South Shields and its near neighbors such as Jarrow were key communities
in the national war effort, despite their relatively small size. Located
on the East Coast, South Shields was situated at the key entry to the
strategically important River Tyne and was well defended against enemy
attack. The seaside town saw a large military buildup with several
different army and naval units rotating through the area to man defenses
and to train whilst the local Home Guard unit defended vital
installations such as shipyards and docks.
Huge numbers of South Shields men and women volunteered for wartime
service, while many others worked in vital wartime industries. The town
had a particularly high number of men serving in the Merchant Navy and
the South Shields mariners suffered very heavy casualties. South Shields
also had a multicultural population with a large number of foreign (or
aliens as they were referred to) seamen and an especially large and
active Yemeni community. Indeed, South Shields was to become then first
town in Britain to have a purpose-built mosque. Although there were
tensions amongst the population due to cultural and racial differences,
but the Yemeni community played a considerable and loyal role in the war
effort.
The area also hosted a large number of heavy and light industrial works;
the shipyards made a significant contribution to the war effort, with
vast amounts of coal transported from the docks of South Shields,
especially Tyne Dock, while at Jarrow, there were determined, though
largely unsuccessful, attempts to revive the famous Palmer's Yard.
The book also looks at the considerable contribution made by the men and
women who volunteered for the ARP and Civil Defence Services. The towns
of Tyneside, including South Shields, were heavily attacked by the
Luftwaffe and the blitzes of 1941 hit the town particularly hard. No
member of the community was left untouched by the war, whether they were
evacuees, workers, servicemen or just civilians struggling to maintain a
home in wartime Britain. South Shields and its neighboring communities
made a considerable contribution to the war effort, one which deserves
to be remembered.
