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This story has been entered by Tony Greenfield with the agreement of, and on behalf of, Haydn Sculthorpe. Haydn Sculthorpe was born on 19 August 1924 in Peterborough, then in Northamptonshire but now in Cambridgeshire. His parents were Stephen Harry Sculthorpe, a musician who had been in the Army during the first world war and then in the Army of Occupation and Ivy, nee Platten. His parents had eloped as Harry was a drummer and really 'not suitable'. They lived in Peterborough and had three children - Joan the eldest, then Haydn and then June, the youngest. Harry Sculthorpe formed the 'Harry Sculthorpe Novelty Band' which appeared at, amongst other venues, the Oxford Galleries in Newcastle upon Tyne. Harry Sculthorpe was asked to join the famous Jack Hylton Orchestra and the family moved, with the orchestra, to Hamburg, where they lived at 22 Arngartenstrasse. Ivy Sculthorpe became disenchanted with this mode of life and returned, with the children, to Great Yarmouth. Haydn passed his 11+ and duly went to Great Yarmouth Grammar School. At about this time, Harry and Ivy were divorced and, subsequently, Ivy met Harry Read who became Haydn's step-father. Haydn always had a passion for aeroplanes and spent many hours making models of 'planes, particularly the famous 'Flying Flea'designed and built by Henri Mijon. Haydn recalls that Great Yarmouth was a large and busy miltary base with Motor Torpedo Boats (MTB), Air Sea Rescue launches and mine-layers being stationed there. His first recollection of the war was of Great Yarmouth front being strafed by one or two German bombers which had unsuccessfully bombed the town and then decided to strafe it. The Grammar School was evacuated to Retford in Nottinghamshire and the then Headmaster, Mr A G Palmer, asked Haydn to stay on to finish his exams. In the meantime, his stepfather, Harry Read, a millwright, had been drafted to Coventry, to work at the Standard Aero Number 1 Company, which although normally a car manufacturer was now making every kind of aircraft part.
Haydn decided to become an apprentice with the same company and was duly interviewed and accepted. He moved to Coventry where he and his step-father were 'in digs' with a Mr Purdey, from County Durham, at 18 Mill Street, where they paid 18 shillings a week for the privilege of 'hot-bedding' with other lodgers. The house had an Anderson shelter, which was just as well as Haydn recalls that every night the Luftwaffe carried out 'nuisance raids'. The nearest Public Shelter was in Bablake School where the Head, Mr Seaborn, was the Shelter Warden. In the first 'blitz raid' of Coventry, in November 1940, the shelter survived but the house was damaged. As a consequence, Haydn's mother Mrs Read came to Coventry with the younger daughter and all three moved into 55 Stanway Road, Earsldon, Coventry. The owners of the house, an elderly couple had left to live in the country and Haydn's family 'house sat' the home. The elder daughter Joan had joined the Land Army and, as soon as she was 18, she joined the WRAF. Haydn's younger sister June also worked at Standard No. 1 Aero Coy. In the April 1941 blitz,the public shelter in Stanway took a direct hit and a large piece of masonry crashed down onto a chair from which June had leapt only moments earlier. Mrs Read, Haydn and June then ran to the public shelter under the public library. One bomb had hit the Standard Aero No. 1 Coy factory. Haydn recalls that there were about 800 people working in this factory which operated 24 hours a day. Haydn himself worked from Monday morning until Saturday lunchtime. He had joined the Standard Aero No. 1 Coy Air Training Squadron, and spent every Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday at the Air Training Squadron. The factory made Bristol engines and Rolls Royce Merlin engines for the Airspeed Oxford and the De Havilland Mosquito. Engine Holding Centres were dispersed, one being in Kendal in the Lake District and one at Maxstroke Castle in the Midlands. In November 1941, aged 17, Haydn joined the RAF, although he was not actually enlisted until he was 18 in 1942. Haydn did initial training, including square-bashing, with the Initial Training Wing, in London. In the summer of 1944 he attempted to become a pilot under the Pilot Navigator Bomb-Aimer or PNB scheme. He already held glider pilot's wings from his time with the Air Training Squadron and easily passed all his pilot selection but was told there were no openings for pilots and was offered a post as a Navigator. He then went to RAF Cosford, where he became a brevet Sergeant and then, in early 1945, to RAF Church Lawford, near Rugby. Here he was employed on carrying out Beam Approach Training in Airspeed Oxfords. Later, he was posted to RAF Eastchurch on the Isle of Sheppey and has fond memories of visiting the RN Submarine Base and being introduced to the delights of 'pink gins' and fresh green peas with his lunch. Frustrated at not being selected as a Pilot, Haydn asked to be 'boarded'and was told that there were simply too many pilots for the posts available and that everything was running down. His Commanding Officer offered him the choice of carrying on as a Navigator or being demobbed and he chose to be demobbed. Haydn returned to Coventry to what was again the Standard Motor Company. Here, disappointingly, he was told that his previous experience with the Company counted for nothing and that he would have to start again at the bottom. Determined to do so, he went to night-school and gained many qualifications, culminating in membership of the prestigious Associated Industrial Consultants. Subsequently, he joined Torringtons, a major manufacturer of all kinds of bearings and, when the company continued to grow, became Managing Director of the European branch of Torringtons and was asked to move the company to larger, more suitable premises. His warmest and most cooperative welcome was found in Darlington and the company moved to North Road. Haydn and his wife Margaret have lived in Darlington ever since.

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