War time in Holcombe Rogus

Year: 1942

War time in Holcombe Rogus

Hi everyone. I lived in Holcombe Rogus during the war years. My Father Leeming Greaves and Kathleen Korner had leased the Prince Of Wales Hotel. My brother Joseph and I attended the local School, I was 9 years old at that time. My Teachers name was Mrs Berry. Mrs Berry had a son Roger who spent a lot of time with my brother. It was a very busy time in Holcombe Rogus as the American servicemen had arrived, and were stationed there, I think there were about 200 at the time. The Americans were very good to us as children, and were always giving the children their chocalate supplies. The Prince of Wales Hotel was very busy, with Jeeps turning up day and night. Now living in Australia, I returned to Holcombe Rogus in 1990 and found the Hotel was still trading, even the Bowling alley at the back of the hotel was still operating, with the same old Bowling balls that we used to play with. My Mother Louise Greaves was a Violinist and had several students in the area. She also had a lot of friends, sorry I cannot remember names, but would remember if they were mentioned to me. I did not find that Holcombe Rogus had changed much in all the years, as with a lot of the English villages, anyone returning there would be happy that it still looked the same. Regards Jessie Sichter (Nee Greaves)