大象传媒

Basil Whorwood 鈥� 鈥楤az鈥�, was another of the worthies. He lived just a little further away from us, nearer to the Welsh Harp. His Mother, like Mrs Bushell, was sharp tongued, vitriolic and much feared. The one most in fear was Baz himself and we felt for him. We could never risk actual eye contact with her. She was one of those women you felt could see down to your very soul and winkle into the open your grubbiest dirty secrets. So, anyway, when one day we made rafts to pole out onto the water cold and grey, Baz had the misfortune to get his centre of gravity outside his centre of buoyancy and with physics taking command of the situation, poor Baz took a header! I think it was October time and none of us kids was what you could call 鈥榝leshed out鈥�. We could all of us swim but drowning was the very least of Baz鈥檚 worries. He struggled ashore, desperate now to explain to Mater Whorwood a legitimate and plausible reason for his togs to be filthy soaking wet. With new purpose in our adventure we stripped Baz starkers and offering his wet gear to the drying warmth of a generous bonfire, dangling the grey laundry on the ends of inadequate whippy sticks.

Things were going well and Baz had ceased whimpering and was now just juddering with the cold. He was beginning to think that perhaps he was going to get away with it. It was at this stage that Bushell made his move, I'm not suggesting that it was a deliberate act but it always seemed to be his destiny to get others into trouble. Remember how he was forced to surrender his teeth to Cameron as a result of causing angst in others? Swinging the Whorwood underpants with reckless abandon, Bushell lost control and cast them to oblivion in the flames! By the time the hysterical Baz had drugged them from the inferno, they were not recognisable.

In those days, to have two pairs was something of a luxury. To hide the loss of one pair was out of the question. I hear you ask, 鈥淲hat happened?鈥� Frankly, I don't know but Baz was almost a year older than me. He joined the Royal Air Force ahead of me. In fact it was his training in the Service that opened my own eyes to the possibilities. He took the pilots course but finished up navigating Canberra Bombers around the world. I like to think that the 鈥榰nderpant episode鈥� helped to build in him the reserves of fortitude and quick thinking needed to see him through the ordeal of the initial Officer training at Cranwell. The stress and anxiety of both the underpant saga and the course at Cranwell are evenly matched! Believe me!

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Becky Barugh of the 大象传媒 Radio Shropshire CSV Action Desk on behalf of Raymond John Lawrence M.B.E and has been added to the site with his kind permission. Mr Lawrence fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

Continue reading Mr Lawrence's story by clicking below:

• 1) At the beginning鈥�
• 2) Life in the shelters
• 3) 鈥極ur Gang鈥�
• 4) We barely made it
• 5) We kids were all pretty well behaved
• 6) We had our fair share of attention from the Luftwaffe
• 7) The 鈥楪olden Couple鈥�
• 8) An evening鈥檚 entertainment
• 10) Where did I fit in?
• 11) The School Song
• 12) I wonder鈥�

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