Page 7 - Albert Wharrad - The War Years

Albert Wharrad Redditch Heritage
War time Memories of Albert Wharrad

On display here are some personal artefacts from Albert Wharrad. These include his
call up papers, other service related documents and a letter to his mother when he was
finally on-route home after the war.
A lifetime Redditch resident, with the exception of four years in the army serving in
Egypt, Palestine and the Sudan, Albert was a spring maker in a Redditch factory all of
his working life until his retirement.
Prior to the war Albert was in the Home Guard. He
said in an interview with Mike Johnson…..

''It was March 1941 when I joined Headless
Cross Home Guard, part of ''C'' Company,
when I was actually under age, being 16
years and one month old. I was issued with
an uniform, rifle, boots, and gaiters, a belt
and webbing equipment with two ammuni-
tion pouches, a service gas mask, a steel
helmet, and an area's greatcoat. Being slight
of build, I found that with the bayonet fixed,
and the butt of the rifle on the ground the
bayonet point towered above my head by at
least four or five inches.”

Albert Wharrad served as a councillor for 38 years.
He was first elected to Redditch Council in May
1981 and served until 2002. Following changes to
ward boundaries across the borough in June 2004
he stood again and was re-elected, continuing to
serve until 2006 before losing his seat to David
Enderby, Redditch’s first BNP councillor. From
1983 onwards he had represented the Winyates
ward.

Prior to that, he first became a councillor in May 1958 when he was elected to the former
Redditch Urban District Council. He served until 1967, becoming chairman of the Urban
District Council in 1966. In May 1970 he was re-elected and continued as a councillor
with the Urban District Council and its successor authority, Redditch Council, until May
1976.

Mr Warred was a long-serving leader of the council and, over his many years of council
office, was a member or chair of most of the council’s various committees, retaining a
particular passion for the housing committee and services it delivered.
Albert Wharrad died on Thursday, December 31 2010, aged 84.

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