1/ Gingham dresses and haircuts.

2/ Pinder & Tuckwells.

3/ BUMS.

4/ MY APPENDIX AND NURSES.

Teresa and I were in our last terms at The Presentation of Mary Convent School, Palace Gate in Exeter  .  At home it was just Teresa and I.  Dominic, my older brother was still in Italy, and Angelo my younger brother was still a babe in arms.
My Father was working around the clock; trying to make ends meet. My Grandmother was still living with us at home with Auntie Mina. Auntie Mina was charged with the day to day care of us.

HERE ARE PIECES OF A PANORAMIC PHOTOGRAPH OF CHHILDREN ATTENDING THE PRESENTATION OF MARY SCHOOL AT PALACE GATE EXETER JUNE 1949.

Angelo aged 7       3rd boy on the right behind the girls.

Teresa is the plump girl with pigtails beside the girl in dark uniform.center row.

by this time i had been sent to John Stocker school to toughen me up.

What twins we were, my sister Teresa and I. she with her jolly sense of fun, me with my head full of daydreams, wandering into mischief, and looking amazed at the consequences.
At home, we were relatively free to do as we wished;  we played in the garden or nearby, but not too far so as to make the grownups worry.
We would often try to sneak out on our own, down around the corner in the cul-de-sac, where the grass grew long. Here we could crouch down unseen by grownups and have our childish fantasies and talk about what we could see, and ponder about childish things in general.  Our fun then was blowing the dandelion clocks and counting to tell the time, somehow? the way of it escapes me now.  As children we smelled of sweat and piss and whatever we had eaten recently.  Our clothes bore the marks of naughtiness, hopefully to remain undiscovered.
Going out with Auntie Mina was different experience to any other that we knew of. She had rules. These rules bound us to be on our best behaviour. We were told that people would be looking at us, and noticing us, and anything we did would reflect on the family as a whole, and fear of all fears, Auntie Mina in particular. Therefore outings were not usually very pleasurable.
Usually in preparation for the planned outing we would be prepped as to what was expected of us. We should walk together holding each other’s hands, (Yuck). We had to stay close to Auntie Mina and not get lost. (Fat chance). We should be most polite to everyone that we met, and I was to be sure to raise my hat often. (Jeez). And we were not to speak unless spoken to. (?).
Auntie Mina would tell us to go and get ready for going out. She would disappear into her room and eventually appear in her best coat. Then she would line us up for inspection. This would then, on my part, involve a lot of being shouted at.
Teresa had started getting Dumpy, she would be dressed in a lightly coloured dress, gingham

was the thing, (coupons you know), with white socks and black shiny lace up shoes. And of course a well scrubbed face and ribbons in her hair. The ribbons were a matter of great discussion, being the only colourful thing about her attire. Choice mattered a lot; the ribbons were a precious accessory. She would get upset, especially if she lost one, because Aunty Mina would give her Hell..
I would have to wear grey socks, which of course quite quickly descended to my ankles, and thus provided Auntie’s main topic of conversation that day. (Pull your socks up).  Black shoes, short grey trousers, white shirt with a tie, and an overcoat made up my handsome attire. Most outer clothes were usually in a tastefully dull grey herringbone pattern. Buttons on the left for girls and on the right for the boy‘s.     Wonderful!

Going to the hairdressers was an opportunity to get a little revenge for all the indignities heaped upon me by my dear Auntie Mina.
I was gifted with the ability to make my scalp move at will, so when Auntie Mina, who always supervised this Barbarous affair, was giving instructions to the poor chap cutting my hair, I would surreptitiously move my hair line forward slightly, just as he cut the fringe. Then when I relaxed, of course the hairline would be about half an inch shorter than she had wanted.
Auntie thought that these men were completely incompetent, and we would try a different hairdresser the next time. We slowly made the grand tour of all the hairdressers in Exeter over the next few years.  Because she used to complain to them they hated her and they would say that they were too busy to cut my hair.  She got wise to this and started making appointments to have my hair cut. 

A more pleasurable outing would be to Pinder &Tuckwells clothing shop in the high street of Exeter. Here as we entered the shop we would be greeted by a gentleman, who would fawn all over Auntie Mina, enquiring as to which department she wanted? Would she like to sit down? Should he fetch the manager to see to her needs? Quite a performance was played out for her.

This is a drawing of pre war High st Exeter.    Pinder and Tuckwells was a wonderful shop. Here there were clothes in all sizes, for both sexes, for all occasions, in many respectable colours.  They could fit you out for the Spring Ball, or Riding, Hunting, and shooting and of course fishing.  anything was possible here.
Deerstalker hats kept company with Trilby‘s or Bowler‘s and the occasional Topper of course.
Socks that were Plain grey or black kept company with colourful chequered designs. long socks, short socks, or those needing suspenders.  Close by were many types of men’s shirts and Ladies dresses and under things.
I loved this shop not just for the promise it held, of something nice and new to wear, but also for the wonderful vacuum tubes. These hurled your bill and money with a whoosh and a crash! To some mysterious place, where eventually it sent back a receipt at incredibly high speed, ooh it was wonderful.
The best times were when I got the opportunity to play with my friends at home. Ross Martin Pontin was a regular friend, I liked him a lot, because he knew how to fish and mend punctures and make bows and arrows, and he could ride his bike with no hands.
Teresa liked Martin Pontin as well, and he would often join us in what we were doing.
Quite often I would play Tessies games if there was no one else there.   t

 I became quite good with the skipping rope, and learnt that the girls quite liked this about me, and as I liked ‘girls‘ I found it quite a useful ploy.

We would play hopscotch, marking out the squares on the pavement outside the house.

We were about 10 years old when someone mentioned BUMS.  OOh!  It was Teresa who said that the next time that we were playing on the Bombsites with Martin Pontin he was going to show Teresa his Willy and she was going to show him her Bum, CRIKEY!.   Anyway the result was that after saturday Morning Pictures instead of going straight home like we were supposed to we ended up on this Bomb site.  Now you would have thought that they would have hidden away somewhere to drop there pants and show each other their bits, but NO, there they were in the middle of this bomb site in full view of everyone passing by giggling and waving their bits about.  Of course someone did come by and see them and went and told on them and then they got a good telling off for being dirty.  Although I had not joined in, and had been a bystander it did make me think about the differences.

1949. Hospital
And my appendix

My brother Dominic fell to the floor at home, crying and complaining of a pain in his side.
Doctor Gray was called and he responded immediately, diagnosing acute appendicitis.
Dominic was rushed into hospital where the offending organ was quickly removed much to his delight.  My Dominic really enjoyed all the attention that he was getting and revelled in the small gifts and all the fuss.

Upon returning home he was even more insufferable than usual.  Now he was even more superior to me having suffered the surgeon’s knife and survived to enjoy even more laudations from the hordes of adoring relatives.
Why were they so considerate to him?  Well here was the potential Priest whose vocation had been denied. 
This poor dear boy had been stricken down with a severe illness, and all their prayers and supplications to the Dear Lord or the Virgin Mary or their favourite dead person in heaven had saved him.
My god he was becoming a saint in his own time!

So a few weeks later when I fell on the floor complaining of a pain in my right side people were very suspicious.
My reputation for deviousness and deceit was well known and the grown ups thought that this was a ploy on my part to gain attention.  Well who could blame them?
However, they, Aunty Mina, that is, reluctantly agreed to call the Doctor who dutifully laid aside all the really urgent cases that he had to deal with and rushed to my side.  God bless him.
I really did have a ruptured appendix!  This worried me.  Although the pain had been real I had not thought that I was really ill!
An ambulance was called and I was taken into hospital where very shortly I was undressed and put to bed.
The nurses fussed me and said that I was to be operated on immediately.
A male porter arrived with a razor, some frothy soap and a bowl and said “guess what” I have got to shave you around your “Willy”
I have never been so embarrassed in all my life.
With a big grin at my embarrassment, he proceeded to make the brush all frothy and then liberally dunked it all over my `Thing`.
Then horror of all horrors he gently picked up my small “Willy” by the foreskin and shaved all around it until I was bald.  NOT, let me add that at that tender age did I have much hair anyway, more of a fuzz.
I was glad to see the back of him believe me.

Why were all the nurses so beautiful?  My God they were except Matron that is.  At this time I had started noticing that things were happening to me in the trouser department, which Dominic said was only to be expected, but that I would never equal him anyway.
The nurses came and gave me an injection which they said was called a pre-med.  This they said would help to relax me.  Later the anaesthetist would give me another injection which would send me to sleep and in would not remember anything until I awoke.
The nurse said that I might feel a little sick when I came around, but this was normal.

And so it was, and when I awoke I cheerfully vomited everywhere, but then I felt much better thank you.
I did not get many visitors, unlike Dominic.
I was told that I was to recover at a convalescent Home out near Dunsford in the country.
After a day or so I was ambulanced to the convalescent home and an interesting new chapter of my life began.
While at the Hospital in the countryside I suffered continuous trouble with instant erections caused by one particular red headed young nurse who had been designated to look after my needs. Oh, if only she would!
I think she knew that I had a thing for her and she was kindness itself in dealing with me.
The rest of my Ward consisted mainly of middle aged and ancient men with various disgusting diseases.
One man in particular interested me greatly.
He was from Poland, and had been a prisoner of war who had settled nearby.
He told me very interesting stories of his escapades first as a Polish soldier, then his capture by the Germans and then being told to enlist in the German Army or face being shot.  He promptly joined up.
He had been at the battle for Monte Cassino.
This sparked my interest in the history of those involved in fighting the war.
Eventually I was sufficiently recovered to be returned home to my nearest and dearest and thus ended my adventure with nurses for a while.