250854 Cons. George Leonard Spall Metropolitan Police War Reserve L Div. Lambeth from:Croydon, Surrey My father, George Spall, was born in 1902 and was too young to serve in WW1. In 1939 he was a porter in a department store and with no military record and his father having been in the Metropolitan Police most of his life it would have made sense for him to join the Metropolitan War Reserve.
He was a full-time, paid constable from 4th September 1939 until 20th April, 1942 but continued 'off pay' which meant he could be called up again at any time. He was signed off on 31st December 1945 and commended for good work. He initially worked at Brixton police station but that was hit by a bomb in 1941 and was too badly damaged to use.
He met my mother in Brixton where she was working as a cook at the Maudsley hospital and they married in Cheam on June 29th, 1941.
They lived in Thornton Heath but were twice bombed in the Blitz. In 1943 my mother, pregnant at the time, was evacuated to Durham with me as a baby so my father moved back into his mother's house. They put what remained of their furniture in the store and the store was bombed. They lost their belongings 3 times but were very fortunate not to lose their lives.
In 1947 they left London and moved to the south coast.
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