Walter Wilson drives the mail through the Blitz

In 1948 Walter Wilson of 9 Hardwicke Road, Redhill was awarded the Imperial Service Medal for his 45 years with the Post Office. His starring achievement was his wartime work for Walter had helped keep Britain's postal network running under exceptionally difficult conditions.

Walter had joined the Post Office in 1904 as a telegraph messenger and spent many years in the Reigate district. By the outbreak of war in 1939, he was an experienced night driver, used to long journeys in all weathers. He was going to face much greater challenges.

Keeping the Mail Moving

German bombing raids on London created serious problems for the postal service. Mail arriving from northern Britain normally passed through the capital but air raids and bomb damage often caused delays. To overcome the problem, the Post Office established a special night van service from Redhill to Watford. There, drivers met the main ‘Travelling Post Office’ trains carrying mail from Glasgow, Aberdeen, Newcastle and Carlisle. The route allowed mail to bypass London and avoid the worst disruption caused by the Blitz.

 

Each night Wilson and his colleagues travelled almost 100 miles, taking an outward route through Woking and returning via Kingston. They collected around sixty mailbags and brought them back to Redhill for onward distribution across the South East. Their work was vital as letters from service personnel, official correspondence and family messages all depended on them.

 

Just in Time to Meet the Doodlebugs

The journeys were rarely routine. Throughout the war the drivers worked under blackout conditions and the constant threat of enemy attack. They frequently navigated by the beams of searchlights sweeping across the sky in search of German aircraft.

Wilson later recalled that the vans often approached Kingston ‘just in time to meet the Doodlebugs.’ These terrifying pilotless V-1 flying bombs, launched against London and the South East from the summer of 1944. Postal workers travelling the roads at night found themselves directly in their path.

 

While most citizens were sheltering indoors during air raids, Wilson and his colleagues continued their journeys, ensuring that the nation's postal network remained operational. The service ran throughout the war. Night after night, regardless of raids, weather or road conditions, the mail continued to move.

 

An Unsung Wartime Contribution

When peace returned, Walter resumed work on his former route serving West Sussex, retiring a few years later after a long postal career. Looking back, he estimated that he had driven around three-quarters of a million miles and more than half a million of those miles were covered during the hours of darkness.

Today, Walter Wilson's story serves as a reminder that victory in wartime depended not only on those serving in the armed forces but also on thousands of civilians who kept vital services running.

Source: Surrey Mirror - Friday 13 August 1948