Darkness, Sadness, A way to remember.

                            Loosing someone close.

I remember loosing my brother, it was not easy to cope, I started to write a little something that I call REMEMBER.

 I am in very low spirits, and I don't like the world very much, I think sadness is like that, you can be so low and still function, but the sadness still gnaws at your juts,I am thinking of my brother Eddie, his wife and children, how they must be feeling, anyway it went like this, but first the darkness,

How deep the Darkness, a Darkness like no other, a Darkness that is all around, bringing sadness to so many, a darkness that drags at our hearts, that brings tears to our eyes, that makes us wilt to our knees, praying for the light to refill our body and our soles, to brighten up our memories with all the joys and laughter that as died with our brother. 

Remembering them all one by one, A little boy, and then, our Mother, and there beside her stands my Brother, light from the Darkness comes with joy, with smiles of happiness from the little boy, 


Remember our love ones without trying
Remember our love ones without crying.

Remember the good times 
forget the bad.

Remember the good things 
forget the sad.

Remember the first date you ever had 
that tantalising moment when he held your hand.

Remember his arms around you holding you close
that heavy breathing next to your throat.

Remember that feeling of wonder at his very first kiss that knight,
that everything you did just felt so right. 

Remember the love you shared together.                                                                                               If only it went on for ever and ever.
                                                                                                                                                        Remember that white dress that you once wore,
the love the oaths that you both swore.

Remember the Uniform  he use to wear,
so proud, so straight, he knew you were there. 

Remember walking down that special aisle,
both of you with ready smiles.

Remember the people gathered all around 
confetti in your hair confetti on the ground.

Remember flashes of light cameras at the ready,
some aimed at you some at Eddie.

Remember at the reception, good times were had by all
looking at you two having a ball.

Yes,! Remember that day that you were both wed,
that joy that laughter, that evening in bed.

Remember his head on the pillow next to yours,
He gently sleeps He gently snores,

Prod him gently to make him move, its your undoing
so it will prove.

Remember the hand that held yours tight,
Remember the arms that held you at night.

Remember the love he gave to you,
when he felt unwell or maybe blue

Remember the children, one by one, the joy,                                                                                            the laughter and all their fun.

Remember the smile upon his face ,                                                                                                      if his children beat him in a race.

Remember the walks you used to take,
maybe a pond?, a boat on a lake?.

Remember the assurance he gave to you,
when he held your hand and took you to school.

Remember at Christmas,
the presents you had, some for you and some for dad.

Remember the ice creams on a hot summers day ,
Remember the church where you use to pray.

I LIGHT A CANDLE TO SHOW THE WAY
IN GODS LOVE I HOPE YOU STAY
THE LIGHT OF OUR LOVE WILL LEAD YOU ON
TO GOD OUR FATHER AND ONLY SON.

Its important to remember, to let the light enter the Darkness, to brighten up our lives, to bring a feeling of well being to you and your families,  the glow of his memories will keep you warm.





 I am not a poet, its just something that I wrote when I was feeling very low, it helped me get through the dark times of my life,there was a lot of emotions going on,anger,sorrow, loss,wast, death, I have lost my Mother, brother, mother in law, father in law,uncle, uncle, nephew, and a number of good friends.

                                                       I just do not like it.

BLAKE WEDDINGS

                                                             BLAKE WEDDINGS


                                                                THE MOTHER

                                                            
           
                                 Here are the daughters of Beatrice May Blake / nee Cumner

These are some of the weddings of the Blake family,  I thought it would be nice  to show you some photographs of their weddings, starting with my sister Iris.
                                                                                                                                               

                                                                     Sister Iris

                                                                              

                    This is my sister Iris and her husband bill, or William Griffiths,
                    the bridesmaid is Gloria Hawkins, and of course me Melvyn Blake

                                                                              

             These are my sisters Sylvia and Shirley, Bridesmaids for my sister Iris.
What you should know, is that in them days they use to make their own wedding and bridesmaids  dresses, ( in the background you can see the mast of H.M.S. Victory, ).
                                                                        
                                                           --------------------------------------

                                                                        Sister Marion

                                       Below is my sister Marion and her husband Ken Ross,
Mother stands on the far right, my sister Daisey in front of her, I am not to sure who the other bridesmaids are yet, I will try to find out their names.
                                                                                                                                        

                                  Again they made their own wedding and bridesmaid  dresses

                                                                           


                                                        --------------------------------------


Below is is my sister daisy and her husband Sid or Sidney Ross , (no relation to the other Ross, ).
my sister Iris is the Bridesmaid this time, and of course most of the family is there.
                                                                       

                                                                       Sister Daisey



                                                                              

                                                                                

                                  Mum, Shirley , Bill, Marion,  Edward, ken, Iris, George, Sylvia
                                                                Peter,  Ralph, Melvyn, Richard
                                                           and two little ones I'm not sure about


                                                     -------------------------------------------



This is my sister Sylvia and her first husband George, my sister Shirley is again one of the bridesmaids

                                                                      

                                                                        Sister Sylvia


                                                                                

As you can see the family is getting bigger  and older.

Lets just say we are all there.

I just had to show you the close up of my little sister. 

------------------------------------

  

This is the little girl in the last photograph all grown up and getting married herself, she married Peter Kendrick, a nice lad, but I did fell sorry for him, all five boys had gone up to him separately to warn him off, you know !! look after her or else !!.  poor boy?, but I will say, he has done a good job.



                                                 --------------------------------------------------


                                                                                 

          Well I could not leave myself or my wife out, so here we are , not dressed in white, but the choice was hers, and yet even after forty five years, I do feel guilty she did not have a white wedding.              
                                 

                                                     Perhaps she will have White the next time.


                      I will add more photographs of the rest of the boys when I get them .                               

The Portsea, Blakes Family Tree ,

                                   BLAKE FAMILY TREE

I have to admit from the outset , I am no computer man , this is very hard for me to get my head around , but here go’s

　

　

My father was Charles Hickox Blake , born 10 , May 1900 Died 29 September 1972. married Beatrice May Cumner , born 5 may 1909 ,Sandhurst ,Berkshire Died  2000

His father was Charles Hickox Blake . born 19 January ,1877 Died march 1944.

           Children, Daisy, b 1899         Charles, b 1900 d,1972.  Frederick, b 1916 d, 1977

Married Sarah Jane Wheeler , Born Portsea Hampshire

His father was Charles Hickox Blake . born 20 November 1851 ,unknown date of death. Married Abigail Allan, Born Bridport Dorset
Children, Caroline, b 1875 .Charles, b 1877. Ellan b 1879. Jessie b 1881.
Flora, b 1883, Captain ? b 1885, Harry, b 1887, Annie, b 1888 ,
Beatrice b 1890, Lottie, b 1891.

His father was George Blake, borne abt ,1822 he married Caroline Hickox , born abt, 1821, married in Alverstoke Gosport, Hampshire

George and Caroline had 6 Children,

George Blake b, 1843
Caroline Blake b,1844
Sarah Blake, b 1850
Johnathan Blake, b 1848
Charles Hickox Blake, b1852
Harriet Blake, b 1855
Keziah Blake, b 1857    d1861
Rosina Mathews, b 1871(granddaughter ,)?

John Blake baptised 1798 is believed to be my Great, great, great, great grandfather, father of George Blake . (but not confirmed as yet!!,)

Charles Hickox Blake is my great, great , great Grandfather.

　

My father Charles Hickox Blake, Married my mother Beatrice May Cumner

She Married my father in Berkshire in 1929

　

She  had 11 children ,6, girls and 5 boys.

The Girls.

Iris Irene,                         b,28,10,1930

Marion Rosina,                b,16,5, 1932

Daisey Nora,                    b,24,3, 1934

Sylvia Beatrice Abigail     b, 23,7,137                                                                      

                                                                                                                                

Shirley Mary                     b, 9,10,1936                                                             

Rita   May                b,12,3,1952                                                                                                  

The boys                                                                                          

Edward Charles       b,  1939                                                                

Richard Arthur          b,  9,10,1940

Ralph Allan               b,1,10,1942                                                                                             
 

Robert Peter             b, 2,2,1945                                                       

Melvyn John              b,16,6,1946                                                 

 

 

 

 

                                        Below is a Photograph of the Blake family

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately we lost our oldest brother Edward in 2010, he joined our mother up in Heaven

 

 

 

 

                     Our Mother, Beatrice May Blake ,Born, 1909, Died 2000

 

 

 

 

 

 Here we are again, all pretending to be happy after our mothers wake, keeping up the upper lip, but silently crying inside .  that's me in the black shirt at the back, the good looking one,!!

 

 

Below is the Blake's family tree as I know it , most of them were born in Portsmouth Portsea , Portsmouth .

 

 

I have a photograph of my father (see Below ), I only met him once, read my, http//melvynsmudlarkinglifeinpompy.blogspot.com for a bit of a laugh .

                                                           My FATHER

 

My fathers brother's and sister's was, Teddy Frederick Blake, b, 1916, d, 1977, he my have had a sister, but I think she may have died  at a early age, her name was Daisy Blake, she was on the 1901 census but not on the1911 , he had two more brothers and three more sisters , their names were , Edmond Harry Blake, Ernest William Blake,  Lilly Violet Blake, Beatrice Abigail Blake, and,  Elsie Mable Blake.  (I am looking into that side of the family now, I will add more as I get it ) .

                               I  have a photograph of my Grandfather ,  see below .

                                 Both of them are named Charles Hickox Blake

          In this photograph their is my mother, her parents, and my father's parents

                                                              see  below

     this would be mr, and mr's Cumner, /mother, /Charles and Sarah Blake/wheeler

 

 

 

 

                                     This is my wife SHIRLEY and me, MELVYN

 

 

                                                    MY BLAKE FAMILY

             MELVYN JOHN BLAKE, Married to SHIRLEY BLAKE /NEE DASH .

 

I married my wife 1'st July 1968, I had not long been discharged from the Army, I had a medical discharge which meant I was entitled to compensation.

I asked my future bride what she would prefer, a white wedding, or new furniture for the house, she chose the Furniture .

We were married at Sturminster Newton, Dorset, they called it a registry office , but standing there, I can assure you it was anything but, it was the law courts, we stood before the judges bench, feeling like prisoners before the dock, we were both visibly shaking, saying our vowels and generally looking quite sick, when it was finished we were both relieved , we could not get out of there fast enough.

Our first child was a girl, we had 5 children.

                                       

ANITA MAY BLAKE,B,4,1,1970, (Sherborne Dotset,) Michel Will, 3, Boys

Martin Wills, Kyle Wills, Charley Wills.

DARREN ALAN BLAKE, B,1,10,1973, (Portsmouth,) C,L,Wife,Barbara Bastable,

2, boys, Danial Blake, Louis Blake.

SHARRON LIZA BLAKE, B, 14,7,1972, (Portsmouth,) SINGEL,

ALAN JOHN BLAKE , B, 26,8,1981, (Portsmouth, ) SINGLE

MELANIE LOUISE BLAKE, B, 21,4,1983, (Sherborne Dorset, ) Partner, David Dewfall, 4,Children, 3, girls 1, boy, Melanie Dewfell, Angelina Dewfell, Juliet Dewfell, Harry Dewfell, ( and one on the way ,?? )

　

I remarried my wife shirley on the first 25 years of our marriage, we had our rings blessed at Sherborne Abbey, Dorset,and it is my intent to renew our vowels at 50 years , if she will still have me ,! (5 YEARS TO GO !! )

I am now 67 years old, and things are starting to get a bit shaky, you know ?, take the pills and get on with it .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  blakemelvyn@gmail.com

CUMNER FAMILY TREE

                                                       
                           

                                       Cumner  Family Tree

I feel at this time I need to cover my Mother side of the family, so with the help of this computer I will tell you what I know .(or think I know !!,)

My Mothers name before she married my father, ( Charles Hickox Blake ) , was Beatrice May Cumner.

She was born 1909 in sandhurst Berkshire,


Her father was Ernest Edward Cumner born 22 June 1876 in Cambridge town.  *****

He married, Marion Rosina Davis, in 1897, she was born 1878 in Basinstoke .

My Great Grandfather was, Sidney Cumner, born abt 25 Nov, 1827 in Newbury,

He married, Miriam Crane Mathews, born 9 April 1844 in Aldershot, Hampshire .

My great great Grandfather, Sydney Cumner, born abt 16 Nov, 1788 in Ogbourne st George.

He married, Hannah Write born 1796

My great great great Grandfather ,John Cumner ,born 1785 .

My mothers Mother, had 12 Children in all ,

　

Daisy Marian Cumner

Dorothy Louisa Cumner

Floretta Alexandra Cumner

Elanor Rose Cumner

Sydney James Cumner

Thomas Fredric

Beatrice May Cumner      ***

Elise W cumner

Nina Phyllis Cumner

Edward George Cumner

Richard Arther Cumner

Robert Henry Cumner

I will try to introduce some photograph as I go along .


     This is my great, great, grandparents, I think, Sidney Cumner,and, Miriam Crane Matthews.

                                                                       BELOW
                                    This is my great, great, grandmother, Marion Rosina Davis

BELOW

This is my great grandmother, Marion Rosina  Cumner, /Davis

                                                                        BELOW
                                      This is my mother Beatrice may Cumner, /Blake

 

***

There is a site, Stephen Bagfords Pages, he has a bigger insight to the Cumner family, he has some of the same photograph that I have received from my family, I will add what I can .

BELOW

These are the brothers of  my mothers father,

their parents , SydneyCumner, Hanna Cumner,/Wright

Starting top left ,George Cumner, Charly Cumner, Arthur Cumner,

Thomas Freadric Cumner, Great,great Grandparents Cumner, Chris Cumner,

                  Harry Cumner,     Ernest Edward Cumner,    Richard Cumner 

               

*****

                                        Great, Great, Grandfather, Ernest Edward Cumner .

This photograph is of my mother  her mother and father Ernest Edward Cumner and Marion Rosina Cumner,/ Davis, and the in laws, Charles Hickox Blake, and Sarah Jane Blake, /Wheeler .




                                                       More to follow as I find it .


blakemelvyn@gmail.com

12 squadron R.C.T. BF Po 43 , R,A,S.C.

12 , squadron R.C.T. , B.F.P.O. 43.

　

Private Melvyn John Blake 23990507

　

I joined the army when I was 17 1/2 years old, the early part of 1963, I went to a recruitment office in Old Portsmouth, they gave me some test do before I could enlist, maths, English, that sort of thing, the Sergeant on duty was a bit amazed at the working out that I did to find the right answer to the sums, the working out was totally wrong but the answer was right," how did you do it ?" he asked , what could I tell him, I did not know myself, then there was the spelling, you see I would always spell the way I spoke, (spalling, tould ,! ) that sort of thing, after the spelling test he told me I had failed by one word, he saw the look on my face and out of the kindness of his heart, ( or because of the low enlistment rate ! ) he gave me the chance to amend the spelling of the offending word, saying he can’t help me, but pointing to the word in question, he gave me the answer, then I was in , I joined the R .A.S. C.

After a few weeks I had to report to Buller Barracks, in Aldershot, I reported to the guard room , there I joined other members of the new enlistment, and with the bag I was carrying we were told to line up into three rows, and then marched off to what was to be my new home for the next few weeks, it was not that far to go but by the time we got to Billets we were very tired, we had been marched and double marched all the way, that was our first taste of Army life .

In them days we did not meet many coloured men, so I did not know what to expect, but I have to say, they were all right !, they were very friendly and we had many a laugh, I have a couple of photographs of friends that I would like to include so I will add them as I go .

                                         This is  Bready and Len they were good company



We learnt how to march as a platoon, they made us fitter with the use of the assault course, we went to the rifle range and learnt how to shoot, and at the end of our training, we would pass out on the parade ground and be sent on to our next posting, as I was to become a Driver I was sent to just outside of Yeovil, in Somerset, it was called  Hound stone Camp, there I was taught how to drive lorries, R,L’s , K.9 , and other stuff, I was there for about 10 weeks, and on completion of our training was sent on to another posting, unfortunately when we completed our training we were posted out to different location around the world and I lost contact with most of my friends, it was a long time ago so I may only remember their full names .

　

I met one one chap in the first week (name forgotten ,) like young bucks in the field sizing each other up, just messing about, he was well built, bulging mussels, he pick me up like a wrestler would, one hand on my shoulder the other between my legs, up I went, spinning in mid air, and I was slammed down onto the wooden floor, I thought I was going to die, the wind was knocked out of me, I could not even take a breath, I could not talk, and the pain was slowly seeping into my numbed body, a half hour later I was slowly being peeled of the floor, helped by the chap who had floored me and all was well again .        WAS THAT YOU !!,?

A group of us went to Wembley to watch football, on reaching the stadium we split up, this was my first time with football, I was not a football player or fan, ( but I did want to be one of the boys ),  when I reach the place for the tickets I was very disappointed, there was nothing for us to see but the backs of other football goers, the game was going on but I could not see a thing , that was it for me, I never watched another football game again , ever !! not even on the tally .                                            

Of course not everything was rosy, there was one cap ( name forgotten ) who used to stink to high even, after being told by other soldiers to clean himself up, and him refusing to do so , ( he just would not wash !! ) they took it upon themselves to clean him up, they grabbed him by the arms and legs, marched him into the bathroom and started to clean him up in the bath, with a scrubbing brush, and a bar of soap, at first I was all in favour, but after a while it got a bit out of hand, they got this old fire bucket and fire pump, the kind you put your foot on and pump like a bicycle pump, jets of water would come out of the end of the hose with quite a force, not content with that, one of the boys tried to insert the hose up the boys rectum, that is where it went all wrong, a few of us went in and put a stop to it, in the end we felt sorry for him, but I will say, he never stank for the rest of the time that we were at Buller Barracks .

I’d like to thank the Copper ( Policeman ) who saved my life in Aldershot, I was felling good that day, I was smartly dressed in my Army uniform I’d just been to a café to meet a young lady, and was returning to barracks, walking down the high street in the middle of the pavement, in front of me two men are walking towards me, I am in a good mood and think nothing of it, they separated, one each side of me, moving close in they both shouldered me at the same time, I was stunned and shocked, I walked on about six paces, I was fuming, I turned around and I invited them both it a building plot between to shops, In my mind I was going to give them a good beating, I walked half way down the plot and turned around, there in front of me, they stood one to the left of me one to the right ,well I realise to late I have bit off more then I could chew, but still I am going for it, then from behind the two boys came a voice, " hello ?" , "hello" ?," what’s going on here then "? , there he stood in a blue uniform and shinny buttons, he had this kind of halo surrounding him , ( wishful thinking ?) he must have been sent by god !, reading the situation he said "on your way boys " , and with that, all the anger seeped away, and I smiling at the Policeman, walked away, in my mind thanking the policeman and god, for saving my life, in truth I was a fit but only a seven stone weakling and I would have had ten bales of s---t kicked out of me .

The posting office , posted me to Germany, to Pinewood Camp, that was to be my home for about three years, I used to drive ten ton lorries, Leyland and A,E.C,’s , Landrover’s , that sort of thing, we tended to get bored after a while  and most of the time we would just do first parade maintenance in the morning, then read a book for the rest of the day, once whilst I was doing the morning maintenance a corporal put me on charge for failing to do first parade maintenance, I thought it strange as I was after all half way through, never the less he charged me anyway, I was up in front of the C.O. and he asked me why I had not done morning maintenance, I told him I had no excuse, except to say I was in fact half way through when I was charge, he looked at me strangely and told me to wait outside, he spoke to the corporal and then asked me to come back inside, case dismissed !, and all that time I waiting for 28 days detention,  sometimes we had the added pleasure of cleaning the lorries down with carosine and oil , oh! what fun , sometimes in the first year we would go on manoeuvres for about four weeks at a time , that was more like it, we‘d go into a small village and camouflage the vehicle so that it could not be seen from the air, spending three or four days there , then move on to the next village, we would met the villagers, and they would be very friendly , offering us snaps or Goldvasser , they would invite you to sleep in their barn, in the winter on 1963 we were very grateful, it was so cold our boots would stick to the floor of the lorry, and in the morning we had to break the ice in the rain barrels to have a wash, when we got too bored we would volunteer for anything that was going, I volunteered to become a Regimental Policemen,( me a 7 stone weakling as a Regimental Policeman can you imagine it!? ), it involved a lot of bull s--t and marching prisoners to and from the kitchens, left right! , left right! , left right!, you get the picture , and of course Guard duty, lot’s of Guard duty ,but that's what I did.

I with a few others volunteered for the big one, Operation Brain Drain, first we had to get fitter, we trained on the Tank Track, up and down round and round, road marching, double march, we got fit , thanks to one boy in particular, I think his name was Muldoon, ( or something very much like it , ) he would keep us all going until we were all at the peek of fitness  we could march or double march all day, sometimes we would train at nigh, we’d take a direct bearing and start walking, it was very dark so you had to be careful where you walked, one night when walking across a large field, a friend stumbled across an electric cow wire and it gave him a bit of a shock, we all laughed, we all saw the funny side of it, I suggested, so that it would not happen again, we cold use a piece of wood because wood is non conductive, good idea !, they said, but seeing it was my idea, I should lead the way, so off we went with me in the lead, the piece of wood in front of me, it was pitch black, so we could see nothing in front of us, Zap !!, I had hit the cow wire, the currant travelled up the stick and then hit me in the elbow, then the shoulder and then hit the back of the my neck, I was almost knocked to the ground with the force of it, at first there was laughter all round, then there was concern for my welfare, I had neglected to take into account, the fact that there was a fine mist and the stick had got wet, the wet seemed to magnify the electric charge, the charge that hit me was not normal, if it was I would fell sorry for the cows .

On another dark night, one of the other chaps, who’s turn it was to lead the way, decided he would carry a piece of 2 by 4, about 5 foot long, again it was pitch black, suddenly from out of the darkness came the snort of what we thought was a Bull, we heard it snuffling and running towards us, with out thinking the lad with the 4 by 2 crashed the wood over the Bulls head, and with a wail the bull rushed of into the darkness, and we fully grown young men ran off into the darkness like Children afraid of the dark .

The idea of the exercise was to get from point A to point B without being nabbed, well we got a village about two miles from our objective, and decided to have a rest, we herd a commotion, so we took a look, the opposing army had waited to the last day and surrounded the village that we were in , and were closing in on all sides, other escaping soldiers had done the same thing, and like us they had split up and all were making a run for it, after jumping a couple of fences I hid under a hedge I had my ground sheet over me, laying quite still I had hoped they would go past me  sensing a movement behind me I turned my head, that was it, the soldier saw the movement that I made and came running towards me, I jumped up, jumped two hedges, and then I was taken down by the same soldier, my only excuse is I was carrying too much weight, once caught, a wet white pillow case was put over my head and like others placed into the back of the waiting lorries, before the exercise it was repeatedly preached to us not to on any account to hand over our I.D.card , on reaching the destination of the Prison Of War Camp, we were stood in a line, the pillow cases taken off, on reaching the table, an officer said,"I.D. Card "and without a second thought I gave it to him, what an idiot !! that was the start, he took my details, the wet pillow case went back on and I was taken away, with the pillow case back on, the guard took me back outside, there without any words he placed my hands on a wooden post, that was to be my home for the next two days and a night, no sleep, sometimes a nap, then stand up again, every four hours I would be taken inside for Debriefing , (INTERROGATION ! ! ,) name rank and number, where ? was I stationed, what ? did I do , what ? would I do in the event of a Nuclear explosion, anything they all ready knew the answer to, and of course a roast dinner!!, funny that, it look like a mug of cold water and a slice of dried bread to me, !! I received that every four hours, my mate told me I was lucky, he was put into a mettle room with a baby crying continually, he did not handle it too well, another  mate said he was in the same sort of room, but they used a constant train whistle on him, I don’t know how well I did, but I got the feeling I did not do to well , then it was over, it was great to get back to my own billet .

Daily life go on there are always ups and downs , hear are some photographs of old chums from our camp .

　

　

　

I may not remember your names for that I do apologise ,but I will try , the one on the left is ,me !! .

 

　

　




　

                                    This is me and I think Isaac Torrey ( spelt wrong! )
                                            you know your name , let me know !

　

I am not sure of the name of the chap who looks worried ,but that is me threatening to grab his bits .

                                                            WHO ARE YOU ,!!?

　
　

The Photograph is a group of us trying to ski in the Hearts Mountain in Germany starting with Turner can you name yourself ,?? I am the third from the right .

　

 

 

 

This a photograph of Taffy Madge , (flexing his mussels on the right ,) and I think a chap named Chris , I an not sure who is on the ground .

 

　

　

I remember the Fijians, I think one of them was called Speedy, I showed interest in learning their language, but in their own language they called me names, lac co tange provy le vou, I think I know what that means, its not very nice, I remember the SMITHS, drinking buddies to each other, often they would cause trouble of some kind, to keep them on the straight and narrow, they made them into lance corporal's ,  I remember  there were many friends in the Army and on the whole they are a good bunch of lads , one things for sure ,Girls ,Beer , and friendship don’t always mix .

We, my mates and I, were once put on guard duty, at Nuclear Missile base, we had to patrol the wire fence boundary, day and knight, we were of course, Armed!, we’d march around the compound with our rifles at the ready, the only trouble was, In their wisdom the powers to be thought it unwise to issue us with ammunition , It certainly was a cold war .

We would get bored in the evenings, we had spent our money at the Naffy ,so we did not have much to do, I think it was my idea to write to the Evening News in Portsmouth, and tell them of our plight , well they ran an add in the paper telling the readers of five lonely soldiers in Germany, and we in turn  got fan mail from all over the place, we divided it between us, and gave some to other soldiers, the letters that were nearest to the individuals home, that’s the ones they ended up with, I had about 15 letters, and started to write to them all, there were young girls, middle aged ladies, and old granny’s, I did my best and wrote to them all, some wrote back and some for some reason did not , the granny’s would send cake , Yum! Yum! ,

One day , Isaaz Torie ,? ( different spelling ! ) , said to the room in general,"I got one letter too many, who ? wants it ! " , " oh shove it on my pile I said  I will answer it ", well I did answer it , when I went on leave from Germany, I would always arrange to meet the young girls and take them out, at this stage I think you should know what sort of mind I had, due to an early part in my life being jilted by a two timing girlfriend, I looked on all Girls as fair game, my sole aim was to use them all to the best of my abilities, ( The four F’s !! ) and I did, to those girl’s I offer my profound apology, I was an immature idiot, and it was not until I met the girl from Sherborne , Dorset , that I realised what a cad I had been, she was the " one letter too many " , not expecting her to come, I invited her to come to Paulsgrove , Portsmouth, and visit me, but at my Sisters house, all above board, against all odds she came, I was to meet her at Portsmouth Town Station, I was there waiting for her to get off the train, then I saw her, I was hit, and hit hard, I was hooked line and sinker, I had not as yet said one word to her, and I was hooked, well I was not going to have that, I am a confirmed woman user, I did not want to get involved, I smiled , said polite words, and took her bags, my plan was to pass her on to my brother, so that evening, I made some excuse and my brother took her out to a dance hall, my plan was working ! , I did not enjoy that night at all, I was like a bear with a sore head, I was pacing up and down , he my brother could be getting his leg over ! , I was mad, but it was my own fault, by the time they got home I was jealous, but all smiles, thankful that nothing had occurred, I made plans for the next day as if nothing had happened, we then dated like ordinary couples, towards the end of the second week I asked her to marry me, she said NO!, feeling sad I went back to Germany, we started writing again, and in the letter she wrote to me saying, she wished she had said yes, I told her it was not to late, so on the next leave, we got engaged, I eventually married the girl in question, and now five children, nine and a half grandchildren , and after 45 years we are still married and going strong . ( I THINK ? )

　

I used to like to go swimming in the pinewood Camp swimming pool, using the grease supplied with the gas mask we were issued with, as sun oil , I would go very brown in the sun, the landlady at the local pub would say , (" you no English you Greeky " !! ,) well I decided to buy a new pair of trunks, they were beautiful, WHITE !! , I put them on, and the contrast with my skin was "WOW ! I was in love with myself, I climbed up to the top diving board, did , ( what was to me a beautiful swan dive ,) perfic !! I climbed out of the pool feeling like I am it !! then I looked down, my trunks had turned virtually clear, you could see everything, if you could see my front you could see my back, ( BUM ! ) sheepishly I retrieved my towel and made a quick exit, never to wear the trunks again .

I was returned to England, to Chattendean Barracks, Rochester Kent, I met a few more people , but unfortunately I was tired of the boredom of Army life and decided to buy myself out .

I never told you but from the beginning I was having trouble around my neck and face, acne, they called it, it all started with the khaki shirts, the irritation caused my neck an face to react, and turn into lumps and sores, when I was seeing the Doctor one day I told him of my intent to buy myself out, don’t bother he said I will give you a medical discharge, and that with, than a month later I was out .

 

It is funny, my wife said she never saw any disfiguration,  not from when first saw me or even till now .

 

 

SHE MUST HAVE LOVED ME !!

                          I nearly missed this one ,do you remember yourself ----- Chris ??


                                                               melvynblake@gmail.com


                                         http//:melvynsmudlarkinglife in pompy.blogspot.com

Paulsgrove Secondry Modern , Portsmouth .

                                      PAULSGROVE SECONDARY MODERN

　

Well here I am, I’m about thirteen and a half years old and I have just moved to Paulsgrove , just outside of good old Portsmouth , I have a few of good memories of growing up here .

Like I said I don’t remember moving to our new house in Paulsgrove , my first memory of school is sitting at a desk and looking out of the window , the teacher was babbling on about something , and I really was not interested , I think I was in three D , and D , is what it stands for ( Dunce ! , ) I was in the right class , I met a good friend Jimmy Billet , I think his first name was really James , he had a nice sister , who I met briefly a couple of times after leaving school , Jimmy and I became good friends , and we often walked home together .

My brother Peter showed me how to smoke cigarettes ," just puff it" , he said , so I did , I coughed my heart out , " just try it ounce more " ! he said ," breath it right in " , well I did , I died , I could not breath , I coughed some more , my chest hurt , and I died some more , but still jimmy and I would often buy a packet of five cigarettes after school , that’s if we had the cash , and to start with , we would cough and splutter all the way home , just think if I did not start smoking then I would not have a problem with my heart today .

I did see a young girl from Paulsgrove Secondry Modern , (now King Arthers ) school get knocked over , she was hit by a car whilst crossing Allaway Avenue , just outside of the school , she was laying on the ground with a big gash in the top of her upper leg , it was about 5 inches long , and quite deep , you could see inside of the wound all the white fat and blood , all the other kids started to gather around , so it got to the point where I could not see any more , I had seen enough anyway , and was feeling a little bit sick , so I went on my way . WAS THAT YOU ?? .

I think the teachers did not like to waste time on me , because I would often find myself outside in the quadrangle laying a path , or gardening , and often when the others were inside doing their work , I remember I liked carpentry , I made a very good coffee table , if I do say so myself , one day I was allowed to take the Coffee table home , and proudly I carried the table under my arm with the legs sticking out , Crossing the road and talking to jimmy , I failed to see the lamp post in front of me, the table leg hit the lam post and snapped right off , I was Gob smacked !! , I was proud no more , Devastated is the word that comes to mind , begrudgingly I carried it all the way home and tossed it into the shed , not to be seen until the fifth of November , Bonfire Knight .

I remember the school had two play grounds , one for the girls and one for the boys , like prisoners we would talk to the girls through the fence , I had two girls friends whilst I was at that school , Jackie L , was my first true love , we met on the side of Portside Hill , I was grass sledging , at this time I was sitting on the grass , and as I looked up , and there was Jackie , I know it was a childish love , but I had it , we had a bond straight away , and from then on for a while we became inseparable , you have to remember, in those day they did not teach you about the facts of life like they do today , you had to learn as you went along , of course we fumbled about a bit , it's what teenagers do , and I'm sorry to say I was not a very good lover , ( I did not know anything about sex !! ,)  there was of course the other girl , Madeleine H , in truth I was spoilt for choice , after a long time I ended up with neither of them , when I eventually went out with Madeleine H , she in the end, two timed me , when I found out I was very angry , I was so mad I went to the kitchen draw and took out a large knife , I was fuming , I got as far as the front door and realised what I was doing , I put the knife back and went to wait for her at the bus stop , she go off the bus , saw me and stood still with an amazed look on her face , we talked a bit and to my shame I smacked her , then I held her , I realised then it was over , it did not end well , although we did end it with a kiss .

I liked painting , I would go onto the sports field , sit down , and paint the boys playing cricket ,or stand on the bridge just behind the shops on Allaway Avenue and paint the railway tracks, or paint the Horses in the field , that sort of thing .

We my brother and I did play strip poker with the girls next door , it was a bit of a laugh, we never did get down to the nitty gritty , it was just a bit of fun .
When I was about 18 , home on leave , I came out of our back door , I noticed the girl next door and said all very friendly " HI !! how are you? ", I was all smiles , she looked at me , stuck her nose in the air and walked off , what did I do ? . ( But she did look good half naked !! ,)



I eventually left school when I was 15 years old , because I was so thick, my first job , was with a paper delivery firm , I used to ride a push bike with a basket on the front , I would go round to the other shops and deliver rolls of papers , that was when I realised that to get on in life I needed a better education , I told my sister Shirley of my intent and she offered to help me , often after tea she would help me read the Dandy and Beano comics , and then on to other reading material , one day I started on a building site, it was a new job , I stayed there for half a day, and said to myself sod it , I’m off !! , it was not only boring , it was hard work, the next job I had was in the butchers shop at Allaway Avenue , I liked working there , I had the job to make the rissoles , they were very popular with the shoppers , I think it was because the tasted so good , or ? it could have been because they were so cheep , I did have couple of other jobs, old habits die hard and I tended to follow my brother Peter from job to job, my last job before I went into the army was with Winters Fireplace Makers , near Blackfriars road in Portsmouth, there was an old guy I use to work with , I think he must have been close to retirement , we were very friendly so I asked him if it still worked at his age , with a smile he said yes and that it had never let him down yet ! , I can say he was right , it still works .

I went into the army aged 17 1/2 years old because I wanted to learn how to drive heavy goods vehicles,                                                           but that another story !! .