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January 1943
Mr Clifford Sumpter, aged 44, of The Gables’ Bedford Road, Rushden, was found by his brother-in‑law, Mr F.J.Tyman of 41 Purvis Road, lying on his bed with bullet wounds in head and shoulders. Beside him was the dead body of his 30 year old housekeeper, Mrs Betty M.Galley, who had been shot through the chest. Mr Sumpter had been left a fortune of £30,000. Mr Sumpter died in Northampton General Hospital, three hours after admission.
Advert: For those who enjoy eerie thrillers which send cold shivers up their spine – “The Ghost of Frankenstein” at the Palace, starring Bela Lugasi, Ralph Bellamy, Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Evelyn Ankers.
Mr John Spencer died at his home 241 Wellingborough Road, Rushden. John Spencer JP was one of the original members of RUDC, established in 1894. To all he was accepted as the “Champion of Labour.” He persuaded the Council to purchase a Recreation Ground. Just for fun he whispered to Mr Tom Swindall that it should be called “Spencer Park”. Tom proposed this and the Council agreed. He was employed by Messrs Denton and was later Manager of Messrs Jacques & Son’s factory.
Visitors at the annual social of the Boot and Shoe school saw specimens of the new “wooden-soled footwear”, which may have solved the wartime leather problem.
The unsanitary condition of dustbins in Rushden was again considered at a meeting of Rushden and District Trades Council.
February 1943
Advertisement:- “Good Crops need the Protection of Good Fencing.” We give prompt delivery of Barbed Wire, Rylock Woven Cattle, Sheep and Hedge Fence and the famous Wolseley Parmak Electric Fences. – Fairey Bros., 7 High Street, Rushden. Phone 309.
March 1943
Rushden opened its “£1,000 for China Campaign” and received the thanks of Mr Hwe Yee Hain, a Chinese student who addressed and also sang to a large audience at the Park Road Baptist Chapel.
The Captain and Lieutenant of HMS Quorn sent thanks for the woollen comforts sent from the Rushden area.
Rushden was to see Jean Batten a New Zealand woman who had made an England to New Zealand flight. She was to open “Wings for Victory Week”.
Hinwick Hall was established by the Shaftsbury Society as a home for the “outcasts” of the crippled world.
April 1943
Major Florence McKenzie and Major Doris Sharp returned after capture by a sea raider. They were returning from Australia, after escorting five hundred children to be evacuated and billeted there, when a shell from a German surface raider hit their ship. They boarded a life boat from their blazing ship. They were rescued by Germans in a little motor boat and put on their prison ship for 38. 550 people were on board. After ten weeks, they landed at Bordeaux and spent six weeks in a Polish Refugee Camp. After many more journeys and adventures, including visiting Vienna, Turkey, Palestine and Egypt, helped by the Red Cross, they arrived back in Rushden.
A design by Mrs Grace Claridge was chosen as the “Wings Week” indicator, for Rushden Area “Wings For Victory Week”. It was based upon a winged globe above which a Spitfire ascended.
May 1943
Council Chairman, Mrs A.F.Weale JP, Chairman of RUDC, opened the new Junior Library. It was set up by re-equipping what was formerly the Reference Room.
There was a remarkable outburst at the RUDC Council Meeting. There was a unanimous vote to invoke the Parliamentary decision to order that the populace of Rushden must go to Wellingborough for its new Ration Books and National Registration Cards.
Another attack on officialdom was led by Councillor Bailey who condemned “Hitlerite” interference with Rushden’s ARP organisation.
The Marchioness of Exeter, wife of the Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire, opened the Shaftsbury Home at Hinwick Hall. The ceremony was performed under the Chairmanship of Col.R.R.B. Orlebar JP, Deputy Lieutenant of Bedfordshire. It will be a Home for nearly forty crippled children.
Rushden, Higham and Raunds smashed their target for the “Wings for Victory Week”. The original target was £150,000 but £157,882 was achieved.
June 1943
The Rushden area paid for fifty Spitfires as a result of the “Wings for Victory Week” campaign.
Outspoken criticism of Rushden people’s habits of excessive drinking and the regret that less than one percentage of townsfolk attended churches was expressed in an address “Rushden after three years”, by Rev T.S.Kee, Minister of the Independent Wesleyan.
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July 1943
There was a proposal by the new President of the Rotary Club, Mr M.C.J.Polton, that a Rushden Hospital be founded.
August 1943
There were no August holiday problems at Rushden. Thousands forgot the worries of war by joining freely in a bright round of amusements at Rushden Hall grounds and other centres. The town’s second holiday fete admirably met the needs of the stay-at-homes. Lady Nunburnholme of Arthingworth Manor declared the fete open.
Rushden had a mobile cleanser. It could be erected in about three minutes and a hand‑pump on the boiler fed six sprays. Warm water would be used for the removal of blister gas.
September 1943
As a consequence of the omission by Rushden Urban District from the 3rd Schedule of an order relating to the sale of onions, no wholesaler in Rushden could supply onions to a retailer.
Minutes of the War Emergency Committee showed that the Council’s plans for altering No.93 High Street in readiness for use as a British Restaurant were not approved by the Ministry of Works, resulting in the decision to adhere to the Council’s original plan and to add a lift.
October 1943
Rushden Highfield Baptist Hall was clear of debt as a result of a Sale of Work. It was erected in 1934 at the cost £4,918.
Rushden’s Chief Air Raid Warden, Mr F.G.Deane, was one of the few chosen to represent Northamptonshire in London’s big Battle of Britain parade. A Rushden soldier taking part was General Eric Goode, Royal Artillery (eldest son of Mr and Mrs G.Goode of 8 Winchester Road).
Neighbours in peacetime at 83 and 77 Westfield Avenue, Rushden, LAC Gordon Eades and his friend Corporal Herbert Underwood RAF met each other after having travelled hundreds of miles across India. Both boys were members of Rushden Mission Band and Herbert’s WAAF sister, Eva, was Gordon’s fiancée.
November 1943
Rushden’s Housing Programme for the first postwar year was not to be cut after all. The Minister of Health was prepared to accept a programme of 180 houses.
Rushden lads of the N.Africa forces had their own “Victoria Hotel” and “Rock” just to remind them of home. L/Bdr Charles B.Watts wrote – in my tent are eight Rushden lads and we have named our tent the “Victoria Hotel” after the “Vic” in High Street and a path which leads to the guns, “The Rock”, after Cromwell Road.
December 1943
A pineapple, said to be the only one in the Midlands, was on view in a High Street fruit store in Rushden. It was part of a very small consignment which arrived in England from the Azores.
Good progress was reported with the preparation of the British Restaurant, but the Surveyor stated there might be some delay in obtaining roofing material.
Warned by a letter from The Lord’s Day Observance Society, the Rushden Serving Men’s Parcels Fund cancelled a Variety Concert arranged to be held at the Royal Theatre, Rushden.
Rotarian G.W.Marriott presented a picture of “The Brave New World” at a meeting of Rushden Rotary Club. He also included adult education at “Rushden Hall People’s College”, and light industries which were moving to Rushden from the great cities.
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