VE DAY

AINTREE

As early as October 1939, men from the 136 Battery, 21st Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, Territorial Army, had been billeted on the course. For two or three weeks, they were housed in the stables, five to a box, taught first-aid in the Old Weighing Room and given drill practice in front of the stands.

After the men were moved on to Cheshire, the racecourse was "reclaimed" by Mrs Topham and the 1940 Grand National was run the following April. Crowds were small but special measures were in place in case there should be an air-raid. The race was won by Bogskar, ridden - appropriately - by Flight Sergeant Mervyn Jones, who just two years later would make the ultimate sacrifice when lost in a Spitfire reconnaissance flight over Norway.

By the summer of 1940, the military had occupied Aintree once again with French sailors, Polish airmen and English troops stationed at the racecourse for varying periods over the next 18 months or so. Liverpool as a city suffered greatly in the Blitz, and Aintree itself did not escape. Three bombs and numerous incendiary devices hit the racecourse in May 1941, although fortunately the stands were not damaged.

From 1942 onwards, American troops took over Aintree Racecourse and used it as a transport camp. Reputedly, nearly 20,000 jeeps passed through, housed in packing cases from the USA. Troops were again housed in the stables, where one box was turned into a barber's shop, while makeshift showers were installed in the Champagne Bar.

At the same time, Italian prisoners of war, used as farm labourers, were housed on the steeplechase course close to the Anchor Bridge crossing. Incredibly, the American troops were still in residence on the racecourse just six weeks before the first post-war Grand National was due to be run. They left on 21st February 1946 and, miraculously, the race went ahead on Friday 5th April, won by Lovely Cottage.

As well as Mervyn Jones, three other Grand National-winning jockeys gave their lives in service during World War II - Robert Everett (Gregalach 1929), Tommy Cullinan (Shaun Goilin 1930) and Frank Furlong (Reynoldstown 1935).

EPSOM DOWNS

By the end of 1939, Epsom Downs Racecourse was commandeered by the Army and the following January, its race meetings were abandoned until further notice.

This prompted the Derby to be moved to Newmarket’s July Course throughout World War II, as it had been during the First World War.

A weekend training school was established in the Grandstand in the summer of 1941 to train Home Guard from throughout the South West London area. The school was opened with an elaborate ceremony attended by senior officers from the armed forces and civilian services. On one occasion 5,000 Home Guard from the South-West London area participated in a “tank battle” on Epsom Downs where the Royal Tank Corps played the part of the enemy.

The grandstand was again the venue for weekend training in 1943. Home Guard companies from different battalions would take it in turn to set-up defensive positions in the Warren Wood – Langley Vale area. Men from the 56th Battalion would often play the part of the “enemy”.

However, the racecourse was also affected by bombing. Parts of the grandstand were damaged and there were craters in the enclosures. Nevertheless, everything was patched up in time and the pre-war carnival spirit was in evidence for the first post-war Derby on Wednesday 5th June 1946, when the crowd was reported as 250,000.

NEWMARKET

During the Second World War most sporting programmes were halted. However, horseracing in Newmarket continued and maintained much of its own racing calendar.

The racecourses did play a part off the track, too, with the Rowley Mile becoming an official RAF Bomber Command Airbase in 1939. Racing continued over on the July Course, which staged the Derby between 1915-18 and 1940-45, when the race was moved from its traditional venue at Epsom Downs during both World Wars.