Norfolk Section
The Britannia and Castle		      

1915-1916 Siege of Kut - response   2nd Battalion Royal Norfolk Officers Kohima Club   A Lack of Facilities   A Misquote   An Odd Oddie Ode   Ben Chapman afterthoughts   Berlin 1941, 1947 and 1948   Bill Dudley My Second Visit to Le Paradis   Branch Reports Jun 1997   Bugle Puzzle Update 1   By the hay, quick march   Chetwynd   Dot Tunaley's poem The Regimental Reunion Dinner   Grass Cutting   Home Service Force 1996   Hong Kong   Lastus in Koreaus an’ all the flippin’ bestus   Norfolks Leave India Aug 1947   Nurse Edith Cavell   No time to drink!   Poem The Burial of Sir John Moore at Corunna   Poem The Evening Vigil Kohima 1944   Pro Patria   Rail ride to Freedom by Strips Farrow   MV Georgic 1947   Ron James at Agincourt   The Britannia No 30 Aug 1947   The Triangle   Tommy Atkins   Winkie Fitt DCM Citation   Paul Boxall

QUESTION 4
How did the soldier come to be named Tommy Atkins?
The answer can be found by a click here.
The reason why the name 'Tommy Atkins' came to be chosen as a specimen name is another tale to be told in a later issue.

HONG KONG
Some tales from the 1950's have arrived from our regular contributor Yan Moosun. (After note: This prodigious contributor was the Late Maj Tom Styles. Click here for the impressive Index of his amusing and fascinating writing.)

For this issue we have:

REGIMENTAL GUEST NIGHT AFTERTHOUGHTS
After a really good Regimental Dinner Night at Dill's Corner, New Territories, Hong Kong, Ben Chapman, in the middle of a very heated debate was heard to remark, 'I may not know what I am talking about but I certainly know what I mean.'
(See A Misquote)

AN ODD ODDIE ODE
Those that have been charged on their Mess Bills will know that young officers were not over enthusiastic about Regimental Cocktail Parties. All without exception were somewhat short of dancing girls, guests were ancient, that is to say they were over 35 years of age. Thus the prime objective of all the younger members of the mess was to get rid of the guests so that there was still sufficient time left to sample the delights of Kowloon.
Now, Rick Oddie held the view that whatever Ben Chapman could do in the way of being a gymnast, he could do better. Before Ebenezer House, the Mess was in a quonset hut complete with concrete floor and horizontal metal beams in order to keep the whole thing up. The Oddie challenge was, 'I will leap about 20 feet from the top of the wall, catch the metal beam and do a backflip to the floor.' The music from 'Annie Get Your Gun' being quite popular at the time, the Chapman reply was, 'Whatever you can do, I can do better.'
Now this we had to see but being considerate several of us lifted up the carpet so as to make a primitive safety net. Thus we stood for ten minutes or more while Rick Oddie reconsidered his challenge, swaying alarmingly on top of the wall. Arms tired, throats parched and patience exhausted we said, 'Sod it' and threw the carpet to the floor. At that precise moment Rick Oddie took off, only to dive head first to the floor.
Consternation, recrimination, guilt, ambulance, hospital and threats of Court of Enquiry. But no, for three days later Rick returns, fully fit except that he no longer has any sense of taste or smell.
Cocktail parties were never the same after Ricks's death defying plunge. But what better way can there be to clear the mess of guests who have overstayed their welcome than for them to see a young host, oblivious of all that is going on around him, eating a 4' long gladioli, flowers and all, selected from the floral arrangement as if it were a stick of celery. As the last guests departed in haste you could see the question they pondered upon, 'Have I had too much to drink or has he?'

THE TRIANGLE - First published 9th June 1944, Normandy
The 1996 Triangle * was a free newspaper published weekly to inform and entertain all members of Multi-National Division (South West) and British personnel deployed in the Balkans on OPERATION JOINT ENDEAVOUR/RESOLUTE.
* The symbol of 3 (UK) DIV is a triangle, comprising 3 black triangles surrounding a red triangle.
The following article is from 'The Triangle', 1996.
SOLDIERS' TALES - CHETWYND
Chetwynd was a subaltern, young, thrusting and energetic. As far as his Colonel was concerned there was only one problem. Chetwynd was an idiot. A lazy idiot would have been tolerable, his Platoon Sergeant could always be relied on, but Chetwynd was industrious, and that in the opinion of his Colonel was an unmitigated disaster.
The Colonel had tried repeatedly to dispose of Chetwynd, but with the Normandy landings in the wind, manpower was stretched to the limits. A reinforcement pool existed, but its role was to provide subalterns for future casualties, not commissioned half-wits.
Most of the difficulties with Chetwynd derived from the manual of Military Law. He was a persistent putter of soldier on charges. Many were for familiar, recognisable illegalities. Others, the trickier ones, were concerned with authentic but esoteric offences that neither Chetwynd's Squadron Commander nor the Colonel had ever heard of. Chetwynd would demoralise his seniors by quoting the precise sub-paragraph that defined them and then compounded his unpopularity by always being right.
The straw that broke the camel's back was to do with tyres. Motor tyres were in limited supply. A unit's success in the coming fighting might depend upon the durability of its wheeled vehicles. Vehicles that had been put to long mileages in repeated exercises and bore tyres approaching baldness were a threat to both success and survival.
Vehicle park sentries were doubled and trebled. Some Colonels, including Chetwynd's, took out further insurance. They ordained that all tyres should have painted on them the registered number of the vehicles to which they belonged.
On this occasion all the officers were committed to more pressing matters. Chetwynd, alone, was left to mind the shop. He was handed a copy of the Daily Orders, and told to oversee the tyre painting.
When the Colonel returned he found that seventeen drivers were on charges of disobeying a direct order. The order, a quotation from Daily Orders, read by Chetwynd to a parade he had summoned was : 'All tyres will forthwith be painted on top of their sidewalls with the registered number of the vehicle to which they belong.' Chetwynd explained that he had added an oral supplement. Once NCOs were satisfied that the work had been properly done, the vehicles were to be driven to the front of the Orderly Room where Chetwynd would inspect them. It was during these inspections that he had identified the offences. Not only had the numbers on the tyres been painted at the bottom, instead of at the top, as ordered. They had been painted upside down.
On the following morning the Quartermaster requested a formal interview with his Commanding Officer. When the Quartermaster was formal he was very formal. The Colonel had known the Quartermaster since his enlistment as a trooper in 1928. He saluted whippily, and with a grave expression on his face said that he had put Chetwynd under close arrest on a charge of sexual perversion ie indecent exposure. The Colonel looked at him in deadpan silence. The offence contravened Section whatever it was of the Army Act, went on the Quartermaster, glibly. The indecency had been committed outside the Officer's Mess on the previous evening. The Quartermaster had caught him at it red-handed, if that was the right expression.
It was the Quartermaster's personal opinion that Chetwynd was in need of psychiatric attention rather than punishment. The Quartermaster understood that psychiatric examination was a long process. A very long process. The Colonel agreed that it was. He took immediate steps to ensure that Chetwynd would undergo it.
Six weeks later in a damaged Normandy farmhouse, the Quartermaster sat down with the Colonel who sociably broke out his whisky. He poured a large tot for the Quartermaster and another for himself. They became relaxed and confidential. 'By the way, did you make that up about Chetwynd?' asked the Colonel, suddenly.
'No, it was true. He did expose himself.'
'What, just like that?' enquired the Colonel.
'Well, not just like that,' explained the Quartermaster. 'It cost me six pints in the Mess. Three for him and three for me. I'd told the Mess Steward to lock the toilet door and put an out-of-order notice on it. When Chetwynd went outside I followed him and ... .'
'I see,' said the Colonel. 'Thanks Bill.'

Issue 89 Dec 97 carried:
A MISQUOTE
An apology to the contributor, Yan Moosun, and to Maj Ben Chapman, who was quoted on page N10 in B&C 88, Jun 97, as having said, after a really good Regimental Dinner Night at Dill's Corner, New Territories, Hong Kong:
'I may not know what I am talking about but I certainly know what I mean.'
The editor mistyped the last part and wishes to set the record straight.
What Ben Chapman actually said was: 'I may not know what I am talking about but I know what I am saying.'

INSTANT TRADITION
A Regiment builds up traditions over centuries. This journal seems to have built up a tradition of enlightenment particularly with phrases in exotic tongues. In B&C 87 Dec 96 there was Tim Chatting‘s romantic Latin 'Primus in Indus, Lastus in Koreaus an’ all the flippin’ bestus' on p N9 and Andreas Peter‘s German 'Ich wurde mich sehr uber eine Antwort freuen und verbleide' on p N12; in B&C 86 Jun 96 the Bosnian barbershop Serbo-Croat 'Skratiti stanjiti' on p N21; in B&C 85 Dec 95 cook Cpl Jarrett’s Narfalk 'Hev’ yow hed yer tea yit Capn’ Godfrey?' and in B&C 84 Jun 95 the B Coy 4th Battalion scribe’s Narfalk 'The Maaster sed to me t’other day, 'Would you like a glass a’ale?' so I say, 'Thank’ee thet I would,' and havim’ drunk it up, he say, 'Have yow a nother one Bor,' on p N21.

So to maintain this tradition of phrases in exotic tongues we have :

PRO PATRIA

The inscription on a headstone on a Christian cemetery in India reads:

SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF
CAPTAIN MAURICE JAMES BUTLER
ROYAL IRISH RIFLES.
ACCIDENTALLY SHOT DEAD BY HIS BATMAN
ON THE FOURTH DAY OF APRIL 1882
'WELL DONE THOU GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT'

THE DAILY EXPRESS 18 AUGUST 1947
1700 Sahibs leave India with a song headed an article by Sydney Smith about the first troops to withdraw from India, the Royal Norfolks, 48 hours after the transfer of British power. 'On police and rescue duties in Bengal and the Punjab, the arrival of British troops at a trouble spot had stopped every riot. They saved 2000 Sikh lives among the bullets of sniping raiders in the blazing little town of Kahuta. In the middle of it, 20 year old Lt Chris Kirby rescued a Sikh woman and brought her baby boy into the world in the roadway of a flaming street. They are the heirs to the first Norfolks who came to India 112 years ago, the men who left their dead at the storming of the Khyber Pass in the Afghan War which ended in 1842. From 1700 lusty British throats a great wave of spontaneous song swept down from the MV Georgic’s side over a Bombay quay this morning. Ten feet out, as the dozen hawsers slackened and were cast away, they sang 'Bless ‘em all, bless ‘em all'. Then out of the rainy monsoon mist of Bombay harbour they flung back the words of 'Rule Britannia'. Growing fainter across the oily green water, the singing changed and died with 'Auld Lang Syne'. Then the rain squalls curtained off the deckloads of suntanned faces. And they were gone. Down in B Coy hold were George Middleton from Shipdham, Jim Chapman from Great Yarmouth and Ron Graver of Blofield.'

Ron Phelps gave us more information on the 3 named above in B&C 91 Dec 98

Click to hear the Regimental March 'Rule Britannia'

For more, see:
Georgic Index
B&C 88 Jun 97 - The Norfolks leave India in Aug 1947 by Sydney Smith of The Daily Express
B&C 90 Jun 98 by Gordon Spong
B&C 91 Dec 98 by Ron Phelps
B&C 93 Dec 99 by Gordon Spong
B&C 94 Jun 00 - Len Brazier by Capt John A Todd
B&C 95 Dec 00 - Aug 00 Reunion by Gordon Spong
B&C 98 Jun 02 - Aug 01 Reunion by Jim Cameron
B&C 100 Jun 03 Obituary John Watson
B&C 101 Dec 03 - MV Georgic model presented
AGINCOURT
Maj Ron James TD, latterly 2IC 6 R Anglian and OC F Coy HSF (formerly OC 'B' [Brutal Beds] Coy), tells the tale of being informed, on a parade at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, by the Adjutant, that his family had been at Crecy.
Ron, in a rush of judgement, said that his family had been at Agincourt.
'And what were they doing at Agincourt ?', asked the Guards Adjutant from atop his horse.
On his green Sandhurst bicycle, trying to balance while sitting to attention, forgetting you are allowed to place one foot on the ground, Ron replied, 'In the dressing room, going through the pockets of the archers.'
2ND BATTALION ROYAL NORFOLK OFFICERS KOHIMA CLUB
On Friday 2 May 1997 the Club held their 50th Annual Dinner at the Norfolk Club, Norwich.
On an evening in December 1947, following his investiture by HM King George VI, Brigadier Robert Scott DSO, who had commanded the 2nd Bn at Kohima, was entertained to Dinner by officers who had served under him at that time. The venue was Scott’s (!) Restaurant in London. It was agreed that similar gatherings should be held annually.
In 1982 the venue moved from London to the Norfolk Club, Norwich and from 1984 ladies have been invited.
Apologies were received from Colonel Henry Condor (died), Majors John Howard (died 2002), the Rev 'Dickie' Davies (died 2002) and Peter Griffiths, MOs John Mather (died 1998) and Peter Matthews.
Those present this year included Major Sam Hornor (died 1998) and Captain Maurice Franses, both rightly claiming a 100% attendance record. Others present who had served at Kohima were Col Murray Petit, Major Alec Blount and Captain 'Gus' Gilding.
The male attendance was completed by Capt Ian Page who had joined the Bn at Secunderabad in the summer of 1945 and John Randle, the son of Jack Randle VC.
Some old photographs were produced and memories were taxed trying to put names to some faces not seen for 50+ years.
The future of this annual event was discussed and it was felt that every effort should be made to conform with Robert Scott‘s declaration that so long as there are still two Kohima survivors they should have the opportunity to meet together to mark the anniversary of the Battle.
Recently I found at the back of my FSPB (Field Service Pocket Book), along with the autograph of Vera Lynn, a poem I wrote at Kohima in 1944.

THE EVENING VIGIL

'Ten minutes to seven - the word goes around
The sun starts to redden, alights on a mound
of black cloud intruding on blue.

In mud-smothered clothes, men emerge from the ground
Stretch weary limbs with barely a sound
Then - quiet - for they’re 'Standing To'.

With dusk, the sounds of the jungle abound
Cicadas and crickets - and some distant hound
Then - quiet - are they listening too?'

Maurice Franses
1944

THE ANSWER TO QUESTION 4
How did the soldier come to be named Tommy Atkins?
The expression 'Thomas Atkins' dates from 1815 when the soldier’s account book was called into use by the War Office. The book for the Infantry used 'Thomas Atkins' as the specimen name. In the Cavalry book the names 'Trumpeter Jones' and 'Serjeant John Thomas' were introduced. 'Thomas Atkins' received great impetus from a song in 'The Gaiety Girl' in 1893 and through Rudyard Kipling.
At the turn of the century, the standing of soldiers in society was low. It took the sacrifices of the First World War to alter the opinion of the public to the average soldier. Despite this, there are perhaps one or two references in Kipling‘s poem which may still sound remarkably familiar.

TOMMY

I went into a Public ‘ouse to get a pint o’ beer
The publican ‘e up an’ sez, ' We serve no Red Coats here.'
The girls behind the bar they laughed an’ giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an’ to myself sez,
O its Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ 'Tommy go away',
But its 'Thank you Mr Atkins' when the band begins to play,
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
O its 'Thank you Mr Atkins' when the band begins to play.

I went into a theatre, as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but ‘adn’t none for me.
They sent me to the gallery or to the music ‘alls,
But when it comes to fighting Lord they’ll shove me in the stalls!
For its Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ 'Tommy wait outside',
But it’s the 'Special train for Atkins' when the trooper’s on the tide.
The troopship’s on the tide, my boys, the troopship’s on the tide,
O it’s 'Special train for Atkins' when the trooper’s on the tide.

Yes makin’ mock o’ uniforms that guard you while you sleep,
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an’ they’re starvation cheap;
An’ hustlin’ drunken soldiers when they’re goin’ large a bit
Is five times better business, than paradin’ in full kit.
Then its Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ 'Tommy how’s yer soul?'
But it’s 'Thin red line of ‘eroes' when the drums begin to roll.
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it’s 'Thin red line of ‘eroes' when the drums begin to roll.

We aren’t no thin red ‘eroes, nor we aren’t no blackguards too,
But single men in barracks, most remarkable, like you.
An if sometimes our conduct isn’t all your fancy paints,
Why single men in barracks don’t grow into plaster saints.
While its Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ 'Tommy fall be’ind',
But it’s 'Please to walk in front Sir,' when there’s trouble in the wind,
O it’s 'Please to walk in front Sir,' when there’s trouble in the wind.

You talk o’ better food for us, an’ schools an’ fires an’ all,
We’ll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don’t mess about the cook room slops, but prove it to our face.
The Widow’s uniform is not the soldier man’s disgrace.
For its Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ 'Chuck him out the brute',
But it’s 'Saviour of ‘is country' when the guns begin to shoot.
An’ its Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ anything you please,
An’ Tommy ain’t a bloomin’ fool - you bet that Tommy sees!

Rudyard Kipling
A LACK OF FACILITIES?
It has been reported that when 6 Royal Anglian were at their 1996 Annual Camp in the Ardennes, Belgium, a local lad indicated that the town of Arlon was only large enough to have but one registered 'Lady of the Night'.
B&C 88
NURSE EDITH CAVELL (And see B&C 103 Dec 04, B&C 100 Jun 03, B&C 97 Dec 01, The Britannia No 29 Feb 1947 and The Britannia No 39 May 1952.)
In B&C 87 Dec 96 reference was made to the anonymous donation in 1947 of 6 drums and 6 silver bugles in honour and memory of Nurse Edith Cavell.
Edith Cavell was instrumental in helping men of the 1st Bn The Norfolk Regiment escape from Belgium in 1915. Sjt (later CSM) David Jesse Tunmore was sheltered by Edith Cavell and after a very trying experience succeeded in reaching England in a fishing smack. On arrival in England he was arrested and for several days was in confinement until he could be identified.
Edith Cavell was born on 4 Dec 1865 at Swardeston, Norfolk, the daughter of Rev F Cavell, vicar of that parish. In 1895 she entered the nursing service and in 1907 was appointed the first matron of the Berkendael Medical Institute, Brussels. In the 1914-18 War the Institute became a Red Cross Hospital. In Nov 1914 Edith Cavell made arrangements to hide wounded and derelict English and French soldiers and Belgian and French men of military age. She arranged for false passports to be prepared to enable soldiers and civilians to reach the Dutch frontier. She carried on this dangerous work until July 1915 when the Germans became suspicious of her activities and on 6 Aug 1915, she, with other helpers, was arrested. Under arrest she confessed that she had helped 60 British and French soldiers and about 150 Belgian and French men of military age escape to the Dutch frontier. Thirty five other persons were arrested and a Court Martial was held on all prisoners on 7/8 Oct 1915. The result of this was that Edith Cavell and others were secretly sentenced to death. On 10 Oct this sentence of death was secretly announced to the prisoners. At 7am on 11 Oct 1915 Edith Cavell and Phillipe Baucq were taken from prison and shot, the remainder of the prisoners being sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. The sentence was carried out at the Tir National in Brussels and was the first death sentence imposed by the Germans for harbouring and assisting soldiers as opposed to one of espionage.
In Oct 1918 HM Queen Alexandra unveiled a memorial to Edith Cavell in Tombland, Norwich opposite the Edith Cavell Nursing Home. The memorial is in the form of a bronze bust, mounted on a stone column. On 19 May 1919, after a memorial service in Westminster Abbey, the body of Edith Cavell was reinterred in Life’s Green in the precincts of Norwich Cathedral.
(From The Britannia No 29 Feb 1947 p 23.)
If you have not seen the place of burial, it is on the outside of The Regimental Chapel, otherwise known as St Saviour’s Chapel - a fittingly named resting place for a brave lady.
(See B&C 103 Dec 04, B&C 100 Jun 03, B&C 97 Dec 01, The Britannia No 29 Feb 1947 and The Britannia No 39 May 1952.)
B&C 88
NORWICH AND DISTRICT BRANCH
Gilly Banthorpe (d 2000) reappeared after his operation and we wish him well for a full recovery. In hospital the editor was on his fifth page of notes on Gilly’s reminiscences when Gilly asked the nurse for a drink. 'You haven’t got time to drink - you don’t stop talking!'

BY THE HAY, QUICK MARCH
Gilly Banthorpe tells of one difficulty in No 2 ITC, later No 9 PTC, at Britannia Barracks of training Norfolk lads. They were not too hot on differentiating between left and right but Gilbert had the solution. A wisp of hay was tied to one boot and a piece of straw to the other. ‘I will now teach you how to salute to the straw.’

GILLY BANTHORPE AT BRITANNIA BARRACKS
It was 1947 and Col George H Winter commanded No 9 PTC. Gilly was in the Coy Office with clerk LCpl Watling, when Col Winter arrived. 'Stool!' he ordered.
An ammunition box was produced for inspection of the lampshade. 'This is 1940 flys*** - the place is filthy.'
LCpl Watling was ordered at noon to cut the small patch of grass outside the office with a knife by the evening. His family ran Wells taxis so the resourceful LCpl ordered a taxi, went home, collected a lawnmower and in 3 pushes had cut the grass!
B&C 88 JUN 97

DOT TUNALEY
B&C No 87 Dec 96 carried the obituary of Walter 'Dot' Tunaley and pledged that one of his poems would be published. It was written in 1989.

THE REGIMENTAL REUNION DINNER

Old soldiers never die they say, they only fade away
Those of us who soldier on meet to have our say.
Heads are whiter, eyes less bright, some are fat, some are thinner
All is revealed each year we meet at our reunion dinner.

Memories all come flooding back with all the fear and joys
Most of what we talk about, we were little more than boys.
We knew so very little then, we were so very raw
Most of us were born throughout the Fourteen Eighteen War.

I wondered how my mother felt when I left through her door
For she had seen my father leave her twenty years before.
Now I stand with those of us, who but for the grace of God
Would now be like our comrades beneath a foreign sod.

Our sacrifices made and met
Lest we forget, lest we forget.

B&C 88 JUN 97

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