Outbreak of war

Home Guard inspection on Benenden Green

Collingwood Ingram on the lef nearest the camera

Just as in the summer of 1914, in 1939 Collingwood returned from abroad to a country on the brink of war. This time he was much too old for the forces, but soon became a key part of Benenden’s defences.

         The Local Defence Volunteers (soon to be renamed the Home Guard) were established in May 1940 in response to fear of imminent invasion. Captain Collingwood Ingra (he still used his First World War rank) was appointed Commander of the Benenden platoon. His WW1  service as a Compass Officer working as an individual, with little supervision from above and without supervising others, may not have equipped him for the command, but he was very conscientious and did a good job. He wrote out all his talks to the men and so has left a remarkable record of the period. Benenden was vulnerable. in the front line of an expected German invasion.

         To the many who had served in WW1, the outbreak of another world war little more than twenty years later, must have been both shocking and demoralising. By 26 May, the Germans had overrun the French army the British Expeditionary Force was cut off and the evacuation from Dunkirk was just beginning, Collingwood found some short-lived solace in the song of a Nightingale.

26 May 1940, Benenden

The end of all happiness seems to be approaching. Dark destiny thunders loudly and ominously in the air all day and all night. The dull crumpling roar of distant artillery throbs increasingly in our ears – like the angry, muffled roar of some all-destroying monster.

Tonight, when I was out on my rounds, visiting the Patrols of the Local Defence Volunteers (I am in command of those in the Benenden area), for a brief space of time this awesome, nerve-wracking sound was completely drowned by the ecstatic outpouring of a Nightingale. Never have I heard this bird sing more loudly or more exquisitely. The powerful musical notes filled the night with a resonant melody that was like an epitome of passionate joy. I stopped my car and lingered awhile, listening to this great, heartening voice and for a brief, for a very brief, space forgot all else.