The Second World War did not have the same dramatic impact on the Club as the Great War. On 15 September 1939 a meeting was called to discuss ‘the position of the Club and its activities in wartime’.

And activity did continue, although more in some sections than in others, with hockey continuing to run two teams through the winter, while the rugby section appears to have ceased. In the 1941/42 season, for example, the men’s hockey side played 24 matches; of 71 goals scored, 38 were by Major Cook, the Irish international player.

Similarly, cricket continued, while the tennis section had no league matches, although it is later recorded that the latter section was well supported by the ladies.

Committee meetings became less regular, often with some months passing between meetings, especially over the summer. And exceptional circumstances demanded extraordinary solutions.

On 9 December 1941, the committee passed a motion that ‘in view of War Time conditions and until hostilities cease, a Lady Treasurer be appointed for the Club with voting powers, also any other Lady Members who may be co-opted to the General Committee from time to time, and that the General Committee is authorised to make such appointments’.

It was early in 1942 that the first connection was established between the Club and the National Fire Service, a relationship which has continued up to the present.

The Annual General Meetings of 1943 and 1944 attracted only 14 and 15 members respectively.