A NEW ERA IN THE RAF

After arriving at Harwich, I made my way to Euston Station in London and then on to Lime Street Station in Liverpool.  I was hoping to meet my brother John but he was not there so I just had to wait as I did not know where he lived.  Hours later, he appeared and took me to a Chinese restaurant where he ordered a rice dish for us.  I did not know how to use chopsticks so the waiter went to a neighbouring restaurant and borrowed cutlery for me to use!

Afterwards, we went to his digs and he asked about renting a room for me.  The landlord allowed me to stay in an army bed in the attic, rent free, and during the day I stayed in John’s room.

The following day, I went to get my ration books and was given a double ration when I told them where I had come from.  After that I went to the RAF recruiting office and was offered a job as a coppersmith and sheet metal worker.  Shortly afterwards I was sent for a medical, which I passed with ease and, a few days later, I received a travel warrant to take me to No 1 School of Recruit Training at RAF Cardington in Bedfordshire. 

I arrived there on 9^th April 1947 and was kitted out, sworn in and we had our group photograph taken.  Following this, my group was posted to RAF Bridgenorth, Shropshire where I was known as AC2 Hughes, Egbert 4023355.  This was where I did my basic military training.

First Group Photo in the RAF (April 1947) - Egbert is second from left in the front row

On the rifle range, we had to fire a Sten gun from the hip and from the shoulder; a sergeant stood beside me and was surprised that I hit the target both times.  He said that the Sten was a difficult and dangerous gun to fire and he almost believed that I had fired one before.  I told him that I had, during the war, but I think he thought I was lying.

Some of the Officers and NCOs were obnoxious to the new recruits and could be cruel at times.  The basic examples ranged from silly to downright nasty; I had to sign a form saying that lack of knowledge of the English language was not an excuse to disobey an order.  On another occasion I was having a smoke beside a grass covered air raid shelter when an Officer and a sergeant approached my group and ordered us to remove our boots and socks.  Those whose nails were too long were made to file their nails down with large files the sergeant handed out.  I always kept my nails short and the Officer instructed the sergeant to give me the bayonet treatment.  This involved sticking a bayonet in the ground and making me hold my finger on the end while the sergeant turned me round and round then made me stand up.  I was dizzy and fell down like a drunk amid loud laughter.

On another occasion, on church parade, the Warrant Officer called for all Roman Catholics and Jews to fall out.  We did not know that the parade was only for Church of England airmen but we waited by the edge of the parade ground.  As I passed the sergeant he whispered “March smart, you bloody Jew!”  I was trembling with anger.

After the parade I went to the Orderly Room and filed my complaint with the Station Adjutant.  He went in to speak to the Wing Commander who called me in and asked why I was so angry and upset.  I explained that some of my family’s Jewish friends had perished in the gas chambers and that was the reason for my anger.  I was dismissed and the sergeant was presumably reprimanded.

More than likely so as he called me out to fall in for lunch one day and when I went out he took me to the armoury where he signed out a Short Magazine Lee Enfield rifle.  He ordered me to raise it above my head and run around the parade square.  In no time, my arms were screaming with pain; however, it came to an abrupt end.  The C.O. must have watched it all from his office window as he came out and shouted me over; he told me to sign the rifle back in and then go for lunch and he would deal with it.  I have no idea what happened but I had no more trouble from that NCO.

After we passed out, I was posted to RAF Keevil near Trowbridge in Wiltshire.  I arrived at Trowbridge Station late at night and there was not a soul about except a Warrant Officer who gave me a lift in his taxi and dropped me at the gates of the airfield gates.  There was only an LAC on duty in the Guard Room and he gave me a cup of tea and told me to sleep in one of the cells.  In the morning I reported to the Orderly Room where I was issued with a bicycle (because my billet was down the road on a farm.  I also received a bayonet to be used on parade.

RAF Keevil, Steeple Ashton nr Trowbridge, Wiltshire

Ironically used as a despatch point for gliders sent on

Operation Market Garden (Arnhem) and on D-Day (France)

I went to the sheet metal shop and met Roy Kirk, the LAC in charge.  He was from Dronfield near Chesterfield in Derbyshire and we got on just fine.  Every month his wife sent him a cake and he always shared it with me.  The Station was due to close and move to RAF Chivenor near Barnstaple in Devon so almost everyone went home on leave, but some of us stayed behind to keep an eye on the place.

One evening I went to the pub in Steeple Ashton and asked for a pint of beer.  The barmaid told me they didn’t have any but offered me a pint of cider, which I accepted and I joined the farm tractor driver.  I finished my pint and ordered another one and he warned me to take it easy as it was powerful stuff.  In Holland, I thought that cider was low alcohol and I thought he was kidding me so I had a third one.  I did feel a bit funny and I said cheerio to him and, as I hit the fresh air outside, I realised I was drunk.  I staggered all the way to my billet, fell on to my bed and went to sleep still wearing my hat and coat.

I woke up staring at the light bulb hanging from the ceiling; I looked at my watch and realised that I had overslept.  I got ready and jumped on my bike and pedalled to the airfield as fast as I could.  The rest of the boys were already lined up outside of the Orderly Room and the Officer said:

“You are late, airman.” 

He asked each of us if we had anything to report and when he got to me he said:

“Airman, there are two red eyeballs staring at me.  Have you been on the Scrumpy last night?”

I said that I had and he told me to go back to my billet and sleep it off and be on guard tonight without fail.

The day came for the move to RAF Chivenor and I went with a civilian driver and a truck load of spares.  But my stay at Chivenor was to be a short one.

I made some good friends there; one was George Ferbrache he was a parachute packer and came from Guernsey.  He always had his pockets full of Horlicks tablets and boiled sweets nicked from the supply of emergency rations in the stores.

27^th October 1947 was my 21^st Birthday and I received no cards or presents but, whilst I was working on an aircraft, my mate Michael Cartriss, who was from Cardiff, came up and wished me a Happy Birthday from his sister Nancy.  He gave me a card and a Ronson lighter; a nice surprise from a girl I didn’t even know.  However, I went up to Cardiff to meet her and we became firm friends.  George and I often went up to Cardiff for the weekend and stayed with her parents.  They were lovely people but we lost touch after I moved on to another station.

Soon I moved to RAF Weeton near Blackpool and on arrival I was allocated the Wing and Billet that was to be my home for the next eighteen months.  It was winter and freezing and the accommodation had not been used since the end of World War 2.  The boys in there had gone to an empty billet and smashed up some wooden lockers to use as fuel to heat up the place.  The water system was completely frozen up and the workmen were having no luck in putting it right.  Meanwhile we could not have a shower, wash or bath.

The Station Adjutant laid on transport and we went off to the public baths in Blackpool.  It was absolute Heaven to soak in a hot bath.  Over the weeks, things improved and we were able to start our course – with civilian instructors.

I joined the Station sports team and on Wednesdays we had Station sports days and on Saturdays we had cross country.  I took part in the 24 mile News of the World Relay race in Bradford – we each did 4 miles and, after competing we could still go into Blackpool.  For a shilling (5p) we could go to a variety show and then use the same ticket to go dancing in the Tower Ballroom, mostly to Ted Heath and his band.

The Station Entertainment Officer would organise dances and he would invite landladies and their daughters and friends and even lay on transport for them.  I made friends with Mrs Farrant and she gave me a key to her Guest House and said when you are in Blackpool, come and see me and if I’m not at home, help yourself to food and drink.  I was still in touch with her up until about 1970.

As a result of my work, I was taken into hospital with a painful and badly swollen chin.  I had copper poisoning and had to have a lot of penicillin injections.  I felt sorry for the nurses who had to dress that unpleasant area of infection – the doctor remarked that they had caught the infection just in time.