It begins...



Where it all started! The iconic Sunlight Soap packaging

Hello all,

Welcome to "Port Sunlight 1938", a wargames blog about Port Sunlight and the Wirral in the UK.

The genre is A Very British Civil War (VBCW) in the late 1930s, so although the setting itself and much of the background is real, from now on things get interesting...



Port Sunlight is an ideal setting (to my mind!) for an ongoing struggle. The soap factory has a natural byproduct in glycerin, which has obvious uses in the manufacture of explosives. The workers of the soap factory, desperate to preserve their more or less idyllic working environment, struggle against outside influences who would invade, take over or otherwise infringe on the factory, the community and surrounding area. They are aided by and allied to the more formalised pro-Sunlight forces in the area (see below). The communists of the LFS, local BUF / fascist bodies and other militant forces would all dearly love access to the glycerin and raid frequently to that end.

My initial planning so far is heading this way...

Potential protagonists:

1. Port Sunlight Worker's Militia (PSWM). More socialist than communist, the workers of the soap factory have formed themselves into a militia to defend their jobs and homes. They often "borrow" factory assets like trucks to further their activities.
2. Leverhulme Local Defence Volunteers (LLDV). Raised by the current Lord Leverhulme and based at Thornton Manor, the LLDV are dedicated to preservation of the local area, including the industrial infrastructure.
3. Others: Cheshire Yeomanry, Liverpool Docks Communists, Manchester BUF, Welsh, etc, etc.

Caveats of the project:

1. At all times the memory and history of the original Lord Lever, his family and what they stood for should be respected. My "inner gentleman philanthrope" will not permit anything less!
2. Anyone is free to suggest ideas, participate or otherwise enter into the fun provided they respect point 1.

So here we go. Post number one is out of the way.

Tally bally ho!
Millsy