MORLEY family of Lealands Avenue: The ‘Other’ Morley family of Leigh: War-time Memories
The ‘other’ Morley family of Leigh – War-time Memories
At the outbreak of the War, there was another Morley family living in Leigh (unconnected to those at Hall Place), the Morley family of 14 Lealands Avenue. John Morley and his wife Isabella had moved to Leigh in about 1938/39 with their children, Ada, Bertha, May, John and Edward (Ted). The family had familial connections to the Bateup family of Leigh, probably a reason for moving here.
Tony Hicks, the son of May Morley and her husband William Hicks, who married at St Mary’s in 1943 and born in 1948, gave the Historical Society some of his family’s recollections. Some additional information has been added from the military records at Ancestry.com. Fuller details of the Morley family are on the website.
Tony said that during the war, the Morley family kept rabbits and chickens and with a garden taking up some 1.5 acres, they were able to grow vegetables and be self-sufficient. His mother, May Morley, went into the land army and was billeted at Tonbridge and her sister, Ada, worked as an assistant midwife in the village, after working previously as a nanny. After the War, Ada continued to be a midwife and nurse to the community.
Tony’s mother, May, remembered an incident at Leigh Halt in the war. A dog fight had been raging above when she was waiting for a train to Tonbridge and out of the blue a parachute, complete with German airman, landed on the far end of the platform: not knowing what to do, she just froze. There was then a hue and cry and four Home Guards arrived armed with pitch forks, spades and poles [so Dad’s Army!]. They carried the now German prisoner off and handed him to the local policeman. It was never known who was the most traumatized – his mother or the German.
Tony said that, during the war, there was a prisoner of war camp outside Tonbridge and the prisoners were allowed out after working on the land. They would take a bus ride into town (Tonbridge). Many, both German and Italian, had no wish to go back to their regiments or the war as they loved their new life in England. Many were instructed in English by the squaddies who were guarding them.
Tony’s uncles, John and Ted Morley, joined the West Kents and went off to war, but were prisoners of war for much of its duration. Uncle Ted (Edward) was involved at Dunkirk: he was holding back the Germans with his rifle as the Germans advanced in their tanks towards Dunkirk. He was not wounded but was captured and taken prisoner in 1940. He spent from June 1940 to January 1945 in various prisoner of war camps in Poland. He was first imprisoned in Stalag XX1B camp in Schocken, moved to a camp in Posen, then to Schuben, and to Blechhammer. During this time, he suffered from pneumonia, malnutrition and exposure, but survived and eventually spent from April 1941 to January 1945 at Heydebreck Bau und Arbeits camp (building and labour camp) in Poland, one of many sub-camps of Ausschwitz. Towards the end of the war, the Germans began to move prisoners from the Polish camps to Germany – the death march, 1,000 miles – when the Russians were approaching. Back in Germany, Ted worked in the Ruhr valley making armaments but it is unclear from Tony whether at this time he was still a prisoner, because Tony says that Ted had been repatriated to the British front in 1944. Yet, according to his war records, this must have been 1945 as Ted was still in Poland in January 1945 and being marched West. However, perhaps Ted was able to spend the final part of his war back helping the Allies win. Ted’s wartime history was unknown to his future wife for a long time; and Ted’s mother had initially received a ‘missing presumed dead’ telegram, until he was located.
Uncle John suffered horrendous wounds during the war. He was originally deployed on the Kent coast and later to Europe. In September 1942, he was captured by Italian forces at El Alamein, Egypt. He was wounded at the time, but no details are given in the records. He was shipped back to Italy back through Italy and spent time in two military hospitals, firstly at Caserta, near Naples from September to October 1942, and then St Pietro, in Bologna until the end of November 1942, where the nuns saved his life. He was then sent to the Italian prisoner of war camp, PG73 at Carpi near Modena. In September 1943, he was moved to Stalag IVB at Muhlberg in Germany, eventually freed when the British liberated the camp in May 1945.
Following the war, Uncle Ted would marry Grace (Betty) East in the autumn of 1945. Uncle John sadly passed away prematurely at the age of 53 in 1969. According to Tony, his early death was possibly in part attributed to his injuries sustained in the war.
Joyce Field (Parish Magazine – July 2025)