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Members' Page NATIONAL SERVICE (Part 1) SOME MEMORIES OF SOUTHWOOD CAMP , COVE. MAY - AUG 1951
The present day Poplar is a very different place, from the one depicted here in the early fifties. Many of it's industries, buildings, and peoples have changed over the years, indeed the area itself is now known as Tower Hamlets! I had reached the age of 18 in December1950, and was due to be called up then, but had applied for, and was granted a deferment until May.(It was just as well because the first few weeks of 1951 were to prove to be particularly cold!) This was to enable me to sit a City & Guild examination at the London College of Printing at Stamford Street S.E.1. My day release to attend the printing college for one day each week was part of my 7 year indentured apprenticeship contract, to become an artisan Lithographer. It has been said,(by me) that to be a good Lithographic printer, one must be a bit of a mechanical engineer, a bit of a chemist, a bit of an artist, a bit of a mathematician, and on occasions, also a bit of a diplomat! The college was just a short walk away from the then developing site of the Festival of Britain, and so we were able to watch each week, during our lunch break, its impressive development. This also included a Bailey bridge, built by Sappers of the36 th Army Engineer Regiment, R.E. With assistance from the 25 th & 27 th Engineer Group (T.A.) and the 56 th (London) Armoured Division (T.A.). This bridge which spanned the river at a point near Hungerford rail bridge, enabled visitors easier access to the site from the north bank. I remember during this time there was a large building opposite the college which housed the Eldorado ice cream factory, which was next to a cleared bomb site, where, during their midday break some of the large number of people they employed, used to play a game of football with as many as 50 or more a side! Some weeks before my call up papers arrived I had to attend a medical and pre-service interview at a T.A. centre next to the 'George' Hotel Wanstead. This from memory involved having to re-assemble a bicycle pump from its scattered components, a multiple choice literacy and numeracy exam, and an interview with an officer who asked which branch of the services I would like to serve in. I chose the Royal Engineers because I was told this corps was responsible for map printing etc. The last person I saw was the M.O.(Medical Officer) who after the usual perfunctory height, weight, and blood pressure tests, asked me to bend over and touch my toes, (presumably to see if my hat was on straight!), then to put my tongue out for checking, afterwards shining a light into my ear, and if it didn't shine out of the other ear, you were considered O.K! The final indignity was to grab one's naked scrotum with a cold hand while asking you to cough! So it came as no surprise to be passed A.1 despite having had rheumatic fever since three years old! All we raw recruits, speaking with many different accents, from the four corners of the U.K. on arrival at Farnborough station the first morning, were met by shouting N.C.O.s directing us to 3 ton Bedford trucks and T.C.V.s, (Troop Carrying Vehicles,) which transported us to Southwood Camp. There were I think two barracks on this site, called Morval and Delville, and one further down the road called Guillemont. All named after battles fought in France during the W.W.1 Somme offensive in 1916. The buildings, all mainly of wooden clapboard construction, were built, we were told for Canadian troops in W.W.II; there we were installed in huts called 'spiders', (see camp plan) which consisted of a central body or block, which housed the ablutions, lavatories, squadron office and drying room. From this central body were 6 legs or dormitories (I always thought spiders had 8 legs?) and each dormitory (or squad) housed approximately 20 men. A full corporal had a room of his own at the head of each dormitory, and a Lance corporal a bed space next to the exit door. Both these N.C.O's were regulars, so each spider or squadron consisted of approximately 100 plus new raw recruits,('sprogs'and 'nig-nogs'), as we were called by all the N.C.O's., both these slang words having a different connotation today; 12 assorted corporals and lance corporals, one staff sergeant in our case called Abbot ( more of him later,) and a ‘Rupert' O.C (Officer Commanding,) usually a lieutenant. After sampling the delights ? of army cooking at lunch time, we were marched down to the quartermaster's store to be kitted out with all our clothing and equipment, which also included the Lee Enfield 303 rifle. The one I was given had a nice brass butt plate, and a lovely chestnut colour stock which polished up beautifully, and no doubt contributed to being selected as' stick man,' when at a later date we had to do guard duty. It also had the date of manufacture stamped on the side 1918! All the webbing equipment had to be blancoed in an pale buff colour, and then left to dry in the drying room. When later I went to collect my neatly blancoed webbing, I found most of it had been stolen, and instead of then taking someone else's, (which I'm told was the thing to do,) I waited until everyone else had claimed theirs and I was left with all the rough remains. Lesson number one, do unto others as you have been done by,--- you live and learn! It was only after this episode that we were given the means to mark ALL our equipment with our own individual army number, and God help you if you ever forgot it! The next visit was to the camp barber where we were literally shorn of all traces of long hair, and to add insult to injury were expected to pay, I think a shilling for the privilege. I don't think I had enough hair to need a comb for the next 6 weeks! About this time I had a visit from an R.M.P.( Regimental Military Police ) corporal, who had seen the new arrivals, and had taken a fancy to my dark brown sports jacket and fawn trousers, he asked if he could ‘borrow' them for a hot date he had that night. Having been warned what the consequences of a refusal might be, I agreed and earned myself the princely sum of half a crown for my trouble! This money helped towards the cost of buying all the cleaning equipment we needed, e.g. blanco, brasso, boot polish, and an electric iron, which we had to pay for out of our own money. The brasso as well as being used to burnish one's buttons, badges, and buckles, was also used to polish the galvanized buckets used for cleaning the barrack room, while the broom ‘bumper', and brush handles, together with the trestle table top had to be scraped white with razor blades. Two lines, one floor board width, at the foot of the beds and stretching the whole length of the room, had to be stained with black Kiwi boot polish, and brought up to a mirror like shine by use of the aforementioned ‘bumper' to meet with the corporal in charge of our squad's approval. His name was Cpl Cave, and his favourite saying was he must have everything immaculate! Next day after a restless night, when a few homesick sobs could be heard in the darkend barrack room, we were wakened at what seemed like the crack of dawn, by an N.C,O. banging a dustbin lid, with a cricket stump, shouting as he did so, “ hands off c***s on socks, stand by your beds”! Then told to wash and shave (everyday), I had only shaved about once or twice a week up to this point. We were then shown how to make our beds, and lay out our equipment army fashion, for each days inspection. Afterwards being marched down to the O.R.(Other Ranks) mess hall for breakfast, with our mess tins (2) mug (1) and eating irons, (incidentally which I still have nearly 60 years later.) The next item after breakfast and barrack room cleaning, was a mass visit to the medical centre to receive all our jabs which would protect us against everything, from foot and mouth to the dreaded lurgy! We only had one or two who passed out, but most of us had a very aching arm for a couple of days, due to the T.A.B. shick, tetanus, and various other injections we received. Of the six squads in the full squadron, one was always designated the awkward squad, and was made up of those who couldn't tell their right foot from their left, couldn't shave without cutting themselves to ribbons, or marched like the chocolate soldiers from toy town. One of the latter was a sapper who also had the unfortunate surname of ‘Lillie'! I found myself in this squad because the second best boots I had been issued with, although having the required number of studs in the sole and the horseshoe blakey in the heel ( all highly polished I might add ) I couldn't pull the leather laces tight enough together for the two sides of the boot to meet! All the training corporals took it in turns with each new intake to train the awkward squad. This was of particular satisfaction to Corporal Cave, and all of us when we came second at our basic training passing out parade some 6 weeks later. Some names I remember from this time were (see photo) Sgt. Abbot of course, Corporals Cave, and ‘Taffy' Smith, who tried to teach us, on recreational training Wednesday afternoons, the ‘dark' arts of Rugby football. Then there was Corporal Death who you can imagine was given many ‘nick' names ranging from black to warmed up!. Sappers Reg Bannocks, Alfie Coombs, Ernie Bradshaw had all attended the London College of Printing with me prior to call-up. Others in our squad were Collins, Clarke, Bluck, Barber, Bennett, Bridges, Bond, Bumstead, and of course sapper Lillie. Apart from the ‘bulling up' of all equipment, the drills and marching on the parade ground, where every instruction had to be completed by shouting out the numbers in time with the movement, we had our first introduction to firearms, initially on a 022 indoor range, and later on a 25 yard outdoor range using our Lee Enfield 303 rifles. My lasting memory of this was having a nice black eye, caused by not holding the rifle correctly. The assault course was another part of the basic training to be negotiated, with plenty of mud and barbed wire to catch out the unwary, and ending up with a run through a building full of tear gas, with our respirators on, and then a second run through with them off! which resulted in sore running eyes and dripping noses, much to the amusement of the N.C.O.'s in charge. The P.T.I. (Physical Training Instructor), N.C.O's were another source of ‘torture' to we poor victimised recruits, as they put us through exhausting exercises, to reach a fitness level which was acceptable to the army. It seemed, without exception, that all P.T.I's had very high squeaky voices, when they were shouting out their orders to us. I suppose this was due to their high state of physical fitness , and not having been trained as the drill N.C.O's were, in projecting their voices. Although we ‘sprogs' could think up more sinister reasons (which included surgery!) why this was so! In keeping with Rudyard Kipling's barrack room ballads, there was also at the time, this National Service man's ‘ballad‘, sung to the tune of ‘The Mountain's Of Mourne.'
Part of the training also, included lectures and films on many subjects which varied from things military to things medical, among which were the warnings of V.D. and its consequences, which always seemed to receive a big cheer from the captive audience. We were also told that the Royal Engineer Regimental tie, (which has a dark blue background, with one broad, and two narrow, diagonal dark red stripes) represents a river and two streams which Sappers often have to bridge. The spiritual welfare of all new recruits was taken care of by the Army chaplains, who all held the substantive rank of Captain. We attended for an hour each week, a mixed Christian gathering, teaching us a standard for life, and a promise in death. The favourite requested hymn for some reason was always, 'Eternal Father Strong To Save.' The only Sapper in our squadron excused this meeting was a lad of mixed race from Tiger Bay Cardiff, who claimed to be Moslem. This large camp at Southwood could boast a cinema, also a well equipped N.A.A.F.I. and a (God bless them) ‘Sally Ann' (Salvation Army) canteen where a game of table tennis, darts or billiards could be played for no cost. Money being very tight as I believe a new recruit National Service man's pay at that time was just 28 shillings a week. After our initial 6 weeks of basic training, square bashing and the like, we were given our first 48 hour leave, most of us like myself who's homes were within an hour or two of Farnborough, were able to return home and show off in our new B.D.(Battle Dress) khaki uniform to our family and friends, and tell of the sadistic N.C.Os who had given we poor ‘sprogs' such hellish times over the last few weeks (while gently swinging the lamp at the same time!) But many of course lived much farther afield, so were stuck in camp for the whole weekend. So now being considered basic army trained soldiers, we were introduced to the role of sappers, or as some preferred to be called Field Engineers. This was a 16 week course which included such things as Bailey and improvised bridge building, mines and demolitions, watermanship, trenching, barbed wire entanglements, fortifications, knots and lashes, and many other things concerned with what would now I suppose come under the banner of civil or field engineering. The R.E's were responsible for among other things, railways, postal services, dock installations, roads, and map printing. Which is why most of our training group was made up of people who came from these industries. Indeed I met some of the students I knew from the London college of printing. During the field engineering course, the squadron was taken to Ash ranges, there we lived under canvas for 2 weeks, and fired every day with the 303 Lee Enfields and the Bren light machine gun, over distances from 100 to 400 yards. You also had to take your turn in the butts, to adjust the targets and signal the hits or misses. This was very noisy when thirty or so Brens were firing on fully automatic, and was also somewhat hairy when some bright spark took a dislike to your signalling a miss for him, and gave the ‘strawberry and cream' flag you were signalling with, a burst with his Bren! The digging of slit trenches and camouflaging of same, also took up some of our time as did the erection with ‘Dannett' wire of huge barbed wire entanglements, which we were then told to find our way through without the aid of wire cutters. I think the highlight of our visit to Ash ranges was the attack by Sergeant Abbot's smelly old bulldog ‘Winston' on one of the corporals. He bit his hand and would not release it, and in the end had to be shot to make him let go. . On our return to Southwood camp we had a short period of general duties while sprucing up the camp for the annual admin inspection by the Engineer General. My squad was given gardening duties, which included hoeing the weeds in a large vegetable patch, and then on another occasion clearing a large area at the corner of our sports field of head high stinging nettles. As this was the height of a very warm summer, we managed to hang this out (skiving it was called) and enjoy a couple of lazy days. The general officer's inspection came some few days later after some very intense ‘Bulling' of the camp in general, and our barracks and ourselves in particular - yes, we really did paint coal with white-wash! On the day of this special inspection, all squadrons or ‘spiders' (numbering some 1,000 or so men) directly after an early breakfast were marched on to the parade ground accompanied by R.E. corps band playing the Regimental march ‘Wings' which we were told was in reference to the Royal Engineers being involved in the formation of the Royal Flying Corps, which was later to become the R.A.F. We were on the parade ground for almost 4 hours on a very warm day, and although our squadron was in shirt sleeve order, and others in P.T. kit, some weren't so lucky and had to parade in F.S.M.O.( Full service marching order.) After the ‘trauma' of the General's inspection we were given as some sort of a reward, a visit for half a day into the ‘fleshpots' of the nearby garrison town of Aldershot, where we were introduced to the delights of a N.A.A.F.I dance and the acquaintance of a hoard of W.R.A.C's. ( Woman's Royal Army Corps.) Being transported the 5 or 6 miles back to camp in the small hours of Sunday morning in the Bedford 3 toners. One evening when I had been at Southwood camp for some 2 months or so, I decided to visit an old friend Ernie Barrett, from my civvy streeet youth club, who had been called up in the past 2 weeks, and was installed at Guillemont barracks, which was just a mile along the road. I almost wished I hadn't bothered, as the corporal of the guard stopped me at the gate, and after checking my turnout, and my A.B.64. Parts 1 and 2, had me marching up and down and performing all the drill movements in front of the assembled guard for the next 15 minutes. As mentioned previously, after the initial 6 weeks of basic training, we began a 16 week course of field engineering, this involved among many other things learning knots and lashes, for use with improvised bridging.( Having been a cub/scout was to prove useful.) Also Bailey bridge building, where we managed to get a commendation for building a double single 30 foot Bailey bridge, over a large gap in record time for a training squad, I think it was under 30 minutes. Just one casualty, a sapper losing the top of his middle finger when a jack collapsed! The site where all this training took place was an area of around eight acres, quite close to the actual barracks, where we also practised mine laying and detecting, and also the use of explosives for demolition. The 'Sally Ann' tea wagon always turned up for our break at 10 am, and no matter where you were on the site, the tea wagon always seemed to be at the furthest point from us, so it was imperative to get to it as quickly as possible to ensure a longer break, and not have to queue with a 100 or so others! I think I always managed to be in the first half dozen,( being pretty fit in those days.) One day during training a small group of us were selected under a full corporal to take a small jeep and a couple of collapsible boats down to a fairly fast flowing river, to give a demonstration of watermanship, in transporting said jeep across the river using an improvised raft mounted on the two collapsibles. The demonstration was for a local boys army school, who took cadets from age 14 - 18. I don't think they were very impressed, when our raft with the jeep on board started taking off down stream, which no amount of frantic paddling on our part seemed to adjust it's direction! I am always reminded of this effort when I see the'Dad's Army' episode on T.V. when the colonel on his white charger was floating gently down the river just like our jeep! Most of the recruits in the squadron were either Postal workers, railway workers, dock workers, miners, printers, civil engineers, or architects and surveyors, as the R.E. covers all these various trades and professions. So now just halfway through my field engineers course in August 1951 I, together with a couple of others were ordered to make our way to the School of Military Survey (S.M.S) at Hermitage near Newbury, Hants, to join a 16 week course in Lithographic printing, and if successful an 'A' trade rating. (see Part 2) Denis Carrington. March 2010 NATIONAL SERVICE (Part 2) SOME MEMORIES OF THE SCHOOL OF MILITARY SURVEY (S.M.S.) HERMITAGE NEAR NEWBURY. AUG - DEC 1951 “22480712 Sapper Carrington D. Pack your kit, collect your travel warrant and report to the School of Military Survey, Hermitage by 12.00 hours tomorrow”. The dulcet tones of Sergeant Abbot rang out across the parade ground of No. 9 training regiment R.E. at Southwood camp Cove, near Farnborough, Hampshire. Having finished 6 weeks of basic square bashing, and just a few weeks into a very interesting sapper course (see Part 1). I was off to the School of Military Survey, (which I believe is now known as Denison Barracks, since it's rebuild in 1980,) to start a 16 week course to gain an ‘A' rating, and if my memory serves me right, an extra 14 shillings a week! The camp at Hermitage had I think, been originally built in W.W.11, as a hospital for American servicemen. I had been 4 years into my 7 year apprenticeship to become an artisan Lithographer, with the City firm of Eden Fisher, Leadenhall Street, when called upon aged 18, to do my 2 years National Service. I suppose this is why I was lucky enough to be sent to the S.M.S. and if successful in gaining the ‘A' trade qualification, one year of my R.E. army service would be deducted from my apprenticeship. Incidentally, being an apprentice within the old city walls, entitled me to apply for, and become, if I so wished, a “Freeman” of the City of London. The course, O.R.64.L.M.M.,was due to start in August 1951 and I was duly placed in 3 Troop (see 3 Troop photo, middle row, 3 rd from left, and O.R.64 photo, front row, extreme left). Some names that spring to mind from that time were; Lt. Attenborough, Sgt. Dixie Dean, and Sappers Elliot, Ferris, Milner, Carson, Jock Birrell, Ron Jones, Alfie Coombs, John Carr, Bridges, Curzon and Barfoot; and a certain M.T.(Motor Transport) Capt. Crystal, who was I believe, later involved in a road haulage enterprise! While waiting for the course to begin, the unit was taken to a spot on the Kennet and Avon canal near to a wood, where we were to defend a small bridge as part of a huge nationwide exercise, Northland verses Southland ,which was in full swing at this time. We were there some three or four days and nights. Being so near to the river and the watercress meadows, the midges at night were a real problem, and were eating us alive! My own problem came when the officer ( Lt. Attenborough) placed me deep into the wood as a listening post, to warn of any ‘enemy' approaching. Having had very little sleep for three nights, I had no intention of falling asleep when I sat down on a fallen log, and especially with all the dry dead wood branches lying on the ground, anyone treading on them would sound like a gun shot. Alas, when I awoke, my rifle was missing! Facing a ‘Fizzer'(252 charge,) or even a possible Court Martial offence, as Sgt. Dean informed me, I waited with some apprehension our return to barracks. Apparently Lt. Attenborough had come round to check his outposts, found me fast asleep, and had taken my rifle! On our return to Hermitage that night I was told to report on sick parade next morning, because of the swellings on my face caused by the midge bites. Of course next morning on sick parade, all the swellings had gone down, and to add to my woes the M.O. (Medical Officer) accused me of malingering! After sweating for a few days over the loss of my rifle, I was, much to my relief, given a good old rollocking, and an extra duty,(‘Jankers'), laying a dozen flag stones around 3 Troop hut, by the afore mentioned Lt., who incidentally played right-half to my right-back in the unit football team (it's not what you know etc....!) One soccer game I remember was when we played against a local college for deaf and dumb students, - no shouting or arguing with the referee on that occasion then ! Although we didn't do that in those days did we ? Another more pleasant episode in the Summer of 1951 was when we all went in a mass convoy to Saunton in North Devon. With two or three others I was in the back of a 15 cwt Bedford, which believe me can be pretty rough on the nether regions on a long journey! We had from time to time to jump out of the wagon and dive into the ditch to shield from a simulated air attack. The first night we camped under canvas near Warminster, where we were attacked by very keen students from the Army School of Infantry. Thunder flashes, blanks, lots of shouting and heavy rain adding to the fun (I think we lost!). The small camp at Saunton comprised a few Nissan huts, and was just a stone's throw from one of the longest, and at that time, most beautiful beaches on the North Devon Heritage coast. After a little work in the mornings, we were all off to the beach in the afternoons to enjoy the lovely summer weather. The village of Braunton was just a mile or two along the B3231 where local ‘Scrumpy' at 2 old pence a pint could be quaffed at the local hostelries. Other excursions on this 'tour of duty' included visits to the Army Unit of Amphibious Warfare at Westward Hoe, the harbour at Lynmouth, the Barnstable-Lynton railway, and the port at Ilfracombe. As all good things come to an end, we had to return to barracks at Hermitage some 2 weeks later to start our 'A' trade course. I remember during my time at Hermitage I had to do a couple of guards, and one or two fire pickets, which were great fun, hitching the pump up behind a 15 cwt and squirting water at anyone or thing within range! I'm sure all of us will know that the best turned out member of the guard is designated ‘stick man', which means he doesn't have to do the 2 on 4 off guard duty, but does have to do some to‘ing and fro‘ing, including the early wake up calls. The duty cooks always seemed to be the hardest to wake up at 5.30am and sign the book, cursing you at the same time for disturbing their ‘beauty sleep'. The Hermitage camp at this time could not boast a parade ground, so musters and parades were held on the road near to the admin offices. There was also a covered walkway between the various buildings. Most weekends, unless you were on duty or it was a church parade, 36 hour passes were issued. The coach from the camp left for London's Victoria coach station at 12 noon SHARP! So all work etc; after breakfast, be it a 10 mile forced march, or as on one notable occasion, laying a 40 foot concrete roadway outside the Officers' mess, was completed in double quick record time! The return journey by coach in the early hours of Monday morning always stopped for tea and a ‘wad'(cake) at the all night coffee stall in Reading. The town of Newbury, some 3 or so miles from Hermitage, was served by a not too frequent bus route. One early evening I caught the bus to go into town and on it met one of the civilian young ladies called Lynn Brown who worked in the camp's admin offices (see photo). I told her I was going to see the film Showboat (starring among others Ava Gardner, Howard Keel, Kathryn Grayson, and Joe E. Brown), and asked if she would like to come along too; To my amazment she agreed ! And so I now had (until I left Hermitage at Christmas) a girlfriend who lived in Newbury, played a mean game of hockey for Reading, and whose widowed mother provided the best of high teas! (We were always hungry in those days). We often went dancing at the Corn Exchange in Newbury ,these dances were always very well attended ,but owing to the presence of so many American service men from the nearby airbase at Greenham Common, partners were very hard to come by. With their smart quality cloth uniforms, and large ‘pay packets' they always seemed to attract most of the girls - I wonder why? But having said that, they were very generous, and ready to buy the Sappers a beer, and engage in a game of darts or bar billiards. The camp at the S.M.S. barracks had quite a good N.A.A.F.I. where one could get decent meal at a reasonable price, if you could afford it that is. If you couldn't, then taking a couple of bread slices from the mess at tea time, and mixing them in a mess tin with an OXO cube and half a pint of hot water boiled up on the coal fired barrack room pot-belly stove, would keep the hunger pangs at bay until breakfast next morning. The block at the barracks that housed the Helio plant and the Crabtree printing presses, received it ' s power from a couple of huge Lister diesel generators. These monsters had to be started up each morning by cranking them by hand. The drill was to have an N.C.O. on the handle, and two or three sappers each side pulling on a rope attached to the handle. This performance was particularly ‘ hairy ' on cold frosty mornings when the handle could kick back like some deranged mule! So now at Christmas 1951, with a nice new ‘A' trade badge on my arm, and an extra 14 shillings in my pocket, I bade farewell to the School of Military Survey, Lynn Brown, and all the friends from 3 Troop. The army in its wisdom had asked me where I would like to be posted. With the Korean war at its height, and lots of other trouble spots around the world, including Malaya and Kenya, I opted for Germany. True to form they sent me to the Survey Production Centre at Elveden Road, Park Royal, Wembley producing ordnance survey maps, aerial photographs, and overlays. Here I saw out the rest of my service (but that's another story). See part 3. P.S. An edited version of this part 2, can be found in the ‘Ranger' magazine. Winter 2008. Volume2.Number18. Page25.Web Site: www.defencesurveyors.org.uk Denis Carrington May2010 NATIONAL SERVICE (Part 3) SOME MEMORIES OF THE SURVEY PRODUCTION CENTRE (S.P.C.) ALPERTON N.W.10, JANUARY 1952 - MAY 1953. Now having successfully completed my ‘A' trade course at the School of Military Survey, my posting to the Survey Production Centre at Park Royal near Wembley, came through just before Christmas 1951,and I was instructed to report there directly after the holiday. There were I think, two main buildings that comprised the centre. The one in Elveden Place, housed the drawing office and map store, together with the admin offices. The other in Elveden Road contained all the printing presses, plate making, cameras, and ancillary equipment. For the more technically minded, the printing equipment included a battery of four 2 colour double-demi Crabtree offset presses, a demi size 2 colour, and a quad-crown single colour, also made by Crabtree. This together with all the cameras, plate making equipment, and paper store, was quite a large printing plant. There were I suppose at the time, around 100 or so staff at the plant, producing ordnance survey maps and aerial photographs. The military presence I think , comprised a full colonel in charge, a Major Glue (nick-named ‘Sticky‘!) one lieutenant, latter Capt, one sergeant and two full corporals (all regulars); also around a dozen National Service sappers, one of which was a lance corporal. Plus two R.A.F. men who looked after the map store, these were also National Service men. Some of the sappers names that come to mind were (see photos) John Carr, whose father owned a large printing works in Leicester. John had a brand new Riley R.M.F. two and a half litre car in green and black livery. Bob Bluck from Watford, who had a shaft driven 500cc Sunbeam motorbike, Alan Jones from Redditch, Brian Haig from Yorkshire, Ken Dallison from London who was a keen jazz fan, and also played piano, and another sapper known as Alvar, who's surname escapes me, as do the names of many others from that time, almost 60 years ago. Being so under worked at this time, true to army fashion, cards were played most days, and we all became minor experts at the favourite game of ‘hearts' or as some call it ‘Black Bitch'. Opposite the works in Elveden Road was a factory called Hoopers, who made special bespoke car bodies for Rolls, Daimlers and Bentleys; and also in the past for horse drawn carriages. As there was no barracks accommodation nearby, all the service personnel were billeted out to nearby families, mainly civilians who worked at the S.P.C. I was fortunate in as much as, my home was just an hour or so away by train and bus, so I was allowed to live at home, and received a living out allowance, a ration allowance, a travelling allowance, and a special London weighting, this together with being promoted to Lance Corporal at a later date, gave me an income of around £7 - not bad for 1952!. In fact I had to take a drop in income when I resumed my apprenticeship back in civvy street. Early in 1952 I purchased from Bob Bluck his old 1938 B.S.A. 350cc Empire Star motorbike (see receipt) so this made the journey from home to Elveden Road even better. Our next door neighbour at Poplar was Arthur Pryor, and he and his family were the proud owners of a 500c.c.Norton bike with a huge sidecar. He volunteered to teach me to ride; the method Arthur employed was to sit me on the front of the B.S.A. while he climbed on the pillion, and said go, and we went! To return some ten minutes later - me a bag of nerves, and he with somewhat greyer hair than when we started! One of the civilian employees at the factory was a N.A.T.S.O.P.A. (printing assistant - semi-skilled) called Bill, an old sailor from war time naval service; each day at 12 noon he rang 8 bells on an improvised tubular bell to keep up his naval tradition. Apart from practising our limited skills at lithographic printing, (army fashion,) we did very little in the way of real soldiering. With no parades to attend or guards to mount, we did once or twice visit a .022 indoor rifle range at a T.A. centre in Bethnal Green, and also the outdoor ranges at Purfleet and Rainham Essex, where we were using our Lee Enfield 303's. Another duty we had to perform during the winter of 1952/3, was when we had to take a large army truck to a rail siding some miles away, and there filled up sacks of coke for the factory's boilers, I believe there had been a transport strike or bad weather, or both at the time. Anyway while the officer and sergeant rode in the dirty old coal truck, we sappers rode with some style in John Carr's posh Riley (see photo). After a few weeks at the S.P.C. the one National Service N.C.O. finished his 2 years and was demobbed. I was promoted in his stead, and this rank meant I was now responsible as sports N.C.O. for all the recreational training which was, and still is I believe, traditionally held on Wednesday afternoons. As well as running an occasional cricket team during the summer in which a couple of the girls who worked at the S.P.C. played a prominent part, and an equally scratch soccer team in the winter (both heavily supplemented by the civilians at the plant). I did arrange tennis, ice skating, and attending the mid-week internationals at Wembley stadium. One notable game against Wales included such stars as John Charles, Ivor Allchurch and Trevor Ford. The Guinness brewery was also nearby at Park Royal, and they very kindly allowed us to use their sports ground for some of our home games. The venue was always very popular with both home and away teams, particularly the half-time and after match refreshments! Also during that summer we entered a tug-of-war team in the London District games, which were held at the sports ground near the Chelsea Pensioners Royal Hospital, I don't think we passed the first round - and still have the scars to prove it! My one claim to fame during this period, was playing a game against another London army unit, which included at centre forward one Bobby Smith, who was at the time a very promising 18 year old at Chelsea, and later went on to play for Spurs and England. As I was playing centre half at the time, just don't ask me how many goals he scored! One day in early June 1952, our small unit was transported to Horse Guards Parade ground, there to attend a dress rehearsal of Trooping the Colour, of I think the 2 nd battalion Scots guards, which was due to take place the following week, with our new Queen taking the salute, it was a memorable occasion, with all the pomp and pageantry on display. Another bonus of being posted in the London area, was we were able to use the Nuffield centre near Charing Cross. This was a club for all service personnel where one could get a decent meal at a low price, and also be given free theatre tickets for many of the West End shows that evening. As mentioned earlier, I was now living at home and commuting to the S.P.C by motorbike, so it was almost like being back in ‘civvy street'. And so it was during this period in February 1952 at the South Poplar Youth club ( more commonly known by the acronym S.P.Y.club) attached to All Saints church, that I met the young 'Forfar bridie' Scots lass who was now living in London with her Aunt and Uncle. She had come down from Scotland with them in 1945, after staying with them and other relations, since her Mother died when she was just 5 years old, and her Father was Serving in the R.A.F. She was looking, for a tall dark and handsome boyfriend and found me,-- so I suppose two out of three wasn't bad!! She was some four years later to become my wife, making our home in Hornchurch; and now some 54 years, and four children later, I still consider this the best decision I ever made. During the Easter holiday of that year, my now girlfriend, Betty Russell,(see photo) invited me to go and visit her Father and Stepmother who had a small holding out in the sticks near Hethersgill, which is some 10 miles or so north of Carlisle. Being city dwellers this was to us an attractive change. One morning during our stay, having decided to spend the day in Carlisle, we set off to walk the mile or two into Hethersgill village, there to catch the daily bus, only to see it disappearing into the distance, having missed it by a minute or so. Standing dejectedly by the village store bus stop, we were hailed by the driver of a little green van and offered a lift into Carlisle. We noticed the words 'Milk Marketing Board' on the side of the van, but didn't pay much attention to it at the time, thinking he was some sort of inspector or the like. He explained he had to make one or two calls at farms on the way, and would we like to come in with him. Upon reaching the first farm we were introduced to the farmer who led the way to the byre. “There they are Jack” he said to our driver, “just three for you today”. The Marketing Board man then donned a floor length rubber apron, and arm length rubber gloves from his black bag. We thought this a very elaborate procedure for testing milk. Imagine our open-mouthed amazement and embarrassment when he then proceeded to plunge one arm up to the armpit, in the cow's rear end, while the other hand was employed holding a syringe, the size of a bicycle pump with which he then artificially inseminated the beast! Seeing our startled expressions, he told us he was father to half of the cattle in the area, and was known locally as the 'Bull in the Bowler hat'! And now in conclusion with my demob date fast approaching during May 1953, I had to decide one of two options. The first was to serve a period of five years in what was then called the Z Reserve, this meant you were liable for instant recall should any emergency demand it. The other option was a three year period in the T.A, which included 2 weeks summer camp, and 2 or 3 weekend gatherings each year. I chose the second option and joined, 135 Survey Engineer Regiment (T.A.) at East Block 'C', Duke of York's H.Q. Chelsea S.W.3. Spending summer camps at Otley Yorkshire and Penhale Cornwall.(see photos). Also weekends at Chatham, Schorncliff, Ewell, and Lillie Road. But is all this another story? - well just maybe!! Denis Carrington. October 2010 Word to the Wise When I queried a scam I received I check with my bank and received the following advice. Bernard.
President The following poem has been written by Denis Carrington as a tribute to the fallen FLANDERS POPPIES Denis Carrington |
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The brown manila envelope with a O.H.M.S. stamp on the front arrived at the Carrington household in London's East End borough of Poplar in late April 1951. This was to inform the Carrington's only child Denis, to report on May 17th to No. 9 training regiment R.E. at Cove near Farnborough, Hampshire. A travel warrant and other instructions were also included.