5769335
Alfred Smith
Shanghai 1927 and onwards

Norfolk Section
The Britannia and Castle		      

Click photographs to enlarge

OLDEST RECRUIT BEATEN was the title in B&C 91 Dec 1998:
Born in Sep 1908, at 88 years old, Maj Frank Nichols TD (d 2003) of Norwich, held the record as the oldest new subscriber of the B&C.
That has been beaten by 90 year old Alfred Smith who signed up this year for a 2 year sentence. He joined the Norfolk Regt at Britannia Barracks on 28 Jul 1927. 5782349 Smith was posted with C Coy of the 1st Bn to China on 29 Sep 1928. His tour in India commenced on 14 Nov 1928. After a transfer to HQ as a signaller he returned to the UK on 5 Feb 1935 before being demobbed in August of that year. After Dunkirk, he was called up from the Reserve and spent some time with the Regiment at various locations. He has many memories and photographs of his time in the Regiment.
(Let us hear of them! Ed)

OLDEST RECRUITS FIGHT IT OUT was the title of a piece in B&C 92 Jun 1999
B&C No 91 Dec 98 reported that 90 year old Alfred Smith had signed up for a 2 year subscription sentence. Now another nonagenarian, 90 in Sep 98, Fred Burton from Essex, has also signed up. Though he fondly remembers past times when he met Old Comrades, Fred now feels unable to come to the Reunion Dinner. He enlisted in Apr 1928 and served in Shanghai and in India, where he was the champion runner of the Bn. Fred was discharged in 1944 and joined the London Branch in 1958.
The photographs below came from Alfred Smith. He says that after a period at Britannia Barracks he went abroad for six-and-a-half-years and was only allowed to return to the UK to take a course in French Polishing!

Certificate of service 1927

Membership card 1927

Membership card 1927

Vocational Training certificate 1935

Alfred Smith

Click photographs to enlarge

The Bn in Shanghai 1928

Note officer with pipe - identified by Fred Burton as Capt Bob Scott, C Coy

Note rickshaw and 2 officers with pipes

The Colours and Band

Click here for a 1998 misdemeanour concerning colours terminology!

The Band

The Bn in Shanghai 1928

The Bn in Shanghai 1928

Bn disembarking Shanghai 1928

Regimental hockey team - undated

The King's Birthday Parade at Solon Hill Station India 1934

Alfred Smith at 94 in 2002

London Branch Dinner at The Veterans' Club, Holborn on 22 Nov 1935, the anniversary of the Battle of Ctesiphon in which the 2nd Bn took part

Hon Sec JE Bethell

Cost: 5/-
(ie 5 shillings or 25p in new money!)

Letter postage was a penny ha'penny

Click photographs to enlarge

Sadly, hours after publishing these photographs on the site, I heard from Alfred's son-in-law, Alan, that Alfred had died just days before, on 12 Jun 2003.
Click here for Alfred's obituary.

That same week an e-mail arrived from Pete Rushen whose father had also served with the Norfolk Regt in Shanghai in 1928!
Click here to read about 5767868 Alec John Rushen.

Editorial Rule
 To qualify for inclusion in the B&C there is only one rule - something described must have been said to have happened. 
The authority is the Editor, British Army Review No 114 Dec 96, `If the facts don`t fit the legend, print the legend’.

However, the rules of good taste, respect and confidentiality are always applied.

Rule Britannia!

Site edited and maintained by Major John L Raybould TD Editor, Norfolk Section, The Britannia and Castle
 B&C Norfolk Editor