A HARD LIFE FOR A CHILD
VICTOR
G SAUNDERCOCK
I was born in the year 1928, the second son of a serving soldier, within three months I was on my way to India with my family. My father was to serve there for five years. I can remember that dressed in my best whites, I pulled the tail of a cow and yes, my whites were now brown and I smelt rather strong. Of course the cow is a sacred animal, allowed to wander anywhere in India.
After five years we returned to England, because my father had served his time and was due to leave the Army on pension. My mother, brother and I went into a two room flat at 29 Edinburgh Road, Devonport to await my father. The house was rack rented (a term used in those days for this type of house). On the ground floor there was a family of five, on the second floor another family of five, we were on the top floor, a family of four. There were fourteen people in that house, only one toilet in the back yard for all of us, a wash house for your weekly washing, a day set aside for each family. Oh yes, one clothes line and one water tap, water was carried up in a water can, slops taken down in a bucket. A far cry from the life we had in India, I had my own Anna, not part of a rupee but a wonderful woman who nursed me, we had our own house, a dog, everything you could wish for and a great school for my elder brother.
Sadly my father passed away within a short time in this country, my Mother, now a widow with two boys, life was not going to be easy for us. We had gas lamps in our rooms and oil lamps on the stairs. When the mantle from the gas lamp went we used the gas jet for light, any cooking was carried out on the landing. We had a fire grate in the front room (mother’s bedroom) and we used tar blocks and coke, the tar blocks came from the roads, when workmen repaired the roads, they would give us kids the blocks, coke was sold from an handcart that came around the streets.
My mother had 18/- shillings a week (90p) and 9/-shillings (45p) was for rent for these rooms. She went to the Parish Office for help, the man there asked my mother (she was 31 years old) to go out with him on the moors, she refused, he sent the means test man to our flat. My mother sold all the brass bits we had brought back from India, she was given a voucher each week to take to a certain shop for food, very little of that of course.
A bakery would sell bread cheap you could also buy a cup full of jam from the corner shop. There was no spare money for school milk or indeed for clothes and shoes. We had to make do, patches on your clothes and paper in your shoes. Until one day, the headmistress, Miss Brown, gave me a letter to give to my mother, she asked my mother if she would be offended if she gave me a pair of her brogue shoes of course, my mother said no she would not be offended and was very pleased for the help. I think everyone in the school noticed those brogues with the large tongue hanging out over the front of the shoes.
There were a certain number of boys picked to plant a tree for the Silver Jubilee of King George “V” and Queen Mary (1910-1935). The trees were to be planted each side of Kings Road Devonport. I was so proud and so was my mother that I was one of those picked for that special day.
That special day came and it had been raining hard in the morning. I still wore Miss Brown’s brogues, because money was not available to repair the shoes, my mother put paper inside them to fill in the holes. I went home in the dinner time and in doing so, the newspaper got wet. There was no newspaper at home to put into the shoes, with rather wet shoes I returned to school, we were lined up in the playground. The duty teacher that day, (I shall never forget) I shall call him Mr Blunt (not his real name) Mr Blunt came to me and told me to lift my foot up, he wanted to see my shoes, the wet paper was hanging out of the holes. He knew that I was one of those picked to plant a tree and he said “You can’t go in those shoes you must stay behind in class.” I was heartbroken another boy was picked to plant the tree. To this day when I pass those trees, I think back to the day when I was picked to plant a tree, but never did.
I was very fast on my feet and picked to run the relay at the County Sports Day for schools. I was a bitter young boy and when it came time to line up for the race, I went on a walkabout. My name was called but I took no notice. The race started and my school was way back in the running. I don’t know why but I ran to the team and as the baton came, I ran with the runner, took the baton and was off like a rocket. I brought the team into second place, we didn’t win but it was better than being last. I never took part in any more school sports. I had been badly hurt the day I was taken off the tree planting and I have never forgotten it.
You might say as a result of that tree planting and not turning up at the start of the race, was good for me. Dear Miss Brown must have been told what had happened, I was called to the office and given a note to take to a local shoe shop, where I was given a pair of school boots. Three holes were put into the top of the right boot this was to stop my mother taking them to the pawnbroker. The three holes were the sign of a pawn shop this would stop the pawnbroker taking them in as a pledge. I knew that all the school was aware, that I had joined the ranks of the very poor.
There must have been some good times even for the poor yes there were some good times. I remember it was my birthday it must have been my sixth birthday. My mother’s sister Aunt Beat lived near us with her husband my Uncle George, a retired Chief Petty Officer Stoker. I remember he took me down to the sea front to pick up some very small stones, like those that you get from a tarmac road, he told me to pick up some as he wanted them for his catapult. We picked up a lot of these stones, I found out later why they were needed.
When we returned home, my auntie told me to bring a friend for a party for my birthday, I told her I had no friends as we had not been in the country all that time, she told me to go and find one, I did just that. The first boy I saw I asked him if he wanted to come to my birthday party, he said yes and we were in for a treat of a lifetime. I cannot remember what was given to me by my mother, but I do remember what those stones were for, Uncle George brought a big Fort into the room a birthday present for me, the stones we had collected, made up the walls of the fort he had made for me. Sadly, my Aunt and Uncle moved away to Brighton. When war came he was recalled to the Royal Navy and later his ship was torpedoed. He was saved with others, but the ship that saved them was it self torpedoed, my Uncle and many of his shipmates lost their lives.
My father served in the Great War and like other servicemen, he had a few medals. It was the 5th of November Guy Fawkes day, my mother gave my brother and I my father’s medals to sell. I remember there was a dealer called Williams who had a store where you could takes bits to sell. My brother and I took the medals to Williams and he gave us 6d (about 2p in today’s money) for them. We bought some fireworks with the money. My mother had an old couch (sofa) which was falling to bits and gave it to us, we took it down to Mutton Cove (there was a small community there in those days) where they had a bonfire. We had a great time there as it was the first one we have ever been too.
My mother was taken very ill and my brother and I moved in with our grandmother (our father’s mother) at 26 Pembroke Street Devonport. She took great care of us first she took us to town and bought my brother and I a suit each with shoes and gloves, we then had our photo taken.
My grandmother gave us lunch to take to school, always on a Monday it would be a jam pasty, I have never forgotten those Mondays. My grandmother was born in Lanteglos, Cornwall in1858, her maiden name was Elizabeth French she must have been about 76 years old when she took us in. Sadly she passed away in 1948 aged 90, although I was in the Army, I was given special leave to attend the funeral. A great lady who was feared by many, she had that way about her, you knew you were in her bad books when she gave you a dressing down.
My mother had a brother (she was one of eight) Harry who worked for Thomas and Evans (Corona soft drinks) and drove their heavy goods lorry. This firm had its first bottling factory near our home. Uncle Harry took me on many of his trips I remember he had some friends who worked in the Abattoir near where he had to deliver drinks. One day he was given a sheep’s head, which he gave to me, at that time my mother had to drink pearl barley water, with the pearl barley, sheep’s head and vegetables we had stew for a week. Yes, times were hard it was also hard for our relatives who also had a large family to feed.
The Dockyard was near to where we lived. Unknown to my mother I stood outside the Dockyard Gates calling “any lunch en” and would be given any left over food by the workers, like other kids. I took what I got home, my mother had no idea where it came from and never asked.
In January 1937 my mother who had been seeing a local man, got married in the local Registry Office. I never forgot that day. My mother and her newfound man took a taxi from our house to the Registry Office it was about half mile away. My brother and I ran behind the taxi, at that time I thought it was great fun. My brother who was five years older than me could not believe we had to do this. Worse still, was that our new stepfather and our mother went to his parents house and my brother and I went to the local fair, not to take part in the party.
Later that year we had a new member to the family, my half sister was born. By now I was nine years old. I ran all the way to my grandmother’s house to tell her the news. She was not amused to say the least. She did not want my mother to re-marry. At that time I did not understand what it was all about, but I did in years to come.
At nine years old, I got myself a job with the local butcher, cleaning out the shop on Saturday afternoons, using sawdust to clean the butcher’s block, then cleaning the floor with sawdust. The butcher was called Radmore he used to give me some sausages and a chop for my tea. He was to me at that time an old man, red faced and rather portly to say the least.
At ten years, I got a job with a local second hand furniture shop owned by a dear lady called Miss Goodman. I used to run messages for her. There was a bicycle shop around the corner, which used to hire out bicycles. Miss Goodman gave me the money to hire a bike to carry out the job. I remember once she gave me a large Bank Bag to take to the Bank. She said, just hand it to the man behind the counter. Off I went and did what she told me to do, however, the man at the bank, when he saw what was in the bag said, “Miss Goodman should not have sent you on your own there is a lot of money here.” When I returned to her shop, I found out why she did this. Like most shops, she had a bell hanging on the shop door nobody could get in without that bell ringing, unless they knew the running of the shop. So she thought it was me who had stolen money from her drawer in the office. The office by the way was closed by a curtain at the back of the shop. Her man who did all the repairs down in the cellar (Cyril) must have told Miss Goodman, that if someone put their hand around the shop door, they could stop the bell from ringing. Steps were taken to rectify this. From that day on and for many years afterwards Miss Goodman and I were very good friends. Later when I went to sea and came on leave, I would call in to see her.
Like many boys of my age, we went to Church and Sunday School, you may smile at this. I went to two places of worship, a local mission and the Dockyard Church. Doing this I went too two parties at Christmas and two day trips in the summer. In 1941 I was presented with a Bible this was from the Dockyard Church. Now to win this Bible I had to learn the 1st 15th 25th 37th 113th and 145th Psalms. A few weeks later, the Church was destroyed in the Blitz. The Church was inside the Dockyard. I still have the Bible 70 years later.
In 1939 because we were overcrowded, there were five of us in two small rooms in our flat, we were moved to a new council flat. We had water and a toilet indoors, my mother step father and sister had a room, my brother and I had a room each, all furnished by dear Miss Goodman. I think it is fair to say the council supplied a lorry fitted with some machine that fumigated the contents of the lorry. In this case everyone knew you were going to the new council flats.
No need to tell you that this was a step back in time, to the life we had in India, only my father was not with us.