was evacuated to enable the rehearsals for D-Day.
- One night, 700+ American men died after an attack by German U-Boats and many landing craft were destroyed. It is said that a landing planned for the South of France had to be cancelled because of the number of landing craft that were lost
- Prior to D-Day – full of Americans, landing craft in River – you could walk across the river on boats. The on 6th June they woke and the harbour was empty.
School Days
- Miss Hayward was the Head Teacher of Kingswear School – very good school Miss Hayward good poetry – separate playgrounds for girls and young children seperated by a wall. Saluted the flag on the Flagpole on Empire Day.
- Went to Boys School Victoria Road Dartmouth age 11-14
- War broke out after his first year there – Regatta finished Saturday night and on Sunday morning the war broke out
- Caught ferry to school – the Mew (ferry) ran to a regular timetable – caught the ferry to school at 8:00am. Ferry back midday – came home to lunch. Back to school after lunch. One day going back big german plane flying down through the river – told by the police to go into the Royal Dart Hotel (first time Reg was ever in a pub) while a Spitfire engaged it – the Spitfire was shot down.
Shops and businesses in Kingswear in the 1930s
- Hawkes Stores at the bottom of Wood Lane
- The Dairy
- Fish and Chip Shop
- Coop run by Mr Bisset
- Powsland’s Dairy and Grocery
- Bill Kelland’s Paper Shop
- Steam Packet Pub
- Mr Hunt’s Shoe Shop
- Stanliek’s Bakery
- Chemist
- Heal’s Tobbaconist
- Post Office
- Royal Dart Hotel
- Ship Inn
Robert Little
Reg Little’s son
January 2014
Kingswear Historians 