Danny takes Post.
(follows #3632 p.182)
"You'll be the new chap for the FCU ?".........(I nodded assent)........"We've been waiting for you"........"Why - I'm not due in post till tomorrow ?"..."Yes, I know but (name forgotten) had to go early ten days ago, family trouble of some sort"......"So who's been looking after the place ?........"Well, no one really"........"Who's the C.O.?"...... "Well, of course he's an Auxiliary - but he won't be much use to you - he's in the process of resigning his Commission"........(I perked up - nice juicy scandal, perhaps) .... "No, not that, he's a schoolteacher, a lot of your Auxiliaries are. He's just got a Headship way down South".
"Well, I'll see him tomorrow"...... "No, you won't"......"Why not ?"......."It's the Auxiliary Weekend. You work Wednesday to Sunday, then have Monday and Tuesday off"...... "Does the whole Station do that ?"..........."No, we just work the normal week".
"So, who's in command ?"......."It looks as if you are, at least for the moment".......(pause for reflection, then, brightening)......."Any chance ?"......"Forget it, it's only an Auxiliary S/Ldr post"....... "Have I anybody else ?".... "Yes, you've a Training Officer - very nice chap - Bob Schroder, by name. He's Tech/Radar, not GD"........"Where's he ?"........
"Lives out in Middlesbrough, got a TA Adjutant's Quarter next to a Drill Hall. The Army chap's a bachelor, so he didn't want it"......."And when shall I see this Bob Schroder ?" ......."He'll be in Wednesday morning" (little did I think that he'd be my Best Man in three years' time).
"So what now ?".......... "Well, we'd better get you settled in first. Is all your kit in that thing of yours outside ? Well, I'll walk round to your hut, you follow me - it's only a few yards. Steward here will shut the bar and come round with a batman and lug your stuff into your room".
It was a Seco hut with three (I think) rooms down each side and the bathroom, etc down the end. I'd never seen such a tiny hutch in all my life (I think they were originally NCOs quarters). As a full kit of furniture had been crammed into it, there was just enough room to squeeze me in. There wasn't room to swing a conker - never mind a cat.
The bed occupied all the smaller wall - say 6½ ft. The side of the bed was almost touching the end of my desk, this would be about 4 ft wide. The other desk end was hard up against the wardrobe (say 2 ft for that) which was in turn up against the wall.
So now you have it: allow 3 ft width for the bed plus 4 for the desk plus 2 for the wardrobe and throw in a foot for a bit of clearance, and you've got an area 10 ft by 6½ ft. 65 sq ft to enjoy, less the chest of drawers (say 4 x 1½ ) opposite your desk (say 2 ft wide). You're left with a free space of some 7 ft by 3 ft. Oh, and you've got a chair, and the door opens inward ! I was lucky - my tin box would fit under the bed ! I lived in this monastic cell for three years - for it had central heating !
The old House must have had several bedrooms upstairs, but Jack was the only one living there. I am 90% certain that the only sources of heat in the building were the open fires in the anteroom, bar and dining rooms.. He would be very unlikely to have an open fire upstairs, and I think, kept himself warm with electric fires.
Now I come to think of it. he must have had some, for on one occasion (for which I cannot supply the reason, or possibly imagine one) he was looking after a batch of day-old chicks in his room, as it was the only place where the temperature could be kept up to enable them to survive.
In those days, hardly any domestic houses had central heating. The norm was the single open coal fire in the "lounge" (living room): this would have a "back boiler" which heated (not very effectively) the hot water for baths and washing. In bedrooms and bathrooms you froze. I did not live in a centrally heated house until OMQs in Germany in '60.
"Come down to SHQ with me after breakfast tomorrow - the Old Man'll want to see you "........."And he would be?"....."Malcolm Sewell - it's only a Wing Commander Station"........."What's he like ?"........"Quite nice - doesn't trouble you much if you leave him alone"........."Where does he live ?" .....
"He's got his Quarter at the far end of the garden. It's the only OMQ on the place. All the marrieds have to live out. After you've seen him, you can pick up your keys and SDs (I've got them in my safe), and go and have a look at your place. It's right across the road from SHQ."
And that was about it for my first day. Scrappy dinner, unpack and hit the sack.
What will the morrow bring ?
Danny42C.
It is better to travel hopefully than to arrive.