Author Archives: Barrybloke
The war had come to an end, so at the time of this anecdote I would have been about nine. My father had bought a car, a Lanchester Ten, just before the war ended and in due course had decided to join the Royal Automobile Club. I remember quite clearly that he received a visit […]
Standing beside a large, shiny cylinder which appeared to be draped in white cloth and thick, silky ropes. I was four and my eldest brother had taken me to see this landmine, which I presume had been made safe! Crazy! — The occasional lesson taken in the garden of Chelsfield school on a sunny summer’s […]
This was the number of the barrage balloon site, which the R.A.F. Regiment established in what we children referred to as “the grass field”. This is the same field to which I once set fire in an earlier tale and was about 250 yards from our house. It was so-called because, although it was part […]
In November 1947 we moved to a new council house in Orpington. The road in which we lived, Robin Hood Green, resembled a wine-glass in shape, with our house situated on a corner which would represent the top of the stem. The inner part of this shape had no buildings, but was left as a […]
Between the ages of eleven and fifteen I attended Charterhouse Road Secondary School in Orpington. In my first year we were taught by Miss Stevenson. She was, I believe, of French extraction and certainly taught French as her main subject. She was a typical school teacher of the era, 1947, who seemed to care little […]
At the age of fifteen I went to work at a garage in Orpington where the proprietor was a singularly stupid man called Bert Ditcher. In his capacity as storeman he used to wear a khaki knee-length coat. One day he needed to order a new one so he went around to all the employees […]
At the age of eighteen I was required to endure a seemingly interminable period as a National Service soldier. This was in fact two years, but seemed like ten! I received a foretaste of the treatment I could expect at the hands of the military, when I reported for medical assessment to Blackheath Medical Centre. […]
The majority of my service was with the Royal Sussex Regt. in Minden, in N.W. Germany, although I had in fact completed my basic training with the Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regt. in Maidstone and it is this that I shall deal with first. The ten weeks I spent in basic training at Maidstone […]
Although I was initially drafted into “B” Company, I was told that I would not be training with them, but would be attached to Support Company to be trained as a driver. I therefore reported to Support Company garages each morning for about one week. It was soon discovered that, although I had not passed […]
When I joined the army at Maidstone on 6th May 1954 I found myself in the company of a variety of young men, drawn from all walks of life. There were, of course, the loud brash ones as well as the quieter types who realised that they couldn’t beat the system, so they would be […]