Memories of Colfe's the War and Evacuation
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COLFE'S SCHOOL MEMORIES OF COLFE'S THE WAR AND EVACUATION WRITTEN BY COLFEIANS Revised edition 2006 COLIN H TAYLOR (1939-1947) Only once do I remember going to the 'School on the Hill' and that was some years after my school days. I started at Colfe's in September 1939 when I joined a friend at his 'billet' in Southwood Avenue, only a few yards from 'Skinners'. He stayed for about a year. I remained until moving with Colfe's to Frome in 1944. I was one of the lucky ones. The Burtons with whom I was billeted treated me like the son they never had - probably better. H e was a Director of Strange Electrical on Mount Pleasant and a great gardener (I've rewired several houses over the years and I still grow my own fruit & veg). She had been Head Housekeeper at the Metropole Hotel in Brighton and was a wonderful cook. Moreover she had a brother who owned the family pub on Dartmoor: every few weeks throughout the war a pair of rabbits (or the like) would arrive by post (within 24 hours of posting), their back legs tied together and a label round a neck. At a time of rationing and shortage a commentary on the honesty of the times. What with the home-grown fruit and vegetables we really lived well! In the September and October of 1939 we did no actual schooling. We met each morning on the Common, near Wellington Rocks, and played games until lunchtime: that was it for the day! In later days we got down to work but how we covered the syllabus I do not know because we spent so much time going between the classrooms spread around the town. The YMCA alongside the Green Line bus station, in the tower of the church hall at St Johns, along Mount Ephrain and of course at Skinners. We walked miles each week - and kept the Maidstone and District buses well filled. Of the staff, so many memories. Of G.W. Morris, a fast moving diminutive figure in a black gown, the tall, thing apparition of 'Beaky Southern', the equally tall but clearly elderly 'Bunny' Bennett, of 'Ding monkey' 'Sniffy' Chandler etc. My own view is that they did a wonderful job in the circumstances. Contrary to the view of some, I shall always be grateful to Major 'Sanky' Meredith for cultivating in me a love of maps and geography in general such that I seemed as a navigator in the RAF for 20 years. Also Mr Stockbridge, who taught woodwork in the depths of the Skinners building almost without wood. Nevertheless he taught me some of the long remembered skills which I still try to apply 60 years later on the Severn Valley Railway. As to memories of Frome, of re-wiring and decorating our wreck of a classroom in the old hutted school we shared with Coopers. Of the scrumpy cider so easily available in the town - if you new where. Of V.E. night when we went out on the town - and no one cared when my companion (a local, not from Colfe's I hasten to add) poured beer into a 'borrowed' policeman's helmet. We sat our 'School Certificate' just a few weeks later before returning to London and a new term at Beacon Road. I suppose you could say I had a good war!! GILLIAN MORLEY (1941-1942) When the school was first evacuated to Tunbridge Wells it was only possible to have part-time education. Skinners used the school building in the morning and Colfe's in the afternoon. Then St John's let them use the church rooms so that the senior boys could have classes in the morning. Later the Physics master at Skinners was called up for the forces and Mr Chanter taught in both schools. The class I attended with him was composed of boys from both schools. My father (Ding Morley) always walked to school but Mr Morris had a bicycle. It was when he was cycling home that he had his accident. A truck load of soldiers had pulled up at the roadside and as he was passing, the men jumped out without looking and knocked him off his bicycle. He was out of school for some time and, as deputy head, my father had to supervise the re-evacuation of the school to Frome, Somerset. DENIS GREENSMITH (1931-1937) In those days, for an evening activity/occasion to which parents were invited, the 'prefects' (including me) were required to wear full evening suits, so my dear mum shook the money box and bought me my first evening suit from the Fifty Shilling Tailors in Lewisham High Street. What happened to Tarka the'Otter, who lived in a glass case in the entrance hall? And Mr Birnberg, a delightful maths teacher, who came to work on a rusty old bike because all his cash went in helping Jews out of Germany - (and beat the best 4 chess players at one time together with himself blindfolded)? - makes me feel very humble. 1 ROY DURHAM (1940-1945) I have little recollection of Colfe's at Lewisham except for walking past the staff entrance on Sunday afternoons until the September 1940 day of registration. Air raids were of course common as it was the time of the Battle of Britain, the sight of our fighters attacking a formation of enemy aircraft, seen from Morden Hill, is absolutely unforgettable. Within what seems to have been a few hectic days, I found myself whisked off to Tunbridge Wells and starting again this time a t Skinners. I was taken into the Form by Colin Taylor, the form captain of 3a. The green in front of the main building provided underground shelters, in which I remember English and astronomy (Messrs Southern and Uttley) being taught. In the poor light, the Earth was represented very effectively by a tennis ball and the sun by what I would now judge to be a 20 watt bulb. We used the YMCA for some lessons and table tennis rooms in the Red Triangle building for recreation. Both places were just off the Fiveways, in the centre of town. Our air raid shelter was at the top of the road on the edge of the common and was a sandstone cave with presumably doors. Driving past may years later, it seemed to have become, or reverted to being a municipal builders store. Sic transit... Byng Hall, next to the school was also used. I recall Maths, Mechanics, English and Latin there and I believe French. These arrangements allowed us to have morning lessons, while Skinners was otherwise occupied. The only association with the Skinners pupils that I can remember was a Wednesday nigby match at their fields on the Southborough Road. We had matches on Saturday afternoons which now appears an obvious distribution of facilities. Having since worked in Supplies Administration in B.E.A. and B.O.A.C. and B.A., I can now appreciate the effort that must have gone into this. I think all we were aware of at the time, were changes in venue and timetables. School life was a steadying influence in those troubled times. There was security in the routine and discipline and sense of progression, plus the support of being one of a group with common experience. Assembly was held in the hall the beginning of the afternoon with a formal prayer by Headmaster Morris followed by a hymn, which we had been cautioned to sing rather than shout, followed in turn by notes, mostly administrative, but too often a bit sombre. Perhaps a master killed in action or a returnee to London caught in an air raid. Eventually the atmosphere changed and there was new expectation. Even Mr Southern didn't object when we jumped up to see a flight of Spitfires go past and on T. Wells Common, ATS girls were preparing camouflage nets down near the Pantiles for the impending invasion of Europe. Then the Vis began to appear, reintroducing a serious not. My parents, as a result of bombing, had already been moved to Uxbridge in 1941. It was ironic that the one VI fell next door and blew the top off the house. It seems miraculous, as always, that they and the rest of the family escaped with only cuts and bruises. Then the expedition to Frome began. Again, school continued as usual, though we lunched in school for the first time with a master at the table which helped us understand them more as people . Also, we understood that the masters thought about more than their subjects. One day whilst walking in with Mr Morley, he introduced us casually to Wegener's theory of continental drift, which was still open to debate. The one thing we were not used to was the sight of girls on the premises. As the hockey pitches were alongside the large windows, it could be difficult to concentrate. The surreptitious glance being preceded by an earnestly thoughtful expression. Some of us had several billets during our brief time in Frome. About twenty had moved to the Hostel, a temporary building but with a brick built mortuary, formerly for the old men of the parish. We had become quite a community, but with the end of our occupation in sight, the dining room gained extra beds and residents. Fortunately this did not last and the great dispersal took place. That was the end of my time with Colfc's.