The son of Frank and Mary Shearn he married Ivy M L Blatchford in 1941. Albert was named after his Grandfather which neither he nor his mother liked. His father called him Albert but everyone else called him John.
A letter in Midsomer Norton, Radstock & District Journal 6 Oct 1992 includes:
During 1940, after Dunkirk, the Home Guard was formed and I joined. Some weeks later I was asked if I would be interested in joining a special unit, I asked what the special unit might be but I was told to go and see a solicitor in the square at Midsomer Norton and after being sworn to secrecy, I was briefed on this special assignment. The government thought the German invasion of this country was imminent, so taking a line from the Wash to the Severn, south of this sabotage units were set up all over the country roughly 15 miles apart, each unit was 6 men. Within a few weeks we were supplied with explosives, time fuses, hand grenades, revolvers and a lot of other material. The idea was to blow up railway and road bridges and anything else to sabotage the German invaders.
I don't expect any of the townsfolk ever imagined that a quarter of a ton of explosives and hand grenades were stored in one of the bedrooms in the house next to the Mill. The intension was for all these Units, in the event of invasion, to literally go underground. Under Army supervision, we were digging an Operational Base (OB) in a wood off the road leading to Clapton between Old Mills Colliery and Farrington Gurney. I could go back to that place now. If German airborne troops had invaded we would probably have been massacred but Germany invaded Russia so the threat of invasion petered out.
During the Winter of 1940 I worked the night shift at the Mill making cattle cake. I left early in 1941 to join the Forces and came back to this country in 1946. The OB was not finished when I left and I wonder what happened to the quarter of a ton of explosives in the house next to the Mill.
The solicitor in the Square was Allan Thatcher.
John joined the RAF and served until 1946.
| Unit or location | Role | Posted from | until |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midsomer Norton Patrol | Patrol member | Unknown | 1941 |
Tractor driver and mechanic
John is not recorded on the nominal roll but joined Auxiliary Units after Dunkirk and left to join the RAF in 1941.
John wrote his wartime memories for his family. Auxiliary Units are not mentioned.
Nephew - Frank Readhead
Daughter Moira Allsford
Alan Readhead - The Midsomer Norton Company of the 4th Somerset Battalion of the Home Guard in WW2