Willie Cullen came down from Cardross, Scotland in 1943 to buy Poplar Hall farm in Ramsey, but ended up buying Foulton Hall that came on the market in September 1943. He was related to the McNair family, also migrated from Scotland, which is possibly why he was drafted into the Aux Units so quickly despite being a stranger to Essex.
After the war, Willie was courting Margaret Roberts (later PM Mrs Thatcher) who had worked at BX Plastics in Brantham, a few miles away from Ramsey. Maggie introduced him to her sister Muriel in Grantham, and those two ended up getting married and she moved down to Essex.
Andrew Cullen says he knows little about his father's time "in the Home Guard", but they had a hideout somewhere in Wrabness woods.
He remembers his father saying, "Matthew McNair would throw the grenades straight up - so they would come down quite near us!"
| Unit or location | Role | Posted from | until |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ramsey Patrol | Patrol member | Unknown | 03 Dec 1944 |
Farmer.
The same man with the same registration number is recorded initially in Colchester B Patrol then at stand down in Ramsey Patrol. Hugh Frostick believes it unlikely that Willie Cullen was in a Colchester patrol, and perhaps his name was pencilled in the wrong place on the Nominal Roll, when he arrived? To further confuse us, his name and another was pencilled on the back of a Norfolk roll, instead of the Essex one!
TNA ref WO199/3389
Andrew Cullen, speaking to Hugh Frostick