WW2 Survivors

It is known that 90 men and women of Ossett lost their lives in WW2. This section records the experiences of several Ossett men and women who survived WW2.

The total number of Ossett men and women who served in WW2 is unknown but at the end of the War there were approximately five million servicemen and servicewomen in the British Armed Forces. The demobilisation and re-assimilation back into civilian life was one of the first and greatest challenges facing the post war British government.

The details of the framework for demobilisation was to be implemented on 18 June 1945 and British soldiers were already well informed about the process, including the welfare system that would support them. Most servicemen and servicewomen were to be released from the armed forces according to their ‘age-and-service number’, which was calculated from their age and the months they had served in uniform. A small number of men whose occupational skills were vital to post war reconstruction were to be released ahead of their turn and married women and men aged fifty or more were also given immediate priority.

Demobilisating service personnel passed through demobilisation centres and, for those returning from overseas, a dispersal centre. . The closest of these units to Ossett were at Strensall and Fulford, York

The release process began about six weeks after V E Day, 8^th May 1945. Decommissioned soldiers received a demobilisation grant and a set of civilian clothing, which included the de-mob suit, shirts, underclothes, raincoats, hat, and shoes. At the end of 1945, demobilised soldiers reached 750,000 and this number doubled two months later after Japan’s surrender. By 1947, about 4.3 million men and women had returned to civvy street.