How Preston North End players were impacted by WWII as VE Day remembers fallen heroes

On this day in 1945, UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced that the war in Europe had come to an end after Germany’s surrender. On Victory in Europe Day, we look back on the role of Preston North End’s players during World War II, and remember those who lost their lives.

Their war service

In total, 55 players from PNE signed up for the armed forces or in supporting roles. Star man Tom Finney served as a tank driver in North Africa and Italy after joining the Royal Armoured Corps in 1942. Elsewhere, Bill Shankly spent seven years in the RAF. He was based in Bishopbriggs and met his future wife, Nessie, there.

Bobby Langton and Andy Beattie served in India as Army Physical Training Instructors. The latter had played in the 1937 and 1938 FA Cup finals and played for Scotland, whom he twice went on to manage on a caretaker basis. Jack Fairbrother joined Blackburn Police in 1941 and won the FA Cup 10 years later with Newcastle United.

He was joined at Blackburn Police by Willie Hamilton, who went into the Army in 1994. PNE boss between 1960 and 1968, Jimmy Milne, became a constable for Lancashire Police. Jack Darley was wounded and captured in 1944 and became a prisoner of war for the remainder of the conflict. By that year, there were 42 North End players in uniform.

Those who fell

Percy Thomas Taylor: Died on 10/04/1942, at the age of 22, after his motorbike collided with a lorry. He had played for North End in the 1941 and 1942 North Divisions and Football League War Cup. He had joined the Durham Light Infantry.

David Willacy: Died on 01/09/1941, at the age of 25, in a Hawker Hurricane Scot flying accident. Willacy was a RAF Reserve and joined North End in 1938 from Queen of the South. He played one match before the suspension of football in 1939.

Jack Owen: Died in 1943. He made two appearances in the 1941 War Cup. Eddie Gore: Died in 1944. He played one game in the 1941/42 North League first Championship.

Deepdale during WWII

PNE’s home was commandeered by the army in 1942 and used as a holding camp for prisoners of war, who were housed in the Pavilion stand. They were granted access to the pitch to exercise on during the day.

Other parts of the ground were used for storage - a large underground fuel tank from the time was removed when the Sir Tom Finney Stand was built in 1996. Troops and police were also housed in the ground. North End played at Leyland Motors’ ground for most of the remainder of the war, while occasionally returning to Deepdale.

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