*********************************************
If you don't swing that arm, laddie, I'll rip it off and beat you to death with the soggy end.
He had a way with words, did our corporal Villiers. Well, you had to have if you were a drill instructor at RAF West Kirby.
What was I doing there? Pounding the square for 8 weeks during my basic training... hence the term 'square bashing'. We were run around from morning until night - or, to use the vernacular 'From arsehole to breakfast time'.
But I wouldn't have missed my time in the Air Force, not for anything. And not just because it was where I met Mary. I had a great time -mostly - and I didn't know how lucky I was.
I met Mary at a place called RAF Haydock. Summer. And what a summer: nights out in Southport - six of us (3 airmen, 3 WRAF) in Jimmy Calthorpe's car. A bit cramped but all the better for that.
Memories: Seco 3...D Watch...Tech Office...the NAAFI...the WRAF bloc...the Section...the Cookhouse...the Tennis Team...the Wagon and Horses...the British Legion...those walks down Haydock Land - and endless sunshine.
The camp has long since gone; it was bulldozed to the ground to make way for a housing estate.
Would you like to see a photo of Mary? If you would, Anna, I will include one in my next post.
I know you will be busy now that the exams loom large.
Write when you can.
Yours as always
George
1 comment:
RAF West Kirby, George! I used to cycle past the old base every day on my way home from Calday Grange Grammar School for the sons of gentlefolk. (Not sure how my folks managed to get me in there as my old man was only an electrician!) We lived just up the road in Greasby.
Post a Comment