Holland Brothers in Wide Bargate.

This building, right of centre, in Wide Bargate, is today (2013) the premises of Heron Foods.

It was acquired by local garage firm "Holland Brothers" in 1900 and has undergone extensive changes over the years.

Holland Brothers, just after the turn of the twentieth century.

It had major rebuilding around 1930 but was wrecked by German bombs in 1941 and it was ten years before it was rebuilt again.

The scene after the German bombs dropped. The car in the picture was owned by the former chairman of Fisher Clark (a local label manufacturers) Mr. Vernon Clark.

 

In the 1980's Holland Brothers leased the site to the national chain of hardware stores Wilkinsons and Heron Foods moved in when Wilkinsons moved to premises in Pescod Square. Even on the modern building old features (original?) like the two thin pillars at the front can still be seen.

Gypsies.

At about 10 p.m. one evening in June 1905 two families of German Gypsies entered Boston having been moved on from Wisbech. Their arrival caused much excitement in the town and large crowds followed them through the streets. They were brought to Boston, presumably, by the Wisbech Police and encamped for the night on a piece of waste land at the High Street end of Fydell Crescent.
At daybreak, many people congregated in the vicinity of the two vans inhabited by the gypsies, watching with great curiosity the strange spectacle that met their view. It was a picturesque scene, and had the surroundings been of a more rural character, would have constituted exactly a picture that an artist would love to paint. The tumble down caravans with their low arched roofs, dilapidated windows and general suggestion of age and poverty, rendered them great objects of interest. Worn and weather-beaten it was a wonder how the gypsies, having such scanty protection, had fared during the thunderstorm through which they passed the previous day on their journey from Wisbech to Boston and the pathetic and poverty stricken appearance of the gypsies provoked a feeling of sympathy in many who saw them.
Their were two families of them, a man and woman and four children in one van, and a man and woman and five children in the other. The behaviour of the gypsy children must have shocked the strict parents of Boston when seeing that youngsters from three to twelve smoked constantly. Unkempt and poorly-clad, they flitted here and there puffing away at the stale "fag ends" of cigars and cigarettes which were tossed to them by onlookers. The women, whose tanned and pleasant faces always bore a happy smile, busied themselves with telling fortunes and begging coins whilst smoking long clay pipes.
Conversation with the male members of the band showed that one family came from Potsdam and the other from Dresden and that they had been in England for about seven months. There were five vans originally but three of them left England for Germany, via Grimsby, a few weeks before. While in London they were told that if they could reach Grimsby the Society of Friends for the Relief of Foreigners in Distress would ship them home and they were now trying to make their way there. It was seven weeks since they had left London and they had been moved from town to town by the authorities. Their object in coming to England was to make a living by playing musical instruments but had failed to do so and now wanted to get back to their own country.
During the morning the Chief Constable (Mr. A. Adcock) intimated to the visitors that they must leave the town. Some horses belonging to Mr. Walter Woodthorpe were requisitioned and the gypsies were moved on to Stickney (a village about 10 miles from Boston) where they would no doubt be attended to by more Police. It was clearly stated that Bostonians were "glad to see the back of the Gypsies who were far from clean."

Christmas 1914.

The following letter was sent by Private M. Rivett of the "C" Company, 2nd. Lincolns, to his wife at 9, Orchard Street, Boston in 1914.

"Just a few lines to let you know that I am still keeping well. I hope baby and yourself are the same. Well, this is Christmas Day, and we are having a nice day, quite enjoying ourselves. Not a shot is being fired, as far as we can hear. It is a mutual armistice and our Battallion is out of the trenches for a short spell.
I suppose the Germans are quite as pleased as us to have a quiet day, in fact, it was told to us this morning by several of our officers, who had been to the trenches, that our men met the Germans half way between the trenches, exchanged greetings, gave them cigarettes etc., and had quite a friendly meeting. Of course, only a few of each met, and without arms.
We had a fine dinner, boiled chicken, potatoes, turnips, leeks, topped up by a pound of fine plum pudding, with rum sauce. Not bad, was it? Tonight we are having a concert round the camp fire, in fact, they have just started. During the day we had football matches, with a new ball, sent by some kind friends. So you see it takes a lot to upset our men, or make us forget Christmas.
But what a change tomorrow. Our battallion will be in the trenches. Peace and goodwill forgotten, each man will be trying his best to pick off one or more of the enemy. But all will be different next Christmas, for something must soon give way under the great strain, and I am confident it will not be the Allies side of the trenches. It is splendid to watch our flying men go over the Germans lines, for they never turn back until they see what they go for. I saw one machine have at least thirty shells fired at it. Some of them were very close, too, and each moment I expected him to be brought down. But we were very pleased to see him fly back again. This is quite true.
The officer just told us that this morning the Germans sang their National Anthem,and our men responded with "Rule Britannia," which was encored by the Germans and sang again. One German said to one of our officers, "You will be here only a few days now, we have crushed the Russians." Our officer said, "But I can tell you a different tale. The German army has been badly beaten by the Russians." The German replied, "Why should I believe you any more than you believe me?" So you see they are still confident, and not yet beaten. The truth of this is vouched for by several of our officers.
I received your parcel, one from Mrs. Wallesley, and the one from the Boston papers. Thank all who sent me things, and Hannah for the pudding."

The Germans.

At the start of the First World War in 1914 there were two German brothers living in Boston who had been naturalised Englishmen for twenty-three years. The brothers, George and Leonard Cantenwine owned a butchers shop in High Street and late on the first Saturday night of the war a crowd attacked the shop because it was rumoured that customers had heard them expressing pro-German sentiments.
All the windows were broken and the shop looted and several of the attackers were later charged, surprisingly one of these was Alfred Harlow, another butcher.

 

Recruiting in the Market Place 1914, when there was hatred toward the German people of the town.

 

When he gave his evidence, Leonard Cantenwine asked the magistrates to be lenient and later several Boston people wrote to the press and expressed sympathy for the Cantenwine's and disgust with the rioters. In the first week of August 1918 when the war had gone on for four long years, an unsigned letter appeared in all the local papers explaining why the local farmers had not supported as well as had been expected the War Savings Campaign that summer. The writer pointed out that 'Germans' were living in Boston and had purchased farms near the military aerodrome at Freiston Shore. Leonard Cantenwine did own a small farm at Freiston and had recently bought a second at Leverton. The letter also accused these Germans of going to these farms daily in order to spy and hinted that they were preparing to assist in a landing of German troops on the coast. The writer was soon identified as Mr. Joseph Bowser J.P., also chairman of the Boston Branch of the National Farmers Union.
The Cantenwines had had enough and decided to defend themselves and started an action for libel against Mr. Bowser, The case wasn't heard until June 1919 when the war was long over. Many witnesses appeared for Mr. Bowser and they retold every little event of the war involving the Cantenwines in an attempt to show that the brothers supported Germany despite their naturalisation and, therefore, that Mr. Bowser's comments were basically true. Miss Bristowe, a barmaid at the White Hart and Walter Woodthorpe the coal merchant, told how Leonard Cantenwine in 1914 had forecast that the Germans would win the war and that he would become 'Burgermaster of Boston'.
The jury took only twenty five minutes to decide that Mr. Bowser's letter was defamatory but that the words used were fair comment on a matter of public interest. The Cantenwines were ordered to pay the entire costs of the case and it is no wonder that they soon left Boston.

When the Germans conquered England

What's this? A German sentry at the top of Wormgate, which has a strange foreign name plaque?

German soldiers marching past the Blenkin Memorial Hall toward the Market Place?

No, these are stills from the film "One of our aircraft is missing" which was filmed during the second world war in Boston. They needed a Dutch town and of course couldn't go to Holland to get the real thing because the Germans occupied Holland at the time so, with Boston having some Dutch styled architecture, the Dutch scenes were filmed in Boston. Scenes of the Stump and of the swing bridge were also included in the film
Googie Withers played the lead feminine role

One of our aircraft is missing

One of Our Aircraft is Missing (parts of which were filmed in Boston) is a 1942 British war film that was made under the authority of the Ministry of Information. It begins dramatically with the crash of "B for Bertie", a  Wellington bomber whose crew were forced to bail out over Holland after one of their engines was damaged during a night time raid on Stuttgart. It goes on to tell the story of how they are helped by the Dutch resistance.Many of the outdoor scenes set in Holland were filmed at Boston (as in 1942 the Germans still occupied the Netherlands) and many of the town's landmarks are visible in the film for example the quaysides, the Railway Swing Bridge (below) and the Church house at the top of Wormgate.