We were in basic training for a month, at times it seemed endless, at others it passed quickly. How we felt was a barometer of what was happening, how interested we were or what Chalky White was putting us through in the rain.. A week to ten days before our departure we had a celebration… Continue reading Leaving Butlins for Newcastle
Author: jp
Royal Navy, 1941-46, Butlins
The New Boys We spent the first month at Butlins Holiday camp at Skegness which had been renamed HMS Royal Arthur and sounded in our ears like an aircraft carrier. Inevitably the result was that Smith and some others were able to give rein to their fantasies in the local pubs, not realising that the… Continue reading Royal Navy, 1941-46, Butlins
Royal Navy, 1941 – 46, First Day in the the Navy
The Chameleon Theory Seven years old, now inured to Africa, I adopted a chameleon. We watched one another, daily, although it mostly watched insects – as dinner – from a bush beside the front door. I was enthralled by the stillness of this ugly creature, its strange jerky movements, and the speed of the rapier-like… Continue reading Royal Navy, 1941 – 46, First Day in the the Navy
The Period of Service in the Royal Navy, 1941 – 46
The Changes to Naval Life In1940, Part 1 Prior to 1940 the Navy in today’s terms was a cross between a monk’s seminary and a football supporters club. Lower Deck life aboard ship was hard, totally masculine, and without any privacy. Shore leave was limited, often only a few hours and lived at strength 10.… Continue reading The Period of Service in the Royal Navy, 1941 – 46
The Westminster Home Guard, Part 2 of 2
The Home Guard And Buck-HousePresumably, as a morale booster, some genius at Whitehall thought it would be a ‘terrific idea’ if the HG were to mount guard at Buck H, not realising what the poor devils would suffer at the delicate hands of the Guards’ Drill Sergeants. An edict was sent to the platoons and… Continue reading The Westminster Home Guard, Part 2 of 2
The Westminster Home Guard Part1 of 2
The Very Odd Home Guard ExerciseOur office platoon of the Westminster Battalion had to perform the odd exercises, which could take place in parks, on Wimbledon Common, anywhere. Of them all this was the oddest. They generally consisted of creeping about in an ill-fitting uniform with an empty rifle, drinking tea at an all night… Continue reading The Westminster Home Guard Part1 of 2
1939 – 41, Cluttons Part 3 of 3
My next posting was to the Rent Department. Miss Veezey, a charming if slightly tentative young woman hated being brought face to face with the seamier side of life, presented by the area that we had to work in. The Management had decided I was a more robust specimen. The day I was appointed I… Continue reading 1939 – 41, Cluttons Part 3 of 3
1939 – 41, Cluttons Part 2 of 3
I started on the Post Book stamping letters with a franking machine and recording each letter in the book, then balancing the costs against the record of the stamper at the end of every day. At the same time I acted as relief telephone operator with the instruction that as no calls were supposed to… Continue reading 1939 – 41, Cluttons Part 2 of 3
1939 – 41, Cluttons Part 1 of 3
I describe the Cluttons of 1940 because it was a marvellous institution and to set the scene of the Westminster Home Guard. Told, misguidedly, going to university during the war was pointless because of evacuation and being called for service, I was articled as a Valuation Surveyor to the most august Surveyors in Britain, and… Continue reading 1939 – 41, Cluttons Part 1 of 3
1939 – 42, The London Blitz, Part 2
As far as I was concerned I could never be bothered to get out of bed unless the bombing was so heavy my mother insisted and then she and I sat in the cupboard under the stairs. It was there that I witnessed real fear, almost to the point of terror for the first time.… Continue reading 1939 – 42, The London Blitz, Part 2