This pattern developed up to 1939. With the outbreak of war the scale
of voluntary help was greatly reduced, and the men’s club members
shrank as members took up national service jobs or moved elsewhere.
This was accentuated by evacuation and by the severe bomb damage
the neighbourhood sustained. The boys’ club numbers were kept up,
however, and they did good work in preserving the buildings from fire
damage. An Army cadet company was formed and ran until the end of
the war.
