W
COINCEDENCES IT`S A SMALL WORLD !! Early 1945
ent into Colombo Service Club for a decent meal and relaxation
for the evening. In the middle of a group of Navy guys was somebody playing really good boogie - woogie. I walked over to see who was playing - to find it was a fellow Royal Liberty School pu- pil from the 1940`s. At a Christ- mas Eve dinner in 1960`s at the Country Club and Swimming Pool, Ingatestone, the excellent band playing such good tunes was led by the very same Pianist ! VJ Night August 1945
O
n leave and staying in a Tea Planter`s Bungalow nearly
5000 ft up in Nuwara Eliya, Ceylon. The Bar Lounge of the Services Club was crowded with Dutch Navy and Civilians, Polish Submariners, Royal Marines, Fleet Air Arm, and Navy mixed. We all got really plastered as we celebrated not having to invade Japan and the end of the war. In the Dutch crowd - as I later discovered during a Canal Boat Trip in Rotterdam was a certain Kes van Al- phen - who became Secretary of the Voorburg Rotary Club ( our then contact Club ) and who was my Host when I took some Ilford Rotarians on an ex- change visit !!
W 1970`s U S A
hen I led a contingent of Ilford Rotarians to our contact Club of
Monrovia, Los Angeles, we accompa- nied them to their District 530 confer- ence at Palm Springs. One evening they took us up the mountain supplying elec- tric power to Palm Springs. On the way up in the near vertical glass elevator, somebody tapped me on the shoulder ( we were standing in tiers ), saying " Pardon me - are you from London, Eng-
land ? I replied - " Yes - from just out- side London in a place called Upmin- ster. It is near the famous Battle of Brit- ain Fighter Air Base of Hornchurch " His reply was " Heck! I`ll be God- damned --- I was stationed there ! " 1970`s U S A
H
aving to change planes in Washington D.C. en route to
my cousin`s in Cincinnati, I took the opportunity to explore the U. S. Capital. In the Senate, I was taken
to the Senator on duty who invited me to sit in on a Debate and whilst chatting asked me the perennial question - " Are you from London, England ? " Giving my usual reply about Upminster / Hornchurch - he told me that he too was at Hornchurch Aerodrome briefly with the Eagle Squadron!!
O 1980`s
ne Saturday morning at Upminster Golf Club, eight of us sat around
the table having drinks and having our usual Post Mortem - to find that 3 of us were in the Fleet Air Arm - all in Ceylon in July 1945 - two were on H.M.S. "Glory" (but did not know one another) - the ship that I was posted to but instead had to go into Colombo Hospital when she sailed - thereby missing a glorious couple of weeks celebrations in Sydney. How strange to meet again as members in Upminster Golf Club ! Present
E
ven in Hornchurch Rotary Club, I discovered that Eddie Truman and I
were born in the same Maternity Home in Plaistow : Alan Booty and I were both Sergeants in the Ilford Wing A.T.C. at the same time ; Colin Davies lived in the same street in E16 as my Grandmother and 3 Aunts; Denis Bragg went to school in Bonham Road, Becontree where I lived as a child !!
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