William Eric Greenwood

Extracts from Lincolnshire Standard 1968 on the publishing of David Lampe's “The Last Ditch”;

Among those who will be reading it  [The Last Ditch] with very special interest are former underground Group leaders Captain Frank Dawson of Dalby Hall, Spilsby, Captain Leslie Clarke and Captain W E Greenwood both of Pilleys Lane, Boston and Lt.W J Ground of Spalding. They are among British Resistance leaders mentioned in the book...

Mr W E Greenwood, headmaster, magistrate, youth worker and former resistance leader...

...His roll [Captain Clarke's] was similar to that of Mr W E Greenwood, new headmaster of Park County Junior School, a magistrate and holder of the M.B.E awarded for his services to youth.

Mr Greenwood, then Captain Greenwood was in the underground army before Mr Clarke and operated from headquarters at Butterwick, where he was headmaster for the local school.

It was when the Boston area organisation grew too large for one man that Mr Clarke was brought in to help him.
Mr Greenwood's home at Butterwick also often served as a storage place for weapons and explosives, so his wife was in on the secret.

“My wife was always very uncomfortably aware of the explosives stored under the stairs whenever an air raid siren sounded” says Mr Greenwood.

Like the others he has not thought for many years about the days when he practised lightening raids after dark on a ruthless enemy, of the weekends he spent in underground chambers dug out of the side of a field bank, of the secret meetings in different places, and the training sessions at special Commando type centres.

“We were deadly serious and prepared to accept the risk and in the end we were well trained enough to have given a very good account of ourselves” he says now.

“I'm proud to have been part of it and to have served with such a hand picked body of men – and I still think it was a good idea”

....All over Lincolnshire as this book is read, the secret will be coming out ….

At one time Jack Barrand of Butterwick Patrol and Captain Bill Greenwood bought a fishing boat together.