The pre-war months of 1914 were remarkable for their ordinariness compared with what was to follow. The year started on a bitterly cold note with several inches of snow. The New Year edition of the “Newbury Weekly News” reported the death, on Boxing Day, of Mr Ralph Denton, the well known farmer and proprietor of East Garston’s forge. He had lived in the village 45 years and had filled many public offices.

In February the vicar and churchwardens gratefully accepted the offer by Sir Francis Burdett of some land to extend the churchyard. It was expected that the expenses, namely the legal charges, fencing and levelling the ground would be from £30 - £40.  Also in February a pleasant game of mixed hockey was played in East Garston in which the home team beat Great Bedwyn by 4 - 3. Afterwards the home team entertained the visitors in the East Garston tearooms.

In April the “Newbury Weekly News” reported that early risers in East Garston had seen aeroplanes over the village, the first soon after 6 o’clock, 5 more following shortly afterwards. The morning being clear and bright “ a fine view was afforded of those aerial chariots”

(During the war itself the villagers had the opportunity to view one of these "Aerial Chariots" at closer quarters for an aircraft with mechanical problems descended into a meadow on the Maidencourt Estate. Assistance was summoned from the depot but the machine was required to remain in the field overnight under guard." A great number of people paid a visit to the disabled machine")

In June an accident occurred at Pounds Farm when a young man named Clark, employed by the Oxfordshire Steam Ploughing Company, was working underneath the plough. For some unexplained reason the engine started and the wheel of the machine passed over the lad. Dr Patterson, summoned from Eastbury, arranged for him to be taken to Newbury hospital from which it was later reported that he was progressing satisfactorily

There is no reason to suppose that the attitude of the people of East Garston was any different from that of the rest of the population at the outbreak of the First World War i.e. a feeling of great patriotism, great confidence in and support for the armed services and a total belief in the justice of the cause. A state of mind reflected in the popular national newspapers of the time. Many will be familiar with the headline “It will all be over by Christmas!”

Beyond the departure of our gallant local Territorials and Yeomanry and the despatch of some horses in the district there have been few other indications that we are engaged in a European war the magnitude of which few people realise”  This was published in the NWN on 20 August 1914 just 16 days after Britain entered the war. In the light of what followed it was a remarkable example of prescience. However the next contribution from East Garston’s correspondent on 3 October 1914 was slightly more upbeat:-

                                                                                                   East Garston

A military family - Mr Waterman of the Queen’s Arms, is a good specimen of the type of man England turns to with confidence in such strenuous times as the present He served over thirteen years in the Royal Garrison Artillery, retiring as a Corporal.He did duty in Capetown, Mauritius, India etc. Curiously enough his eldest son Lance Corporal C Waterman of the 2nd Hants Regiment followed the same route. His parents are hoping to welcome him home for Christmas after eight years of foreign service.

Unhappily his homecoming will be clouded by the knowledge that his brother, Lance Corporal J Waterman ,1st Hants, is wounded and a prisoner of the Germans. Writing from Doebritz the latter in the course of an interesting communication received recently by his parents makes quite light of his mishap. “I was wounded in the leg” he writes “I shall have the bullet out when I get home. I am quite well now”

East Garston wasted little time in organising it’s assistance to the war effort. As early as August 1914 a working party was set up and it was reported in the “Newbury Weekly News” in January 1916 that, up to the previous December, it had sent to Lady Smith - Dorrien and the 2nd Battalion of the Grenadier Guards, 734 articles including 220 pairs of socks, 95 pairs of mittens and 59 mufflers.

Even the children did their part knitting industriously in and out of school. Under the new scheme for organising voluntary workers the working party became a recognised group under the County Association of Berkshire and a certificate to that effect was granted to them by the War Office.  East Garston also contributed to an “Eggs for the Wounded” campaign. Between 22 October and 20 December 1915, 186 eggs were collected to add to the 576 previously forwarded to Central Depot.

The villagers were also concerned with the plight of civilians directly affected by the war as evidenced by the following account in the “Newbury Weekly News” on 24 December 1914:-
                                                                                         "In aid of the Belgians”
On Tuesday evening, December 22nd, a pleasing and well attended entertainment was given in the Primitive Moethodist Chapel, assistance being rendered by friends from Shefford and Lambourn. The chair was taken by Mr J Reynolds and the proceeds were in aid of the Belgians. Another entertainment was given in the Schoolroom Tuesday evening organised by Mrs L S Smith of Crane’s Farm, also in aid of the Belgians. Mrs Smith’s concert raised £6.

In June 1916 East Garston’s correspondent drew attention to the fact that the village Feast Day was no longer observed. This used to take place on, or near to, the 18th of June. Villagers, particularly the elderly, would go from house to house sharing food, drink and conversation. In the evening stalls, including a coconut shy, would be set up in the forecourt of “The Queen’s Arms” and an enjoyable time was had by all.

The custom derived from the fact that in 1238, Sir Henry de Turbeville , Lord of the Manor, was granted a charter from Henry III allowing him to hold a market in the village every Friday and an annual fair on the Monday immediately following Trinity Sunday. Over the intervening centuries many of the associated customs had died away apart from Feast Day. The correspondent bewailed it’s passing and other customs like it saying “We shall never see their like again”

East Garston’s active service list appeared in the “Newbury Weekly News” in October 1915 and comprised 61 names representing between one sixth and one  seventh of the village’s population of 408. This needs to be treated with some reservation in considering the loss of manpower since at least 3 of those named  had emigrated prior to the onset of war. However, even allowing for such anomalies, it represented a significant reduction in the agricultural workforce especially as those involved were the younger, healthier members of the village.

The harvest of 1914 was, in fact, a good one after several weeks of warm, breezy weather had dried out the crops. The speed with which they were gathered and transferred to the stackyards indicated no immediate effect from the loss of men and horses although women were seen in the fields in greater numbers than in previous years. Some problems were experienced however with the harvesting of “laid” crops beaten down by heavy July rains and which required a higher degree of skilled labour.

In an attempt to overcome the anticipated deficit the County set up the Berkshire Committee for Women farm labour, members of which toured the county holding meetings at which women were encouraged to assist local farmers. In order to fill the places of men called to the colours the Agricultural Consultative Committee gave special instructions to Labour Exchanges concerning the supply of suitable labour and also appealed to landowners to make available staff such as keepers, woodmen, gardeners etc when their services were required.

The labour situation appeared more acute in 1915 with the Board of Agriculture advising farmers that recruitment centres had been requested not to call up certain types of agricultural workers e.g. bailiffs, foremen waggoners etc unless suitable recruits had been trained to replace them Sufficient engine drivers, blacksmiths and thatchers should be left, as far as possible in each district .

Instructions were issued to pension officers not to penalise pensioners augmenting their income when covering labour shortages arising out of the war. Postmen who desired to work at harvest time should be granted special leave for that purpose. Even schoolchildren were not exempt from helping out on the land. In 1917 the East Garston school Spring holiday was extended so that they could assist in planting the potato crop.

The drain on manpower was not as great as in WW1. Only 28 villagers served in the Armed Forces nevertheless the County had been set a target of ploughing up an extra 20,000 acres for sowing crops and an adequate work force was necessary. East Garston responded by turning pasture to the growing of potatoes and sugar,

In September 1939 the Ministry of Agriculture arranged with the War Office for serving soldiers to be released, country-wide, for a few days to help with the harvest, subject to operational requirements, up to September 20th. This was subsequently extended to December 31st to assist in the lifting of potatoes and sugar beet.

Also in September, Berkshire set up a War Agricultural Executive committee to assist all farmers in the county to receive the necessary levels of labour, machinery and fertilizers. District advisory committees were also set up with members having local knowledge and an awareness of local needs. These reported back to the Executive Committee. Farmers were encouraged to interchange labour and equipment wherever possible. A government sponsored scheme enabled farmers to hire tractors when necessary.

The “Newbury Weekly News” reported in April 1940 that the Berkshire committee of the Women’s Land Army had initiated a recruiting drive and a recruiting centre had been set up in Reading. In the following days recruiting campaigns were taken to all rural areas of the county.

In addition to land girls, East Garston supplemented the work force with prisoners of war. Italian prisoners worked on Manor Farm for example and later Latvian and Estonians. At Parsonage Farm Irish workers, housed in temporary accommodation,worked on the land. Above all some agricultural workers, native to the village, were not conscripted for military service.

Without the electronic distractions of today the emphasis was very much on self entertainment during the war years and the Parish hall as it tended to be called, was put to frequent use.

Ladies Club on Tuesday, Men’s Club on Wednesday and a dance or social on Saturday was the regular pattern. The format for dances varied little. Mr Hawkins always provided the music using a gramophone and, later, an amplifier although on one notable occasion,14 January 1943, Mr T Liddiard acted as MC (One can only surmise that Mr Hawkins must have been seriously indisposed!). Mrs T Liddiard and Mrs Powell inevitably undertook the catering with Mrs Bates and her daughter Mary, helping out occasionally. Mrs Bates has been described as the "driving force behind the Village hall activities"                      (below right) Mrs. Bates- The tankard was  a photographic prop seemingly.Mrs. Bates rarely drank!)

There was a serious side to East Garston’s entertainment however inasmuch as the proceeds of such events were almost always donated to worthy causes. Among the many beneficiaries were the Royal Berkshire Hospital, the Aid to China fund, the Aid to Russia fund, the Earl Haig Poppy fund, the National Fire Service and the National Children’s Home and Orphanage.

Prior to Christmas, money raised went to buying presents for villagers in the Armed Forces. In later years there was an intriguing change in the pricing of admission the straight entry fee giving way to a system whereby a certain portion would be repaid at the end of the event. A necessary encouragement to good behavior perhaps?  National fund-raising campaigns took place at various stages of the war. Districts such as Hungerford were set targets which were sub- allocated to surrounding villages.

Three such campaigns were “ Build a Battleship Week” in 1942, “Wings for Victory Fund” in 1943 and “ Salute the Soldier Week” in 1944. On these occasions East Garston’s social and dance programme became almost frenetic with an event organised for virtually every day of the week, but the effort was well justified. Set a target of £500 in “Wings for Victory week” the village raised £1872.. Perhaps on the strength of this result the target was raised to £1000 for “Salute the Soldier week”.East Garston’s response was even more emphatic achieving a total of £4007. To put these figures into perspective it was claimed at the time that a Spitfire could be built and equipped for flight at a cost of £5,000

A strong thread running through the fabric of East Garston’s social life during the Second World War was The Eastbury and East Garston Women’s Institute. Initiated in January 1939, it's members met monthly. At its AGM in December 1939 it was confirmed that membership had increased over it’s first year from 36 to 51 and that the combination of the two villages had worked well. The New Year opened with “a considerable degree of enthusiasm”, existing members rolling up in large numbers bringing with them potential members and visitors.

Faced with the problem of war-time shortages the topics of the WI meetings were often of a practical nature e.g. dress making classes, the cooking of appetising dishes under rationing conditions and even how to run a hospital supply department. Arising from the latter presentation a Red Cross working party was set up to meet twice weekly to make items for hospital use.

In a more relaxed mode the topic for the WI meeting in February 1940 was “Dig for victory but don’t forget the flowers!” Whilst it might not have been all “Jam and Jerusalem”, jam had a role (no pun intended) to play. In August 1942 “The Newbury Weekly News” reported that the members of the Eastbury and East Garston WI rallied so strongly at the Fruit preservation Centre on two recent occasions that 97 lbs of jam had been made, inspected by the county supervisor and pronounced good. The Centre will be open whenever fruit is forthcoming and Ministry of Food prices will be paid for it. Mrs G F Baylis, with Mrs Somerton as first assistant, is in charge of the Centre with Mrs Patterson and Mrs H Warner as secretary and treasurer.

Despite the emphasis on “make do and mend”, cultural and recreational activities were not neglected.   Guest speakers often presented on life in other countries. Mrs Schicker, an English lady married to an Austrian, gave a fascinating insight into life in Vienna, the Austrian capital.Interest in America and the Americans was stimulated by Mr V S Pritchett of Maidencourt in an instructive talk in March 1944. Mr Pritchett recounted his experiences on a walking tour of the Southern States of America.

He felt that talks of this nature would foster better understanding between the
nations and that WI members would undoubtedly be able to appreciate the outlook of the many Americans living among us.

Much enjoyed Country Dance sessions were held in the Parish hall under the aegis of Mrs Soames (Goldhill House) with Miss Leeke accompanying on the piano, the occasional false note being immediately followed by a reproving glare from the aforesaid Mrs Soames.