大象传媒

Following training I served on a minesweeper and on board the duties of a crew of 4 torpedoman were to maintain all electrical equipment, giro compasses, light explosives and operate depth charges in the event of an attack by enemy submarines, we were not equipped with torpedo tubes. The minesweeper was only a small boat of 900 tons and the ships company consisted of a crew of 5 officers and 90 men. The ship 鈥� H.M.S Octavia, was built in Toronto, Canada and commissioned in St. John, New Brunswick. We stayed in Canada for about 5 months carrying out trials and proving equipment and visited Newfoundland on the way home. Most of the places we visited was to sweep and clear mines and carry out some convoy work escorting merchant ships carrying supplies to Britain. We spent one year in Iceland before transferring to Mediterranean area for about 2 years minesweeping around the coast of Gibraltar, Southern France, Italy, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Yugoslavia, Turkey, Greece and numerous Greek Islands, Malta, Egypt and North Africa, not forgetting Ireland and the Outer Hebrides. My memories of the war years are still very vivid.

During my service in the Royal Navy I made one lifelong friend 鈥� Bill Hodges 鈥� from Shrewsbury in Shropshire who for many years managed a care home with his wife in Uphill, near Weston Super Mare, we visited each other very often but since writing this story he has unfortunately died. He was my only ex naval contact.

My first date with Grandma Betty was just after my release from the Royal Navy in 1946, I saw her first on a coach trip but we did not speak on that trip as we did not really know each other but we became friends soon after.

In those days I could not afford a car and did not but one until our move to Devizes, by which time I was 43 years of age, before them my only transport was my bicycle and all of the family cycled.

I consider that I have been very lucky in health with no serious illnesses, although as a child I had the inevitable measles, mumps, chicken pox and had my tonsils removed. My first visit to hospital was in 1931 to repair a broken leg. I was knocked down by a man on a bicycle 鈥� and I was walking on a pavement! 鈥� my right tibia and fibula鈥檚 were fractured and I spent two weeks in Melksham Cottage Hospital. At the age of 10 I broke my upper left arm, the pole snapped when I was pole vaulting and in 1948 I fractured my right wrist whilst playing cricket. The two childhood breakages did not affect my schooling but the broken wrist delayed my entry into the Fire Service for nearly 6 months, the Brigade doctor would not accept me until I was completely fit again.

Nowadays I do not exercise a great deal other than walking but in my younger years I was quite involved in athletics, playing cricket and football both for the Brigade and other local teams.

Living in a village at the outbreak of war I was not evacuated to a safer place to avoid the bombing like so many city children were 鈥� I was too old anyway, but quite a number of evacuees were billeted in the village of Holt for the duration of the war, some were from London and a group of about 20 Austrian Jews of whom I became friendly with 2 or 3 until I joined up. Prior to joining up, the war did not affect my life unduly apart from the food rationing and other shortages, but working in a shop helped with the rations. After joining the Navy and from mid 1942 as I spent nearly all my Navy service abroad I only recall 3 short spells of leave to visit my home and parents.

Having seen Grandma Betty on the coach in 1946 we soon dated and went everywhere together in our spare time. She was 16 and I was 23 years old. I had not yet joined the Fire Service and Betty worked in County Hall at Trowbridge in the Registrars Department were she continued to work until we were married. Our first and long term impressions must have been good as we were together until her death on 1st April, 1996 and just missed celebrating 50 years of marriage.

Soon after our first meeting we began discussing an engagement, but because of her age her parents would no give their consent, however we were engaged just before she was 18 years old and when we tried to get their consent to get married and again they delayed for some time but it was given eventually.

Until marriage we were both still living with our own parents and while mine were pleased with our engagement and marriage this meant there was a drop in my parents income 鈥� they were still not very well off 鈥� approaching retirement and still living in rented accommodation, they were never in a position financially to buy a house of their own and although they were offered the one in which they lived for 拢400 they just did not have the money.

We were married in Staveron Church, a very small church in a very small village between Holt and Trowbridge, on 12th June 1948. I was 25 and Betty 19 years old. I wore a navy blue suit, new for the occasion and Betty wore a white family wedding dress. The best man was my brother Frank, one bridesmaid was Peggy Jones 鈥� a cousin on the Bodman (Betty鈥檚 maiden name) side 鈥� the other was my niece 鈥� Maureen - the elder daughter on my sister Marion. Maureen, now widowed, owns a fish farm at Coombe St. Nicholas near Chard, Somerset and manages the farm with her two sons Stacey and Lance at Pudleigh Mill.

About 100 guests attended the wedding ceremony with the reception being held at the Reading Rooms (Village Hall) in Stavernton Village. Several wedding presents are still in the family especially 2 Lloyd Loom chairs given by my parents and now with my daughter Alison.

Our honeymoon was spent at Ryde on the Isle of Wight but things did not go according to plan! Owning a car in 1948 was out of the question so after the wedding and reception we had to catch a stopping train at 5.39 p.m from Trowbridge Railway Station to Portsmouth, arriving at the harbour station just after 8 p.m 鈥� the ferries to the Isle of Wight stopped sailing for the night at 8 p.m. We and another couple with the same problem searched around for a boatman to take us across to the island. It was a rather small motor boat and the sea was quite choppy so we got rather wet. The boatman put us off at the sea end of Ryde pier which is long enough to require a pier railway, but as the ferries had stopped sailing so the trains had also stopped running for the night, this meant we had to walk the whole length of the pier and I was carrying two large suitcases. At the town end of the pier we managed to hail a taxi cab although it was midnight by this time 鈥� we gave the address of the hotel 鈥� Clearmont Hotel 鈥� whereupon the cabbie advised us that the hotel was only about 200 yards away but I was so tired we took the taxi even for that short distance. The ride was so short, the fare cost one shilling and sixpence and we arrived at the hotel cold, hungry and very tired well after midnight.

Living accommodation in 1948 just after the war had ended was very scarce and we could not even obtain a property to rent. Betty鈥檚 parents lived in a very old cottage in a terrace with 4 bedrooms in the village of Staverton- opposite the Old Bear Inn 鈥� and we reluctantly had t accept to take rooms with them 鈥� the house has long since been demolished. It was not an ideal start to our marriage but we had no alternative and we lived separately from her parents. The only source of heat in our part of the house was an open coal fire in the living room ad all the food was cooked on a small primus stove in an alcove just off the living room. Water was obtained from an outside tap and the toilet was some distance down the garden. I had just a very small patch of garden to grow a few vegetables and flowers. I f we had not accepted the rooms we could have got married as no other accommodation was available and as the post war building programmes had not got under way very few houses became available foe sale. One house came on the market for 拢700 and we approached the owner offering that amount but we were gazumped 鈥� someone offering more than the asking price as so many people were desperate to obtain somewhere to live. We just could not increase our offer so the opportunity was lost.

My wages when we were married were five pounds and five shillings each week each and Grandma Betty did not work after we got married but we found these wages were adequate for our means and by growing some of our own vegetables and eating sensibly we managed very well. I would supplement our income by doing any part time work that was available and by making several thongs for the house rather than buy them. I cannot remember the prices of items in the shops as I did not do very much of the shopping but I do recall that the bouquets for the bride and bridesmaid and the buttonholes for the wedding cost me 拢12, more than 2 weeks wages.

Our first child 鈥� Trevor 鈥� was born at Staverton, while we were still living in rooms, on New Years Day 1950 and weighed 9 pounds. All of our children were born at home; Betty steadfastly refused to go into hospital. Douglas our second son was born at Newleaze, Hilperton, near Trowbridge on 23rd May 1953, weighing 10 pounds while Alison was also born in Newleaze on 3rd June, 1957 weighing 8 pounds. After the birth of Trevor, accommodation became a problem apart from wanting to bring up our children in our own way the facilities in the room were not suitable or adequate for bringing up a baby. There were no bathroom or laundry facilities and all the hot water was heated in a kettle.

We still could not find a house within our price range to buy so we reluctantly applied for and obtained a council house at No 10 Newleaze, Hilperton in 1952. We were not happy in council accommodation although it was a brand new house and by living carefully we managed to save enough to provide a substantial deposit in order to purchase a brand new bungalow at the end of 1959 at No. 19 Delamere Road in Trowbridge for 拢2,436-00. We put down a deposit of 拢700 which in those days was considered a lot of money. We also took up a mortgage of 拢1,700-00.

The bungalow contained 3 bedrooms with space for a garage alongside and as soon as we could afford it we built the garage ourselves. We used good second hand timber for the roof, door and window frames and the whole cost of the materials was exactly 拢100. Soon after that wee added a conservatory over the rear entrance.

We continued to live in the bungalow 鈥� which was near the Fire Station 鈥� until I started getting promotion in 1965. I was not content to remain as just a fireman and I felt I could do better than some of the people in charge and in 1972 we moved to a Fire Brigade house at No.63 Queens Road, Devizes. We eventually bought the house from the County Council in 1973 for 拢11,500 and took up a mortgage of 拢7,500 over a 20 year period.

It was worth mentioning that promotion was a long time coming and sixteen years passed before I gained my first promotion despite having pass茅 all five examinations including qualifying as a Member of the Institute of Fire Engineering which was most unusual at fireman level. To do this I had to sit down each night ands teach myself physics and chemistry which I mentioned was not taught at school. However between 1964 and 1966 I gained promotion three times in very quick successions and the next three promotions took place over the next eight years 鈥� for the final 5 years I was the Brigade Training Officer with the rank of Divisional Officer.

All three of our children first attended the village school at Hilperton but upon moving to the bungalow they changed to Trowbridge schools and had to change schools again in 1965 when we moved to live in Devizes where they all attended the local Grammar School but 1966 the County Council closed the Grammar School in favour of a comprehensive policy so unfortunately Douglas and Alison were required to change schools again at a critical time in their education and attend the local comprehensive school. Regarding subjects, Trevor had a leaning towards mathematics but all 3 were quite good at most subjects.

As a family we decided that we would take a good holiday each year and we visited Butlin鈥檚 Holiday Camps for a number for years. The only year we did not take a holiday was the year we bought the bungalow ass we felt we should be careful with spending that year. We had to travel by train when going on holiday until we purchased our first car 鈥� an Austin A35 鈥� for which I paid 拢135. The various Butlin camps we visited were Clacton-on-Sea, Bognor Regis, Pwllyheli and Minehead, some of them were visited several times.

Although neither of us inherited anything from our parents by now we were quite comfortably off and even with 3 children to bring up as long as we lived sensibly we did not really have to go short of anything within reason. Betty was an excellent cook and seamstress, making lots of the children鈥檚 clothes and I could do most of the repairs and improvements around the house and made many of the children鈥檚 toys for birthdays and Christmas. In hindsight I do not think we had too many difficulties although it was mostly work and not much leisure time.

Hobbies were rather dictated to us through need and consisted in the main of woodwork and gardening which were the most productive. I was fortunate that on working every other day and night in 24 hour shifts I could do a lot of carpentry at the Fire Station during the evenings when not attending emergency calls, where I made a greenhouse, a shed and many more items of furniture and toys. The facilities at the station were far superior than anything that I could provide at home. In order to provide a little extra money I would do part time work on my days off and would try anything in the 鈥淒o it yourself鈥� line earning about 30 shillings (拢1-50) each week which helped considerably towards buying the bungalow.

While the children were small we as a family spent a lot of our time cycling, with Trevor having his own small bike and Douglas and Alison riding on the seats specially fitted to our bicycles until they were old enough to ride alongside us. A car in the early days was out of the question and we did not really want one.

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