大象传媒

It was February 1941; a really vicious winter and it would be a cold cycle ride for dad all the way from our house in Tranmere Avenue, down Redbourn Street, to Amos and Smith's marine engineers at the bottom of Neptune Street. Dad was an engineering turner by trade and at the age of nearly 27 was in a full-time job and not serving in the forces by reason of only having sight in one eye. He was however proud of the fact that he worked to 1000th of an inch machining the metals for guns and other armaments.

That morning was to be a little different from the normal routine as dad had told mum the night before, whilst lighting his last senior service cigarette of the day, that something special was to occur.

"You see Kitty, tomorrow we are all due to be lined up outside the works to be introduced to a very important person who is coming to be shown around the factory and to inspect our war effort."

Dad was also in the Home Guard and every evening he would bicycle all the way to Salt End to man an anti-aircraft gun; so he was very aware of the importance of the next day's visit. Following his daily ritual, Dad dressed for work in his overalls, not forgetting to put his tie on and also not forgetting to place in the breast pocket of his overalls a spotless white handkerchief.

Dad was well-known for always wearing his tie and having the handkerchief in his breast pocket. As Dad biked along Hessle Road in the freezing early-morning, he wondered who the 鈥榁ery Important Person鈥� would be. He arrived at the works opposite Smith & Nephews just as the young women were going into Smith & Nephews and so he needed to run the gauntlet of good-humoured banter from the girls.

There were, of course, also women working at Amos and Smith's. Dad was summoned into the main office to be told by the director that Dad would be the first to be introduced to the VIP but that for security reasons Dad couldn't be told who the VIP was - only that he would be visiting several other factories during a whirlwind visit on that morning.

At half-past 10 a small fleet of black cars arrived at the factory entrance and the workforce were already lined up, shivering in the sub zero temperatures, and just to cap it all it started to snow. Out of the first car disembarked the Lord Mayor, the Sheriff and the VIP, clad in a dark overcoat and looking decidedly frozen stiff.

Dad was in the first row of workers to be introduced to the VIP who strode up to Dad and was just about to shake that hand when the VIP sneezed violently and his nose started to run noticeably. There was consternation in the rows of dignitaries who were all hovering close to the VIP but no one it seemed had available a handkerchief to assist the VIP in his embarrassment; not the Lord Mayor, not the Sheriff and not the plainclothes detectives, two of whom were quite close to the VIP.

Dad, quickly noticing the seriousness of the situation, quickly triggered off his home guard training and promptly pulled out his gleaming white breast pocket handkerchief and offered it to the acutely embarrassed VIP. The two detectives moved forward quickly sensing, I suppose, the possibility of some threat to the VIP from Dad. The VIP however waved away the two detectives as he was very grateful indeed as the dribble from his nose had started to lengthen in the freezing temperature and without Dad鈥檚 handkerchief the VIP might have suffered the indignity of an icicle on the end of his nose.

So to the obvious relief of the dignitaries the VIP dried his nose and made to return the handkerchief to Dad. Dad, as astute as ever, declined to accept the return of the hanky, "It's quite all right Sir, keep it to the moment it will probably come in handy." So, with a sincere shake of Dad鈥檚 hand, again the VIP
proceeded down the rows of workers and within minutes the visit seemed nearly over.

However is the rows of shivering workers waited for the VIP and his entourage to climb back into their cars, the VIP, passing dad again, hurriedly took out a gold plated pen and scribble something on dads handkerchief and gave the handkerchief back to Dad saying with a smile, "Thank you once again for assisting me in my embarrassing moment". Then in an instant the VIP climbed into the black car and the motorcade were off to the next assignment. Dad hurriedly put the hanky into his overall breast pocket and thrust himself back into the hustle and bustle of Amos and Smith's routine.

That night he returned home to Tranmere Avenue to recount to mum and myself all the exciting events of earlier in the day. "Oh yes,鈥� said dad. to an incredulous mum. "and the VIP鈥檚 signed something on my hanky." and proceeded to extricate the hanky from the breast pocket of his overalls . Mum sat very proudly as Dad read out to her the somewhat smudged message on the hanky.

鈥榃ith grateful thanks in helping me out. Yours Sincerely, H R H DUKE OF KENT.鈥�

You can well imagine how dad and mum were so astonished and there and then they proceeded to place the hanky, unwashed and un-laundered into their glass fronted sideboard as a proud memento of dad's meeting with a member of the Royal family, the Kings youngest brother no less.

Even allowing just four weeks later when our little house down Tranmere Avenue was bombed out on the night of March the 31st 1941, dad managed to extricate the famous handkerchief and it remained in the family for many years, forming the centrepiece of fame and notoriety for dad both inside and outside the circle of family and friends.

Poignantly his Royal Highness the Duke of Kent was killed instantly only a few months later when the plane he was a passenger in crashed into the side of a Scottish mountain whilst, it was later alleged, the Duke was flying to meet Rudolf Hess, the imprisoned ex-deputy to Adolf Hitler, in Scotland. This tragic event enhanced even more the fame, notoriety, and importance of the ubiquitous white handkerchief.

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Added by: Alan Brigham www.hullwebs.co.uk

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