When one gets to the point in life where you have outlived most of your friends and those you haven’t are probably in sheltered accommodation, one can be excused for questioning every change in the routine of life. My current problem is diction, other people’s diction, on television and on film. In an essay I… Continue reading Random Thoughts No 9, I ‘m Either Going Deaf or Daft
Royal Navy 1941 to 46 in order, You’re No Use To Me.
As Part of the Newcastle training we had to learn lathe work, forging and bench work at the Metalwork classes, a re-run of my Matriculation syllabus. This was an opportunity for me to relax. One day I was working on a lathe when I found a note complaining that the machine had been left dirty.… Continue reading Royal Navy 1941 to 46 in order, You’re No Use To Me.
Royal Navy 1941 to 46, in order,The injustice of being Billeted in a Brothel.
It must be understood that about 1940/41 the whole of Briton was going through an incredible time of change, at home and in the forces. There was evacuation, rationing, which induced the Black Market, bombing, recruitment, and families being split. In the forces, the need to recruit men and women in vast numbers, clothe and… Continue reading Royal Navy 1941 to 46, in order,The injustice of being Billeted in a Brothel.
Royal Navy, 1941 to 46 in order, Leaving Butlins for Newcaste.
Leaving Butlins 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… Continue reading Royal Navy, 1941 to 46 in order, Leaving Butlins for Newcaste.
Royal Navy 1941 to ’46, in order, 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 to ’46, in order, Butlins.
Royal Navy 1941 to ’46, in order, First Day In 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 to ’46, in order, First Day In The navy
The Futility of Terrorism
Having lived with terrorism for close on 40 years, and still living with it, having been threatened and held up by terrorists, including youngsters with Molotov cocktails, I have thought about it repeatedly. To some extent, I can understand internecine terrorism, even if I think it’s futile, but international terrorism seems pointless. The only people… Continue reading The Futility of Terrorism
Random Thoughts N0 8, The Boy Who Set Himself Alight
At the beginning of this week a boy in North Belfast set himself alight while committing arson in a derelict house. I don’t need to dwell on the misery of the parents nor the stupidity and blind ignorance of the child. This incident raises so many aspects of today’s living that I have decided to… Continue reading Random Thoughts N0 8, The Boy Who Set Himself Alight
Royal Navy, 1941 to ’46, in order, The Change to Naval Life in 1940
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. The sailors were proud of the Navy and… Continue reading Royal Navy, 1941 to ’46, in order, The Change to Naval Life in 1940
WW2, 1940 to 41, in order, Cluttons Part 3 of 3.
Following on from items Cluttons 1 and 2, I write this because it highlights the differences between business in the late Victorian era, my time there, and today Aspirations outstripped resources, with ideas beyond my station, like going to the theatre. In London, at lunch time I would rent a folding seat, at the entrance… Continue reading WW2, 1940 to 41, in order, Cluttons Part 3 of 3.