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It all started in 1946.

My father, Robert Cross, decided to return home, being away from England for over 28 years, working in the Middle East. We arrived, in October.

My father, not being very well, realised he had made a mistake, as the weather had a big effect on his health. Still, there was no turning back !

The family was met at the Coventry train station by a lady called Margaret ; she then drove us to our new place of residence, being Baginton Fields Hostel. She took us to the canteen where we met the manageress, Mrs Blakey. She showed us round, hat being my father, Robert, mother Faroukh, sisters Lilly, Margaret, Rose, brother John and myself, Betty.

Prior to us arriving at the Hostel, we had VIP treatment, from leaving Iran to arriving in Coventry. So what we saw was a surprise to us all (not like the movies we saw)  I was young and naive not understanding about the war England went through and the conditions that had to be addressed for the people of Coventry.

Mrs Blakey explained that we had to queue for meals ; it all looked pretty strange, seeing the way they dished out the meals.

Breakfast was at 8am. You could have porridge ; each day you had a different choice, kippers, powdered egg or salami (rations), but on Sundays we had bacon and egg. Morning tea at eleven o’clock was coffee and biscuit. Lunch was at 12, soup, meat and a choice of three vegetables and a pudding. Afternoon tea was at 4pm, with tea and biscuit. Main meal at 6pm consisted of soup, meat again, a choice of three vegetables, also pudding. Then at 8pm we had a night-cap, hot cocoa, and a selection of whatever pudding was left over.

The living quarters : we all had a room each, except married couples could share. My youngest sister slept with Mum and Dad, as she was only one year old. I was 16 years old, Lilly was 12, Johnny 8 and Margaret, 4.

The bed was made of iron with a patch work quilt on the top of the bed. Each room had a washbasin, a skinny wardrobe and a chest of drawers. A strong smell of Jeyes Fluid was throughout the whole place. A huge pipe ran along the wall, which heated the room. You could dry your socks and undies on them. The windows were narrow, steel-frame. A long narrow passage divided one section from the other,

Once a week we took our dirty linen and clothing to the laundry room, and received clean linen in exchange. Each block had a common room, which was in the centre of the block, communal toilets and bathrooms.

Mrs. Blakey gave us something to eat, and then at 6pm we met at the canteen. This was a big shock to us all. So many people, around 300-400 were present for their evening meals, ex-servicemen with their foreign wives. (Example : Mrs Malone was Russian,  Dawson – Swedish,  Bowman – Singapore, Archard – Burma, Grahams – Japanese. Margaret Watson – German. Andersons – Greek.  Norman Shore and the Lovelocks were Japanese prisoners of war that had arrived in 1945. Other nationalities were from Canada and Palestine. The workers were from Holland.

We have split the photo into 7 rows starting from the back, working left to right

Back Row; Jimmy Lovelock; Charles Wilkinson; Phillip Eurban?; Band leader ; X ;X

Next row; Johnny Bon; XXXXX' Frank Waller;

In the recreational room, we enjoyed playing badminton, volleyball, boxing and dancing. Christmas was a big event. We had a traditional dinner and a party. Even Father Christmas came ; everybody had a present.

The chef, Louie, married the lady from the Post Office. A lot of marriages took place here ; romance was rife. I married Michael Ennis, my sister Lilly married Jim Lovelock, and even my mother married again ( as my father only lived five and a half years, and as he realised, the weather and conditions did have a big effect on him.

The in 1948, a lot of Anglo-Indians came, when India got their independence. In 1949, they started to address the English who were without homes. They stayed in Block Z-3. In this case, the wives came to Baginton, but the husbands had to stay in the Chace Guildhouse.

A reminiscence by Mrs Rose-Marie Daly, nee Cross.                                September 19^th 2001.

On the land that belonged to the Baginton and also the Chace Hostel, we used to plant vegetables. An English man drove the tractor and ploughed the fields. German prisoners of war worked on the fields too ; the land army girls, what a mixed bunch of people, joined them. We walked miles from the Hostel to Ryton swimming pools. We took a packed lunch with us and the entrance fee was 1/6d/

In 1950, the Hostel was converted into flats. Bedrooms on one side across the passage, the sitting room and kitchen. (Walls were removed to make them bigger.) Because of this, we became self-sufficient, so there was no more use for the canteen. The building was made into a school called Baginton Fields, for children with learning difficulties.

Now a huge wire mesh fence divided the hostel, which was right in front of our window. I complained, stating that some of the people had just come from concentration camps and wouldn’t want to be reminded of it. They then removed it. The Hostel was located on Fletchhamstead Highway, miles from anywhere. The closest bus stop was on the London Road, opposite Mr Mills’ mansion of a house. The bus ride cost 3d into town near the Gaumont picture house. Mr Mills was a kindly gentleman who used to play cards with my Dad and Mrs Lovelock ; he was the local landowner, having horses and stables. He sold his house and property to a Mr Cyril French. He transport café became known as Cyril’s Café. It was a focal point for years. Along the London Road towards the Chace Hotel, there was a little village-type house. That was the Post Office, where people got their family allowance and 6d savings stamps.

The church-type school was located in St James Lane. My sister Margaret was coming home from school one day. Through some childish prank, she ran across the road and got run over by a lorry. After her death they put a zebra crossing in, in 1948. Mrs Summerfield was the headmistress, and the other teacher was a Mrs Durham, still residing in the Lane. After a while, Mr French converted the stables into a shop. The Parsons family ran the local shop, near the school. When the hostels were converted into flats, we had to buy our own groceries. Milk cost 1/2d and bread cost 6d.

The Chace Hostel had a huge communal hall, and it was used for a number of events. It became a dance hall, a chance for everybody to come and enjoy themselves, young and old from all parts of Coventry. It also became the local picture house, and on Sundays it became the Catholic Church.

The Hostels were a temporary place of residence. We were supposed to be there for just two weeks, as my father was to join his family in London. Well, it didn’t happen. Then, two weeks became eight years. During the time there, I had three boys : Robert, Michael and Francis. After 1953, at different stages, people got assigned homes, all brand new. Most of us got housed in a new suburb called Willenhall, and that’s another story.

Copyright Willenhall Local History Group 2003

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