The Steley family during WW1
Extract from an unpublished memoir written by the late Cyril Joseph Steley in the early 1980s.

“… The Steley family was fortunate to escape the ravages of war. They were too young to participate in any practical sense. My father was considered to be doing an important civilian job and so was exempt from National Service. His grocery business and the Post Office attached to it took up most of his time. He was appointed as contractor to HM Services and supplied food to them, both in Southwold and at the Henham Park camps.

Each day, lines of horse-drawn or mule-drawn limbers were drawn up in Stradbroke Road, waiting their turn to load up with supplies. It was not easy to procure provisions and my father had to search the area for those wholesalers who could supply him. One amusing incident comes to mind: Father sent an urgent order by telegraph to Palethorpes, the sausage manufacturers. It read "Please send one thousand Polonies." (a kind of thick rolled sausage meat in a red skin.) The message was duly delivered but with one word misspelled. Back came a telegram from Palethorpes: "Sorry, we do not sell ponies.

Apart from his business commitments, my father joined the Home Guard. He did his stint of training at the Drill Hall and toured the town at night to see that all was well.

I was in bed suffering from an attack of influenza when the War ended on 11th November 1918. My first intimation of that joyous occasion was the rapturous ringing of the church bells and the cheering of people in the street. As I hopped out of bed and peered out of the window, a fleet of armoured cars of the Royal Naval Air Service drove down Stradbroke Road, their delirious crews manning the gun turrets and waving Union Jacks, tooting horns in a discordant din"