大象传媒

I prepared an account of life in school in Manchester during the war. This was for my children and grandchildren, but you may find something of interest in it.It would be advisable to edit out some of the names though most of those mentioned will now be dead.

Burnage High School. 1938-1945.

I came to live in East Didsbury from Preston at the age of 7 and went to Beaver Road Elementary School, from where I took the scholarship examination, as the 11+ was then known. This was the first hurdle which would determine one鈥檚 future education and was an anxious time for pupils and their parents. Those of us who passed went on to High Schools which in our area were Burnage for boys and the nearby Levenshulme High School for girls

We were proud to be among the privileged, and our new lives started with acquiring, through the school, uniform and books. Uniform was compulsory and had to be bought by most families, though help was available to those who could not afford it. Normal wear was a black blazer bearing the school badge, gray flannel shorts (embarrassingly sold in the shops as 鈥榖oys鈥� knickers鈥�!), gray shirt, school tie, school cap, gray socks held up by garters and black shoes. There were two sorts of school tie, one with silver and black diagonal stripes and an alternative and slightly more expensive one with silver school badges on a black background. Outdoor shoes were forbidden inside the school because of the polished wooden floors and we had to change in the cloakrooms into uniform black 鈥榩umps鈥� with heels. We also had a second pair of black 鈥榩umps鈥� without heels which were worn for P.T. together with singlet and gym shorts. The uniform regulations were rigidly enforced, and woe betide any boy coming through the school gates without his cap on. A prefect often stood at the gate to catch the hapless capless and hand out an imposition of 25 lines. One prefect was particularly keen on this and thus made himself very unpopular. His name was Torrance, and he was unfortunately later killed on active service. The uniform regulations were maintained throughout the war though they had to be somewhat relaxed during the wartime clothes rationing. I travelled to school usually on a bike along Kingsway or Parrswood Rd. or Burnage Lane. If the weather was poor I might take a1陆d tram bucking and rattling as it sped down the central tramtrack on Kingsway to the Kingsway cinema. There was very little motor traffic on the roads during the war years owing to petrol rationing, most boys and teachers cycled and put their bikes in numbered places in the bike sheds which were locked during school hours, as were the cloakrooms. Looking back I realise what a difference there is in the atmosphere. When cycling, it was common to get grit in one鈥檚 eye, and the pea souper fogs were dreadful. Most people had coal fires, and smoky flares were placed along the tramtracks and bus routes in fog. After cycling through a Manchester fog, one arrived at one鈥檚 destination with streaming eyes, coughing and sneezing black mucus and with clothes covered with smuts. It was difficult to see one鈥檚 way even on a bike and it was not uncommon to see the bus guard walking in front of the bus to guide the driver! School dinners were available for 6d and we queued for them in two sittings with pink tickets with our names written on the back. Few people in those days of rationing brought their own lunch, though it was possible to go home for lunch, which I frequently did. An ice cream van stationed itself outside the back gate at break times and though it was strictly against the school rules to use it, the icecream man must have found enough boys willing to take the chance of getting caught to make it worth his while.

Impositions were the commonest form of punishment. Prefects were allowed to award up to 25 lines, but teachers could and did give larger numbers 50,100, 200 and even more. Minor disrupters might be told to stand outside the door where they would attract the attention of passing senior staff and have to explain the reason for their disgrace. There was a detention class taken twice a week after school which must have been an unpopular chore for the teacher allotted to take it! For more serious offences there was the strap. If awarded this the offender had to go to the school office to get the strap and the punishment book, bring them back, be punished and then return them. However summary physical punishment was frequently given; the slipper, or the Bunsen tube applied to the rear end. Mr. Todd, the metalwork teacher, and the only one who did not wear a gown,
kept a selection of canes hung on the wall which were sadistically applied from time to time. Officially only the headmaster could use the cane, but this was rarely done.

The teaching staff was entirely male and all wore their academic gowns in school, and even their hoods on special occasions. The only female members of staff were Miss Podmore, the school secretary, and her assistant. Some of the teachers I remember with gratitude, especially Mr. Seabridge who taught English and left me with a lifelong enjoyment of the language and its literature. There was Mr. Sykes, the principal geography teacher, who enthused me with his subject, played the school organ and piano, ran the excellent school choir and taught us all to sing psalms and hymns. It is to him I owe my enjoyment of choral music. Mr. Elton a science teacher, was popular and also acted as the school photographer, ran the school photographic society, and left me with a lifelong interest in photography, and probably had an influence on my future profession. Major Deighton, a good teacher of technical drawing and woodwork made his subject a pleasure.
The geography dept.( mainly I think, Mr. Hadlow), looked after the school meteorological station. This meant taking readings every day from the thermometers, sunshine recorder, rain gauge with general observation of wind , cloud cover visibility etc. and sending the results to the air ministry in London. During the holidays and at weekends a rota was organized between the senior boys doing Higher School Certificate Geography, to come in and do the readings. Chinchilla rabbits were kept in the senior internal quadrangle, and these also had to be cared for during holidays. The school keys were obtained from the school janitor and boiler man, who lived just outside the back gate, though on one occasion when he was out I had to gain access by climbing up and over a roof at the back!

In 1939 when it became apparent that war was inevitable, gasmasks were issued to all the population of the country. When the war started, the carrying of gasmasks to school became compulsory and gasmask drill became part of our lives along with air raid drill. The gasmasks were issued in cardboard boxes to be hung round the neck with string. In time, more durable covers could be bought; Rexene covers for the boxes or cylindrical cans. These often had luminous paint on them to make the wearers more conspicuous in the blackout. Motor vehicles were only allowed narrow, diffused headlight beams, shielded so that they were invisible from above. Street lighting was very feeble, even by the standards of the time. Everyone carried torches at night, and No.8 batteries were in great demand and often in short supply. We were advised to wear light coloured clothing or carry a newspaper at night so that we could be seen. Wartime clothing was generally rather drab, and with clothes rationing, much mended. Adult clothing was sometimes cut down to fit the children.

On Sept 1st 1939 we were evacuated in three contingents; to Wirksworth, Ashbourne and Leek. My contingent went to Leek in Staffordshire, where we shared premises with Leek grammar school. The teachers were also evacuated, some going with each party, and some remaining behind for those boys who had elected to remain in Manchester. We assembled at Exchange station each with a small case, a gasmask and labels attached to our lapels. This to most of us seemed a great adventure, though many parents were tearful at parting. Few parents possessed cars and petrol was soon to be rationed. Visiting was going to be difficult.
On arrival we were met by the billeting officers and assigned to our new homes. I went to Longsdon and was met by The Rev.Knowles, a kindly man, and his helpers, and was taken to 鈥淲indycote鈥� where there lived a young couple called Jones who evidently resented having a 12 yr. old city boy planted upon them. I was not treated well, and eventually Mr. Knowles removed me to his own home at the vicarage where he already had two boys of my own age, one of them a Jewish boy, Joe Dwek with whom I remained friends through the rest of my time at Burnage and later at Manchester University where we both did medicine.
The Rev.Mr.Knowles was fond of French cheese, and allowed us to taste his diminishing stock. He had names for all the cheeses such as tramp鈥檚 feet and sweaty socks. Sadly continental cheeses did not become available again until about 1950, the first to reappear鈥攐ff the ration!鈥攚as Danish Blue. Burnage had at the time a large number of Jewish boys as West Didsbury was in the intake area. The extent of the atrocities of the Nazis was not fully known yet. As well as being evacuated, the school also received some refugees from Europe. In my form there was a German boy and French twins who, needless to say, came 1st and 2nd in French.

I remained happily at the vicarage until a new billet was found for me at The Miners鈥� Home at Rudyard, overlooking the lake. There I shared a dormitory with several other boys, and we were well looked after by the matron and her husband, Mr. and Mrs. Cooper. We were taught billiards and snooker in the full-size billiard room by the few miners remaining, at what was actually their convalescent home. Cribbage was a popular game between the miners.
Though seen from this distance in time, evacuation seemed very long, it was the time of the phony war, and far from whizzbangs and bombs raining down nothing was happening. Parents were missing their children and boys began to feel homesick. By Christmas most of us had drifted back to Manchester.

At Burnage air raid shelters were built in the rear playground. The woodwork room, metalwork room, dining room and some store rooms were strengthened, and the windows protected externally by brick walls against bomb blast. Younger masters began to be called up for military service, and their places were taken by retired teachers and our first women teachers. Two returned retired teachers stand out in my memory. One was Mr. Clayton, an intolerant, sarcastic and vain veteran of the Great war, fond of talking about his wound. He very nearly succeeded in destroying my interest in physics, though I returned to it and enjoyed it later as a post-graduate. The other was Mr. Whitnall, an inspiring biology teacher who was probably instrumental in my subsequent choice of career. Mrs. Parr came to teach us while her husband was on active service as a fighter pilot.. During our absence a fine pipe organ had been installed in the school hall, the pride and joy of Mr. Sykes, but not for long. We were asked to put down our names for those sports we wished to take up. I elected for tennis as the school had some good courts..

In 1940 the 鈥淏litz鈥� began in earnest. Shelters were dug in back gardens, fathers joined The Home Guard鈥� (Dad鈥檚 army!) if they had not been called up, or became Air Raid Wardens. Windows were criss-crossed with adhesive tape for protection against bomb blast. Blackout curtains of black cloth were hung, boys searched the streets after air raids and 鈥榙ogfights鈥� for 鈥榮hrapnel鈥�, bullets and cartridge cases. The school was saddened when a boy called Salt killed himself by fooling about with a live round which he had found. Night after night the sirens wailed ( I still feel a shiver down my spine even today when I hear a siren.) and we stumbled down the garden to the shelter in our dressing gowns holding our treasures. Next day gaps could be seen where yesterday there had been houses, and the cleared bomb sites became known as 鈥榗rofts鈥�. We got to know from the sound of aeroplane engines whether it was 鈥榦ne of ours鈥� or 鈥榦ne of theirs鈥�. We could distinguish between the sound of anti-aircraft fire and the 鈥榗rump鈥� of bombs. One night in our garden shelter I heard some loud crumps, too close for comfort and I said aloud, 鈥淚 bet that鈥檚 our school!鈥� It was. The school was closed for a few days, and on our return we found that bombs had landed in the hall destroying the new organ; and on the gym, and in the tennis courts. So, literally, bang went my ambition to play tennis! Mr. Sykes was upset at the loss of the organ and was seen picking up bits of the d茅bris. I joined the swimming class instead and went to the now disused Victoria swimming baths on sports afternoons. Later a stray bomb landed on a Rugby pitch. Whether the German airmen had mistaken the school for a military target (Hans Reynolds chain factory, which was manufacturing war material, was nearby) or whether the German airmen were just getting rid of their bombs to lighten their planes before fleeing home I do not know. We were encouraged to bring or keep something at school to do during air raids. This could be a book or a game and thus the possession of playing cards in school became legitimate. When the sirens went, we would troop off to our allotted shelters in the craft rooms or dining room or outside shelters, and remain there until the all-clear sounded, when we would return to our interrupted lessons. The packs of cards however were not confined to the shelters! Boys on the back row were often apprehended playing pontoon or knockout whist under the cover of the desk, and small groups of card players could be seen in the playground at break.

Older boys, though it was not compulsory, were expected to join one of the cadet corps and as the school had a squadron of the Air Training Corps commanded by Mr. (Flt.Lt.) Elton, most joined that. We got smart uniforms and had a band of trumpets and drums which played when we marched. Drill was taught by a retired army Sgt. Major who never really looked happy in his ATC Warrant Officer鈥檚 uniform. We learnt Morse code, aircraft recognition, navigation, rifle practice and engine maintenance. Boys who had been accepted for aircrew wore a white flashes in their forage caps. We got trips at weekends to RAF Ringway (I remember the opening of Ringway Airport before the war.) where we would get flights in Airspeed Oxfords, Dakotas or de Havilland Dragon Rapides. During school holidays there were camps at RNAS Inskip and it was there that I went on a patrol over the Irish sea in a Fairey Swordfish biplane with an open cockpit and a torpedo slung beneath. The 鈥榮tringbag鈥�, as it was commonly known, had a wooden airframe and was covered with doped canvas. Bits of this were prone to become detached and litter the airfield, and aircraft had to be patched frequently. This veteran plane was still used by the Fleet Air Arm as it was very manoeuverable and good on aircraft carriers, though very slow. The next day one of the Swordfishes failed to return from patrol and a gloom was cast over the camp.

A barrage balloon was flown from the field at the front of the school, operated by a group WAAFs who lived in Nissan huts in the school grounds and generated a lot of interest among the adolescent boys!

Another wartime activity was Farming Camp during the summer holidays. Detachments of boys went out for two weeks supervised by members of staff who were responsible for our welfare and also did the cooking assisted by a rota of boys. We slept in ex-army bell tents radially, feet to the pole, 8 to a tent if I remember correctly, on straw palliasses ,and chaff pillows, with old army blankets The dining room and kitchen was a large disused glasshouse. This was great fun as proper holidays were not easy. There was no possibility of travel abroad of course. After breakfast, which included porridge ladled out of large dixies, we were taken on carts pulled by tractors to the fields. The tractors were American Fordsons, John Deeres and Farmalls, which used paraffin as fuel and smelt of the lamp! We would go tattiehowking, following the tractor-drawn potato lifter, and then scavenging more as they were turned up by the horse-drawn harrow; stook-making following the reaper and binder (no combines in those days); pea-picking and turnip topping and tailing with huge machetes. There was a canal nearby, still with working barges, in which we could swim; and a pub, the landlord of which did not ask questions if we bought a flagon of cider! We all had a great time and returned happy, tanned and fit at the end of the fortnight. There were also some Italian POWs living in one of the farm cottages and doing farm work. We watched fascinated as they made their own pasta and wooden-soled clogs. Italian POWs were not considered such a security risk and were allowed quite a lot of freedom compared with the German POWs.

After the age of 14 one could volunteer for fire watching (for incendiary bombs). This involved putting one鈥檚 name on a rota and sleeping on camp beds in the school library. There were 4 boys a night, and two teachers who slept in the staff room. Supper was left for us in the school kitchen and sometimes we were invited into the staffroom for a board or card game. Both farming camp and firewatching generated a small income which was doled out by Mr. Clayton in his office, where we made to put it into National Savings. I used mine eventually to buy my first Monopoly set, which I still have. It must be quite an antique by now!

In the 4th form we took School Certificate, the predecessor of O levels. Those who didn鈥檛 pass went into the 5th form, and the successful ones intending to go on to further education went into 6B. Some who intended to go into commerce went into the commercial 6th for a year. A few left school after school certificate to take up employment. In 6B we had 2 years to select our subjects and prepare ourselves for Higher School Certificate, the predecessor of A levels. It was usual to take 4 subjects, 2 or 3 at principal level and 1 or 2 at subsidiary level. We were allowed more freedom than heretofore with free study periods. After one year we moved up to 6A.

Throughout my school days I had been fascinated by the sea and read every book on the subject, fiction or non-fiction, I could lay my hands on. As my school days came to an end I went through an agony of indecision as to whether I should apply for the Royal Navy鈥檚 Y-scheme officer cadet direct entrance which was due to come to an end soon, or whether I should apply for University Entrance which I knew would be a financial burden for my parents. Fortunately I chose the latter, because I had never been to sea, and was quite unaware what a dreadful sailor I was. When the time came to do my national service, which was not until 1953, I was put into the RAF probably because my time in the ATC had been recorded! I have now lost touch with nearly all my contemporaries at Burnage and have spent more than half my life in Aberdeen. I know of two who have achieved distinction, Prof. Jack Connel who was director of The Torry Research Establishment in Aberdeen, and Prof. Leon Poller, still actively doing research in haematology at Withington Hospital. If there are any other contemporaries around who happen to read this, I should be pleased to hear from them.

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