Local people have contributed their memories and stories to this project. Some have shared with us a first-hand account of their wartime experiences in Tilty and neighbouring villages – Duton Hill, Great Easton, Little Easton and Broxted. Others have written of the experiences of their parents or families during the Second World War.
Their stories and reports may be found below – click on the link below to open a new page.
Tilty and neighbouring villages:
Tom Cowell | Tilty | Aged fourteen at the start of the war, Tom was called up a week after his 18th birthday in 1942 | |
Florence Daniels | Duton Hill | ||
Barbara De ‘Ath | Tilty | Barbara was born after the war, but her parents were evacuated to Tilty, and she tells their story | |
Cecile Down | Tilty | The daughter of the wartime vicar of Tilty, Cec was only two when the war began | |
Bon Harrison | Duton Hill | Eight years old at the start of the war, Bon and his family were evacuated to Duton Hill | |
Shirley Holden | Little Easton | Shirley and her sister, Bab Staines, were small children during the war, and evacuees in Little Easton | |
John Perry | Little Easton | John was almost nine years old at the start of the war, and living with his family in Little Easton | |
David Pickford | Great Easton | Born in 1932, David was almost eight years old when the war started | |
Vernon Stone | Duton Hill | Born in Duton Hill, and a year old when the war started; childhood memories of wartime village life | |
Violet Tippit | Tilty | Violet and her family were evacuees, who lived at Tilty Vicarage during the war | |
Barbara Watson | Little Easton | Four years old at the start of the war, Barbara’s family lived in Cherry Street, Tilty | |
The Home Guard | Great Easton, Broxted | Photographs of local Home Guard, provided by Alf Wright |
Further afield:
Roy Blackwell | Three years old when war broke out; evacuated to Henham, then Elsenham, currently lives in Little Easton | |
Mike Longman | Aged two at start of war; currently lives in Little Cambridge – demonstrates use of child’s gas-mask found in attic | |
Iris Spearman | Lived in Epping during the war; wartime diary contributed by her daughter (Jane Pedley) who lives in Tilty | |
John Stevens | Father served with R.A.F. in Sicily; currently lives in Tilty | |
Linda White | Father served with Essex regiment; currently lives in Tilty |