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This was not so for one lad who I remember was told to see the barber because of
the length or amount of hair he had, but instead of going one of his mates cut it for him. The cut left it shorter than it was originally but when on parade the following day he was asked if he had visited the
ship’s barber his reply was “Yes”. The Officer walked round him and then started to bellow. The lad was detached from the parade and marched between two beefy sailors round to the barber’s where his hair was
cut to the instructions that were passed to him. When finished he was marched back again and in front of the rest of us he was used to show just how discipline was metered out to anyone breaking the regulations, the
lad looked with no disrespect meant, worse than some of the American forces styles of today.
My downfall was that I was caught with my hand in my pocket something they don't like. Even though I had just
replaced my handkerchief I was told to sew up the pockets. The next parade saw the Officer having them checked. I remember being told that I was the first person the Officer saw as he left the building and he had
not long before been given a rollicking (sorry dressing down) over something so I ended up with the next one .
When we were allowed on shore we made our way into Portsmouth with a visit to the pictures one
day the film we saw was not shown in Scunthorpe for months after my return .
The Seaman's Mission was the main place that we visited and being in uniform we were made most welcome. We had the use of
all the facilities there with the exception of alcohol from the bar but tea and coffee could be obtained . A number of us one day visited a small museum that turned out to be the home of Charles Dickens.
I found it quite interesting not only were there everyday household items but pages of manuscripts and letters written by him.
After one of our visits to the Seaman's Mission I think there were four of us
left a little later than anticipated and had to get a move on to get back on time. This resulted in us having to jog back. With the base being on an island meant that we had to cross a bridge that was quite high as
it had to be above the high tide mark. Passing the half way point the guard post at the end of it could be seen and the guard was stood watching us cross as we got nearer to him he shouted for us to get a move
on. Upon our arrival he requested our names and told us to get a move on as he had told our Officer that we had passed in when he shouted at us.
An official visit to H.M.S. Victory was arranged for us and a
lad of my height found that there were not many places that I could stand upright without banging my head while on board. We also had a trip to one of the other naval establishments where we were shown the use of
live ammunition. We had one other surprise while there during a break from the parade ground. We were outside one of the canteens not far from the waters edge when the Royal Yacht Britannia sailed into the
port, in all its splendour only there were no members of the Royal Family on board at the time.
I had a great time there learning the trade and when we had sat our exams and the results were read out with no one getting 100%.
The Officer started reading from the list, names along with the scores as I
waited he started with the ones who had not passed ... my thoughts were ... where's my name as many of the others had a higher education than me but it didn't come out. When he continued with the names and scores he
got to the point until only three names were left.
As I listened he read out the names the top score was 98% not mine, next 97% and my name! This was a surprise to me. The seaman who's rank I am not sure of who had been in charge of us while congratulating me said that he thought I would be one of the people that would pass. I enquired more about his remark and he replied “I noted that you took notes and would ask questions.” My reply was others did the same but he said you were one of the lads that referred to your notes and when classes were over did not just put them away until the next day you kept going over them.
When I returned home I had the rank of cadet seaman gunner first class. But sadly never went into the Navy but the building trade and other jobs as my memories have shown.
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