GAYLE MILL - THE WAR YEARS

by Peter Jackson

For a short period during 1943/1944 the mill was used by the Army to billet soldiers who had been sent to Gayle for tank training. What they and the locals did not know at the time, but we now know, the training was specifically for the D Day landings. As with so many stories of that period, very few of those soldiers survived. Confirmation of this fact was provided during a visit to Gayle by one of those soldiers, Geoff Cusworth of the 5th Battalion Border Regiment who relayed his account to Brian Alderson and also signed the mill visitor book on 3rd August 1991. The soldiers were mostly from the Scots Guards and the Border Regiment. The tanks were mainly Churchill type.

There are still many physical reminders of this period in evidence at the mill today, but not so many personal memories due to the passing years, so thanks to Joe Iveson for sharing his. Thanks also to Brian Alderson for sharing his research.

The mill was operational as a saw mill during the war and the soldiers were billeted on the second floor whilst the saw mill continued to operate in the remainder of the building. Inside the mill a temporary partition of wood frame and corrugated iron sheeting was erected at the entrance leading to the second floor to segregate soldiers and workers, and part of the wood structure can still be seen. A window can be seen on the south wall which was converted into an emergency exit and the fire escape. As with all windows in wartime, black-out curtains were compulsory, and the wooden frames to which the curtains would have been attached remain in place on the north facing second floor. Red paint markings on the walls show where fire buckets were placed, but the reason for the numerical markings is unknown. Changes were made to fireplaces and chimneys including a new fireplace built of red brick (not seen elsewhere in the mill) in the workshop area with a new brick chimney.

Outside the mill, the army had water supplies installed direct from the mains pipe and the piping can still be seen near the main mill entrance. A corrugated sheet shed was built in the yard, only the concrete base remains. A smaller shed was probably used as a sentry post.

The mill pond was also used for submerged tank training, possibly the prime reason for Gayle as choice of location. Recollections are that the tanks were sealed and had a special long upwards exhaust pipe fitted before being submerged into the pond. On exiting, tests were done to blow the seals off without soldiers leaving the tank, to enable tanks to go straight from water into battle. Tank tracks can clearly be seen at the south west end of the pond. The field to the south was used as a firing range. As training was completed, the next batch of tanks came in.

Locally in Gayle, the village green was concreted over, a guard hut erected and up to 20/30 tanks, along with their fuel, stored there. A NAAFI and Nissen huts were built and local houses commandeered for officers. Captain Bull used a house in Hargill, whilst probably the most famous of the soldiers billeted in Gayle, Willie Whitelaw (yes the MP), a Captain in the Scots Guards, used Clints House. 

This picture shows Brian Alderson (left) and Joe Iveson at the mill pond looking at tank tracks which are still visible 60 years after the war; in the background is the hillside onto which shells were fired as the tanks emerged from the pond to test the waterproofing.

More photographs relating to this period of the mill’s history
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