When the Second World War was declared on 3 September 1939, regular Football League matches ceased. Instead of the four English leagues several local leagues were created, and all matches were ‘friendlies’. The Football Association (the smaller clubs) were only allowed to travel 50 miles for away games. Much the same occurred in Scotland, where there were two leagues, North and South. Crowd sizes were restricted for fear of bombing and nearly 800 professional footballers were called up because it was not a reserved occupation, including such legends as Stanley Matthews and Tom Finney. To compensate, footballers on leave or based locally could play for other sides as guests.
Another footballer who was affected by the war was George Hedley Swindin, who was born in 1914 in Yorkshire. He had a career as an Arsenal player between 1936 and 1954 as goalkeeper and captain; in total he made more than 300 appearances although only 297 are officially recognised, the rest being played as ‘friendlies’ during the war, and helped Arsenal win three League Championships and one FA Cup (1950). George later became a manager, including for the Gunners in 1958–1962. He played for other clubs too, including both Leeds United and Clapton Orient (now Leyton Orient) as a wartime guest. His British Army service record is relatively simple, making it a good example for understanding the key documents that a service record contains.
Having volunteered early in the war as a War Reserve policeman, George played briefly for Leeds while serving in the area. On conscription he resigned from the police and was enlisted, on 28 March 1940, by the Bradford recruiting officer. He was enlisted into the Territorial Army (TA), as were the vast majority of conscript soldiers. The Regular Army had specific terms of service, but the TA enlisted for “as long as His Majesty should require your services in connexion with the present emergency for which you are enlisting”, with the promise that “you will be discharged as soon as your services can be dispensed with” after the emergency ceases. Although the soldiers grumbled, this did allow flexibility as the war began to wind down, enabling older soldiers and those who’d served longest to be released first.
Posted to the artillery
George was posted to the Royal Artillery and did his basic training with the regiment as a gunner (equivalent to private); his Army Number was 1555792 (numbers were allocated in groups to regiments, and Royal Artillery numbers were between 721001 and 1842000). This was unique to him – every soldier had a unique number, unlike in the First World War – and he retained it even after his later transfer. He would have done the same training as all new soldiers, learning to march, drill, carry and use a rifle, obey orders, use basic fieldcraft, and get fit.
George’s talent for leading men was soon recognised and he was rapidly promoted to sergeant, but he was also noted for his physical fitness and, after the mandatory six months’ basic training, was transferred to the Army Physical Training Corps (APTC) on 16 September 1940, then promoted to the rank of company sergeant major in January 1941. The APTC was formed in 1940, based in Aldershot, Hampshire, to be responsible for developing and maintaining the physical fitness, resilience and combat readiness of all soldiers using expert instructors and adventurous training, as well as promoting injury rehabilitation. Fellow footballers Matt Busby and Tommy Lawton (also an Arsenal player) both served in the APTC during the war too.
As a company sergeant major George was responsible for the discipline, training and welfare of the men in his company and was responsible to the officer in command, usually a major. He was, of course, expected to be as fit as, if not fitter than, the troops under his command. The corps also trained specialist units such as Special Forces and parachutists, with some corps members following them into action and serving with distinction under fire.
Anti-aircraft assistance
In July 1941 George was attached to the 4th Anti-Aircraft Division at Fleetwood, Lancashire, which controlled the anti-aircraft (AA) batteries that protected Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Coventry and vital points across the area. The region had suffered heavy bombing earlier, but by now brand new batteries were replacing old ones which had to be brought to peak efficiency and fitness quickly – loading and firing AA guns was tiring work. George must have been very busy! He was then attached to 4 Anti-Aircraft Divisional School in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, and appears to have travelled a lot, often spending several weeks away from the school itself.
For much of the rest of the war he was attached to different AA batteries in north-west England, and as far south as Lee-on-the-Solent in Hampshire near Southampton. Because he was based in the UK, he still had the chance to play in League Football occasionally. He’s noted as “having assisted Oldham” in 1942 as well as playing, as a guest, for Anti-Aircraft Command against an army side and, in 1943, he played at home in goal for Arsenal against Chelsea because he was “in the south on a course”.
In August 1945 Arsenal played against a Combined Services side in Düsseldorf, Germany, made up of British servicemen serving abroad, and among the players who went with them from Britain was George Swindin. He also played for the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) between September and December 1945.
George was discharged from the Army as a class II warrant officer (company sergeant major) on 27 February 1946, but because he had served a lot of time as an unpaid class I warrant officer he received a larger than usual War Gratuity (a ‘bonus’ paid on discharge, the amount calculated according to the length of service and final rank; it was also paid to widows). He returned to Arsenal when the Football League was resurrected on 31 August 1946, and if the war hadn’t intervened he would surely have made many more appearances for the team.
George left Arsenal in 1954, and became player–manager for Peterborough United until 1958, then managed Arsenal in 1958–1962; Norwich City in 1962; Cardiff City in 1962–1964; Kettering Town in 1965; and Corby Town in 1969–1970.
On leaving the game in 1970 George ran a garage, then spent years in Spain before returning to Britain. Suffering later in life from Alzheimer’s disease he died on 26 October 2005 aged 90.
