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BAND NOTES
Another season has come and gone since my last notes and several old members of the band have left us for situations or the forces; many
new boys have joined the band and I feel very proud that they show such keenness and determination to fill the places of those who have left.
It is by the efforts of the boys themselves that I am able to carry on without the services of a qualified instructor? Who knows? Perhaps one
day we might get another Mr. Walkling. The boys deserve the services of some keen and expert instructor.
The band played the Company to Hertford on the 26th June to take part in the Annual inspection by Colonel Hanbury. After the inspection
they played the Battalion to Hartham Common and at the conclusion of the training inspection they played the Company back to the school.
This year the inspection came in the middle of Wimbledon Tennis Week and they had had a strenous time as most of the band were ball boys
for this important week.
The Band, less the boys on summer leave, attended the annual Battalion camp at Dibgate near Folkestone, and through the excellent coaching
of Captain Willson they won the Band Cup again. This was a great achievement and mention must be made of our young Drum Major
Terrence Burgar, for during the competition he had the band backing him to the limit. Well done 14 year old Terry and thanks most sincerely
Captain Willson.
The band attended the Annual Fete of Messrs. Warite Ltd. at Ware on the 18th September and gave an excellent display of ' counter marching,
figure marching and the beating of the Retreat.
On the 26th September the band played the Company to Christ Church Bengeo where they attended the Service of Harvest Festival. A fanfare
was blown as the Mayor and Corporation approached the church and again as they left after the service.
I was sorry to say goodbye to Bugler Peter Darling who left us for a situation in Bristol, he was small but very keen. He always gave of his
best at all times. It looks as if we have another Peter Darling in the making in Cadet Randall who is now in the band as a bugler. Already he
is doing school bugle duties. Well done titch you are doing fine.
I must congratulate Cadet Lee on gaining his drummer's certificate, good old Joe!
The band will be on parade on Remembrance Sunday, 7th November for they will play the Company to the Barracks and then the whole
parade to All Saints' Church. Our bugles will sound the Last Post and Reveille at the Hertford War Memorial. A number of buglers will be
on duty at, Roydon, Wheathampstead, Kimpton, Watton-at-Stone and Port Vale. In the afternoon of the 7th the band will take part in the
service of Remembrance at Stanstead Abbots. Our buglers will be on duty at the Village Memorial. We have our own Remembrance Service
at the school at 6 p.m. and duty buglers again will be required.
Already I have received requests for the band in 1955 from several areas in the county so we must still keep on our toes in order to keep up
the good name of the Battalion and the school, and I know that the band will give of their best. Here is a request, if there is any reader of these
notes who can help with a gift of any kind of equipment suitable for a bugle band I would be very grateful, for the cost of maintaining
equipment is often beyond our means.
May I wish all members of the band a very happy Christmas not forgetting all the lads who have been in the band, I shall be pleased to answer
any letters at any time.
A. P. CULVER, Captain o.i.c. Training Officer for O.C. 2 Coy.
COMPANY NOTES
We have left the phoney summer behind and are now well into the winter training programme. Before writing about this we must look back
and think of the summer activities.
The Battalion inspection was held on 27th June and we marched to the Hertford car park to take part in this annual event. After the inspection
the Battalion marched to Hartham Common and then carried out various stages of Cadet training. Then we were inspected by Colonel
McMullen the inspecting officer; and after the Battalion was formed in a three sided square the Colonel spoke to us on the importance of Cadet
training and congratulated all on their high standard. Congratulations to L/Cpl. Toynton and his drill team on winning the Junior Drill Cup.
All the team gave an excellent display and it did show the results of good team work.
The Annual camp was held at Dibgate near Folkestone, on the 8th August until the I5th. We were at our annual holiday camp at St. Mary's
Bay Dymchurch and so were only able to take fifty cadets owing to the other members of the Company being on summer leave.
In spite of the weather it was one of the best camps we have held; and praise must go to the Royal Ulster Rifles in looking after us so well.
The food was good, there was an excellent N.A.A.F.I. canteen and training and sport were well catered for.
The Battalion did extremely well in winning the drill, guard mounting, Band competitions, etc. and this is a good augury for our new
Commanding Officer Lt. Col. Burr.
Since our return from the camp the Company attended a Service of Harvest Festival at Christ Church Bengeo on the 26th September and a
guard of honour was provided for the Mayor and Corporation dignitaries.
We have settled down to our winter training and thanks to the continued kindness of the Army Kinenla Corporation we have a monthly
showing of training or documentary films.
We hope to enter a number of Cadets for the Cert. A I and II exams, and we should be able to build up our N.C.O. strength after these have
taken place.
Once again the Cadet boxing has come round and we have a good number of entries.
This year we shall not have the services of Cdt. D. McCallister or David England for they have now left us. England to the Army and
McCallister to situation; however, one cannot tell what talent there is until well into the season.
On December 4th the Company will have completed nine years service with the Battalion and during those years we have maintained a
steady average of ninety. We shall celebrate our anniversary on December 3rd as this is our Cadet night. It is hoped that our Battalion
Commander will honour us with his presence.
We shall be attending the Remembrance Sunday parade and Service on 7th November.
I would like to end these notes with the two following remarks:
First, I would say to the young members of the Company, you have a job to do in trying to reach the standard of the boys who have served
with this Company and it is something when you too can leave having left your mark.
Second, we would welcome all ranks of the Battalion any time they care to come and see us at work, training or play.
I would like to wish all members of this Company a very happy Christmas and I am always glad to receive letters from all old boys who have
been in the Company.
A. P. CULVER, Captain o.i.c. Training Officer for O.C. 2 Coy.
LUTON EXHIBITION
On Saturday I3th of November three other boys and myself all prepared for a day in Luton. We set off in the lorry at 9 o'clock, reaching Luton
about 10.5 but we didn't know the actual hall so it was 10.20 before we found our destination.
: We understood this was an Exhibition in aid of the Homes and there were several other stalls there besides ours. We were told to bedeck our
stall to the best of our ability, but we hadn't finished when we were given a most welcome dinner break. At 1.0 we started again and this time
we finished without interruption and I must say we were rather warm by the time we had finished.
Opening time was 3 o'clock and we went on the platform while the Mayor of Luton opened the fair. After several speeches and a presentation
of awards for service to the Homes, people began to flock round the stalls and the Carpentry and Sheet-metal work stalls sold rapidly, but the
Bootmakers Department and Printing Department were only showing exhibition material. Together we .sold £I5 worth of articles.
After tea we were soon packing the un-sold articles. The lorry soon arrived and the Fair was over. The Barnardo Helpers' League of Luton
thanked us for the part we had played to make the afternoon a success.
B. McCARTHY
MY VISIT TO THE FLYING DISPLAY AT FARNBOROUGH
On Saturday the 11th September, my friend and I went to the annual an display "I the British Aircraft Constructors at Farnborough. Alter along
and rather muddled journey we stepped through tin: turnstile and the journey was soon forgotten.
The first aircraft we saw was a Blackburn Beverley, which is a military and civil freighter. We joined the queue to look inside and were
impressed by its spaciousness. It looked like an ocean liner.
After that we visited the Exhibition Hall, but the crowd of visitors made it difficult to get a good view of the exhibits. We did, however,
manage to see some of the essential parts needed in constructing aircraft.
At three o'clock we took our places, on a hill overlooking the runway. The actual flying display was due to begin.
The show began with a group of aircraft used as "test-beds" for various engines. This part of the show was quickly brought to a close by the
weather.
We sheltered in the refreshment tent and it was my misfortune to stand beneath a leaking part of the roof, the water dripping down my neck.
It wasn't long, however, before the announcer said that the show would re-commence and everyone made a rush for the exit. We reached our
place on the hill just as the Bolton Paul Balliol was making its landing. Then came the jets; the Short Sherpa, the Folland Midge, the Soar
Meteor and the Hawker Sea Hawk. After these had landed the announcer stated that the next four aircraft would be flying at supersonic speeds
and a ripple of excitement ran through the crowd.
The 525 Naval Fighter, the Swift and De Havilland 110 produced their two bangs in rapid succession. They landed and Neville Duke made his
entrance at a faster than sound speed as he screamed overhead in his Hawker Hunter. He left us as he "slow rolled" above the aerodrome.
After the Hawker Hunter the Comet III and Comet II performed. Both these aircraft were made at Hatfield and are expected to be in regular
airline service in 1956.
The Javelin flew over next but did not show us much of its manoeuverability and was followed by the Vulcan bomber, which looked like a
huge paper dart as it wheeled and climbed above us.
The show was to have ended there but our attention was drawn to the west side of the airfield where a Handley Page Victor II was preparing
for a take-off! This machine had only flown a few hours previous to the show. It raced down the runway at high speed and impressed us with
its fast rate of climb.
The show was over for another year and we had seen the best productions of the British Aircraft Industry. We had not been disappointed. We
had been interested in the ground exhibits and the large number of types of jet aircraft had impressed us with their performance.
T. DA VIES
DYMCHURCH CAMP
Once again the noisy chatter, the banging of suitcases and the smell of diesel oil as we boarded the coaches to go to the well-known holiday
camp, St. Mary's Bay.
The weather when we started was nothing like holiday weather at all. It was raining very hard, and by the looks on some of the boys' faces,
anybody would have thought that it was going to rain for the next three weeks. As we travelled through Hertford, everybody was anxiously
peering out of the windows, hoping to catch a glimpse of their girl friends. We could alrriost imagine the looks of relief in the eyes of the
inhabitants as they saw the "Dear Boys" depart for their annual holiday.
We eventually arrived at our destination, after much speculation as to who would arrive first, and, of course, amid the cheers of the girls who
were already in the camp.
We hurriedly collected our luggage and quickly dumped it on one of the beds in the hut. After everybody had found a bedspace, we were able
to wander round the camp and get our bearings. I suppose those boys who had not been before, wondered how they were going to find their
way around in such a collection of huts.
Tea was ready at about 5 o'clock so we sorted ourselves out and found our dining hall situated just about on top of the cookhouse. Anybody
who lost himself had only to follow his nose and scent the aroma of cooking meals. After tea we wandered round the camp, striking up
aquaintances with the girls on holiday. The more thoughtful ones spent their time thinking out how to make up a bed, which would not turn
upside-down when they tried to get in it.
After supper we wandered around again until 9 o'clock and so -to bed. We finally found a way of staying in them for at least the first half of
the night.
The first week passed in a like manner, accompanied by the squelch and splash of shoes in the mud, but everybody was content. Some just
read books while some swam in the sea, while others played French draughts with the French girls, and in the evening danced and played
games in the big hall, and generally made as much noise as possible.
The weather in the second week was warm and sunny. The boys turned brown, while we fairer ones turned a nice salmon pink and went
running to Mrs. Maslin for some cooling lotion. The owner of the skating rink in Dymchurch earned a steady income, while the boys glided
round his rink or tottered round the edges. On the Friday the French girls departed for their country, to the sorrow of us who were at least
learning to dance the continental way.
Came the third week and the outing to Hastings, once again in pouring rain. When we arrived the rain stopped and the sun shone. Some boys
went to the cinema while others went to the swimming baths. I think everybody enjoyed themselves, at least it looked like it judging by how
much rock was taken back to camp.
Those wise boys who had saved some of their plentiful supply of pocket money, on the last night went across to the cafe and really did
themselves proud, much to the consternation of the proprietor. Then they staggered to bed to sleep off the effects.
Friday dawned bright and clear. It was the last two hours at Dymchurch. Some of us were cheered up by letters and cards from France, but
still all good things come to an end. The coaches arrived, and again the banging of suitcases and slamming of doors, but over it all there hung
an air of sadness.
On the journey back to Goldings I could not help but think of the staff, Mr. Wheatley, Mr. and Mrs. Maslin who worked so, hard on the boys'
dressings and pocket money, and the housemasters who woke us up with ("Get up, its raining hard, and no breaker!) They certainly gave us a
wonderful holiday.
On behalf of the boys, "Thank you very much."
JOHN GRAY
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