As Steins made firebrick for the steel industry, most of the men in Allandale did not have to go to the forces as they were in a reserved occupation. Some did volunteer and served throughout the war in the various services.
In fact. in 1941 there were 149 employees serving in the forces of which 22 were prisoners of war in Germany.
The War Relief Fund had sent 127 parcels to the serving soldiers the previous Christmas and the ladies of the district had knitted 300 pairs of socks, mittens, scarves and helmets for the soldiers.
There was little information coming through as to the whereabouts of the prisoners of war but word was received from Private Willie Dunsmore, the son of Mr. & Mrs. James Dunsmore and also from Private Michael Kennedy, the son of Mr. & Mrs. James Kennedy that he was in Stalag 1XC at Bad Sulza in Germany and that he had received the parcel they had sent to him the previous October.
Other prisoners of war were John Millar, Robert Dalrymple, Thomas Kirk and Bobby Morris and a Mr. McGhee. Bobby Morris was in Stalag XX1D near Posen an area of Poland which was annexed by the Germans at the start of WW2. Polish name is Poznan. (see photos) Most, if not all of the soldiers taken prisoner were with the 7th Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders who didn’t get out at Dunkirk and the 7th Battalion were nearly all either killed or captured. Bobby Morris relates that he was captured by an Arsenal supporter. He was a German officer who had been working in London just before the war and had supported Arsenal during his stay. He had received his call-up to the German Army while still working in London. Bobby says the officer treated them very well and made sure they were given food as they hadn’t eaten for some time. Bobby probably was called up at the start of the war as he had joined the Territorial Army about a year before the war started. He was told to report to the oil pumping station at Castlecary where he stayed for a short time then was bussed to Grangemouth where they lived in tents on the docks. The Argyll Museum at Stirling Castle contacted me as they had read Bobby’s story on the site. They wanted to find out more about his experience as a POW to include it in their magazine. They sent a list of topics for Bobby, assisted by his son, Alan, to write about. They worked at Bobby’s story and finished it on a Friday but sadly Bobby died the following Monday. But his story will be available for others both in this site and in the Argyll magazine. George ‘Dodie’ Anderson who was a moulder in Steins was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his actions during the battle to take Monte Cassino in Italy in February 1944. He was later to take charge of the Ambulance Room at Castlecary Works. Details of his citation can be found on a following page. There was a works committee comprising the management and workers who had the power to recommend removal of the reserved status of any worker who did not attend work regularly. An outward sign of the hostilities was the removal of all the iron railings from the front of the houses. These were to be sent away as scrap iron to help manufacture armaments but the fact was that they were still lying in the brickworks long after the war was over. Eventually they were replaced years later. The village had its own company of the Home Guard, named the Castlecary Works Home Guard ( No. 6 Platoon) A Company, 2nd Stirlingshire Battalion under the command of Lieut. Willie McEwan, with Sergeant Stewart Cunningham & Sergeant Moffat. Other members of the platoon were Cpl. Alex Birse, L/Cpl. Robert Stewart, L/Cpl. Alex Miller and Privates Tom Dalrymple, George Buchanan, Robert Lyons, James McAuley, Jimmy O’Neill, Robert Proffitt, George Scobbie, Alf. Sludden, Tommy Valentine, Thomas West. They were often seen practising for the day when they would have to guard the village or the brickworks against the enemy. Fortunately they didn’t have to. There is a story told, which may or may not be true, that one night a Home Guard soldier was on guard at the west end of the brickworks when he saw men creeping along the railway. He shouted to them but did not get a reply so he opened fire on them. Unfortunately they were railway workers who had to work in the dark as lights would be seen by planes. Fortunately no-one was hit by the bullets. The Home Guard were disbanded in 1945 and at the final function Col. Stein presented trophies for shooting then complimented the men on the excellent marksmanship. Lieut.McEwan then presented each man with a certificate from H.M. the King. Corporal Birse then presented Lieut. McEwan with an umbrella suitably inscribed from the members of the platoon. The Stein Allandale Branch of the St. Andrews Ambulance Association was very active during the war and held regular meetings where members were instructed by a local doctor on the elements of first aid. The commandant was Mr. Harry McGregor and other members were Peter Duff, John Reid, Alex Rollo, Tom Duncan, Harry McArthur & T. Dalrymple,jnr. Among the junior members were Campbell Miller and William Preston. Nobody heard any bombs being dropped on Allandale but after the war, William Rollo found a live naval shell near the canal. There had been no reports of naval battles on the canal so this was probably a memento of the war that somebody had disposed of. The shell was dealt with by the army bomb disposal squad. There were no air-raid shelters built and when the sirens went off everyone retreated to the makeshift shelters under the iron bedsteads in the houses. But to the children of the village life went on as normal except for the fact that sweets, etc. were all rationed and they all had to keep count of their sweet coupons. There was extra time for playing in the evening as Double British Summertime had been introduced to allow farmers to work later. Gas masks had to be carried at all times and there was regular practice at school in putting them on quickly. One of the fatalities of the battles was Pipe Major Malcolm McLachlan of the Argylls from the village who was killed at El Alamein. Another who was taken prisoner was Bobby Morris and there was great rejoicing when it was learned that he was on his way home. The street was decorated with banners and flags as everyone waited for his return but as the night wore on without any sign of him, they all went off to bed and Bobby arrived in the early morning when nobody was awake. The village had a Welcome Home Fund for the returning servicemen and many events were organised to swell the kitty with which to give each man a small sum for his pocket. The Welcome Home Fund was wound up at the end of the war and the total sum raised had been £428 and this was handed over to the Bonnybridge & District Central Committee. Captured enemy prisoners of war were offered employment in the brickworks and the first batch were Italian. They were kept in Castlerankine Camp near Denny and were transported to the works each morning on the back of the work’s lorry. At first they were guarded by soldiers but as Italy surrendered towards the end of the war, the guards disappeared. The prisoners all wore dark brown uniforms with big coloured patches on their backs. They were replaced later by Germans who again were guarded most of the time. There did not seem to be any animosity shown to these men and they worked alongside the other workers. I got to know one or two of the men as my father was a chargehand in the brickworks and, like a lot of the other children, I took his lunch, etc. up to the works. One of the Germans asked me to get him tartan notepaper to send letters home and I eventually found some in a stationers. The showing of lights was rigorously discouraged and all the windows of the house had blackouts fitted at night. Vehicles headlights were shielded so that only a small beam was directed on to the road. Buses windows were also blacked out and the conductress had a small flap which she could peer out of and shout out the next bus stop. At the end of the war there was great rejoicing.On VE Day and VJ Day, large bonfires were erected between the north side houses and the canal. Most of the material came from the brickworks with adults and children bringing the wood, etc. down to the site each evening for a week beforehand. The works management had given permission for empty tar barrels to be utilised as the base for the bonfire but, ‘unfortunately’, the men took the full barrels instead with the result that the fire burned with great effect for part of the next day. There was dancing in the street to the music of Agnes Hutchison on the piano, which had been carried into the front garden. On VE Day, Harris’s Picture House in Bonnybridge was free to all the children of the area. Rationing continued for some time after the end of the war and some fruits, etc. did not appear for some time. When the word went round the village that the Co-op had bananas, everyone rushed up with their ration books. The assistants made the remark that “ You would think they had never seen bananas before” but some of the children had not. In fact, some of them did not like this strange delicacy.
