A FORMER Alloa history teacher has released his second book in a bid to detail life in the town during WWII.

Andrew Hunt has released These Critical Times: Alloa at War 1939-1945 in what is a companion volume to his 2018 release focusing on The Great War.

Formerly the principal teacher of history at Alloa Academy, Andrew focused the work on the war's impact of the town in what is a social history, rather than a military one.

The second book follows a similar theme to his first volume In the Forefront: Alloa at War 1914-1919, breaking down the discussion into sections, often relating to the different sub-groups.

“It's really a story of what the people of Alloa went through and how they faced up to the challenges of being at war,” the author explained.

“That's why it's got the title it has, because in kirk session minutes or in the Alloa Advertiser or in the minutes of local clubs, they use an expression of how they are going to react to 'these critical times' and 'this present emergency'.

“People didn't act like this was a calamitous event which was going to last forever, they just acted like it was a temporary hiccup – 'these critical times'.

“Things were quite bad but because so many people in Alloa have been through a war already, they knew exactly what was going to happen: rationing, shortage of petrol, possibly taking evacuees, the men being sent off to war and the women moving into industry – all these things to them were a continuation of what they expected to happen.”

For many, the author explained, it felt as if it was WWI – the sequel.

Andrew highlights how Alloa played a part in the war industry, including the tank landing craft built at McLeod & Sons shipyard which were used for amphibious operations in Normandy.

Normality was disturbed for years and while there was loss, the death rate in Alloa was nothing like that seen in The Great War.

Young people would be educated, but the prospect of being called up for war or being told to work in industry was always looming.

There were also tragedies, with two instances of children involved in explosions such as the incident on Jellyholm Road.

Later, following another explosion in Tillicoultry, it was believed the young people may have been playing with mortar shells used by the army for practice in the fields past Gartmorn Dam.

Andrew was a history teacher for 32 years before retiring in 2010 and was originally working on the first book with late colleague David Henderson.

The book is available directly from Revielle Press while Amazon is also due to receive stock in the coming days and weeks.