Probus Comrades Club 100th Anniversary
With two teenage children still at home, Tom and Kate decided to evacuate the family from London urgently. They sent a message to Kate's cousin Ede Hocking who lived in Probus saying 'We arrive from London on the train tomorrow, please find us somewhere to stay'. Ede and her husband George had to act very quickly as Tom, Kate and the two teenagers, Hilda (15) and Thomas Jr. (17), duly arrived the next day. Ede and George found a cottage for them to rent, Hazeldene on Fore Street.
October 2020 marks the 100-year anniversary of the establishment of Probus Comrades Club. Richard Puttick, who was born and raised in Probus but now lives in Central Treviscoe, shared the story and photographs of his family's links with the club. It starts with Richard's grandparents, Thomas and Kate Reynolds, who were both heavily involved in the club from the early 1940s for a decade or more.
George Hocking was the Secretary of the Probus Comrades Club. Being a WW1 veteran, Tom Reynolds joined as a member on 8th October 1940.
Thomas James Reynolds (b.1890) and his wife Kate (b.1894) were from Walthamstow, located close to the East End of London. Thomas was a First World War veteran being severely wounded in Lens, France in 1917 while serving with the South Staffordshire Regiment. His left leg had been amputated and he had several severe wounds to his left side, some that never healed. Thomas also suffered from shell shock, nowadays known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Following the war, he returned to live in Walthamstow. They had four children, Maud, Sarah, Thomas Jr. and Hilda. Ede and George Hocking (in 1966)
In 1940, Walthamstow, being so close to London's Docklands area, was heavily bombed in what became known as The Blitz.
One of Thomas and Kate’s older daughters, Maud, had married Stanley Puttick. Due to ill health, Stanley had not been conscripted, and it wasn’t long before they also evacuated from London, arriving in Probus with two suitcases and a dog. They recalled having to stand all the way from London on the train as it was so crowded. They also moved into Hazeldene, Fore Street.
Walthamstow
On 27th July 1942, Thomas Reynolds was appointed as Caretaker of Probus Comrades Club
The graphic shows the bombs dropped on Walthamstow area between October 1940 and June 1941. Each red dot indicates the location of a bomb strike. Source: www.bombsight.org 20
