ALL CHANGE IN THE MESS

Hi there everyone,

I hadn't been at Portreath very long when we had a change of personnel in the mess. Pete had already gone back to St. Mawgan, and then one day the Mess Manager announced he was being posted out and a new guy would be arriving the following week for handover. I had hardly got a working relationship with Sgt McAuley when he was off to pastures new. Still the anticipation was good for the staff.

So the day arrived for the new incumbent to arrive and we greeted him as he walked into the building with gusto. Unbelievably he walked into the still room and said " Right everyone who wants a cup of tea"? We were gob smacked....we had been used to making the manager a cuppa just as he walked in the door. Wow this was a breath of fresh air to the guys who had been there a while. I hadn't developed an opinion of the previous mess manager but I could tell this would be a new start for the staff.

After the two managers had handed over the inventory and cash in the safe, Sgt McCauley went on his way. The new manager then called everyone into the staff room for an introduction and to find out about ourselves.

Sgt Rob Clarke told us that he had just been promoted after coming from the Sister's Mess at Royal Air Force Hospital Wroughton, which was near Swindon. He was married but had no children. I also noticed that he had a very cheerful disposition as many Welsh people do.

Sgt Clarke

From my point of view the new Mess manager was a god send as he knew exactly what I wanted to do and more importantly he was able to point me in the right direction as he had also been an Air Steward on 10 Squadron. I learned that a significant number of mess managers did not like Air Stewards and some actively discouraged stewards from applying for the job.

In the mean time he helped me learn the rest of the duties a steward in the mess did apart from serve food and beverages, particularly how to run the bar accounts and how to complete the messing paperwork. As we didn't have a corporal in the mess  it was down to the SACs to carry out some of the work, under the supervision of the Mess Manager.

A few months later it was Shirley's turn to return to St. Mawgan. She was replaced by a SACW who had also been posted in, from West Drayton. Her name was Tina Hedges. Tina was a cheerful lass with a bubbly personality, and like the mess manager was also originally from South Wales, so everyone took a like to her. 

We all got on at work and everything was running smoothly. So as I was free every evening and weekends off I decided it was time to get a car, but before that could happen I needed to take driving lessons and pass my test. There was a former MT Flt Sgt who had set himself up as a driving instructor. He had a client list of service personnel and a pass to come onto camp, so with that I enrolled and started having lessons. I started with driving to, and around Newquay, then as the lessons progressed we travelled to Bodmin and learned the roads there, as that was where the test was going to be taken. A month before my test, I took the train back to Windsor, and with my dad, looked for a secondhand car that I could drive once I passed the driving exam. We found a local garage in the village who had a 11 year old Hillman Avenger, so now that I had saved up some of my salary bought it for £400. I had to leave it on my parent's drive way until I could drive legally. 

An Avenger very similar to my first car (including the colour)

Back in Cornwall I carried on having lessons, but also I decided to carry on with an activity I had done before I joined up. As most people may know Newquay is known as the Surf capital of England and   the beaches are very popular with holiday makers. At peak times there are hundreds of people in the sea and at the time the local council supplied Life guards  to supervise the safety . At  weekends the Lifeguards were assisted by members of the Newquay Surf Life Saving club .

Fistral Beach at the height of summer

One Sunday I made my way to Fistral beach and started chatting to the club  members present. I explained that before I joined up, I had been a member of the Old Windsor Lifeguard Club, which patrolled parts of the River Thames.

 I had the RLSS Bronze Medallion and the Advanced resuscitation award. They explained that club was part of the Surf Life Saving Association of the UK, and was based on the Australian Association of the same name. The training followed the Australian syllabus and training handbook. I thought I would like to get involved with this as I had loads of spare time. After joining the club we would train on the beach every Thursday evening and patrol the beach at weekends during the holiday season. Those pounds I put on eating mess food started to fall away, as my fitness levels increased. I was working towards the SLSA bronze medallion, which involved a lot of running along the beach and swimming out into the surf. I think someone from Hollywood must have seen me training and were inspired to write a TV series starring David Hasselhof !

Every so often the club's got together at the different resorts to hold lifesaving competitions.  When I had passed my test, I would drive to the competition with a rescue ski on my roof rack. I quite enjoyed these events. 

Competitions between clubs were very popular

We also sometimes did fundraising  lifesaving demonstrations in Newquay  as entertainment for the tourists.

West Briton newspaper cutting and club badge

After one of our displays the local paper ran an article about the club, which mentioned me and others gaining the advanced resuscitation award. I was in the photo, but right at the back, and not wearing the silly swimming suit.

I actually rescued a young girl from being swept out to sea on a small inflatable toy boat on one of my weekend patrols. The beach was divided up to keep bathers away from the surfing areas, so I was paddling about near the dividing line on a rescue ski. It was at this point I noticed the child in the boat being blown away from the shore with her father trying to catch her, but to no avail. I quickly paddled over to her and grabbed the lead that was tied to the dinghy and attached it to my ski. I then paddled back to the shore and her relieved father. After untying the lead I passed it to her father, and told him in no uncertain terms that these inflatable toys shouldn't be used in the sea, especially when the wind was blowing from land. He thanked me and walked back to the beach, while I carried on with my patrol.  

Next time I will chat about the other things I did while enjoying my tour in Cornwall. I must say as the work load wasn't that great, I made the most of my down time, and became involved with several other activities and organisations, but also took part in  the adventure training that the RAF did. 

See you next time

Rob