Mervyn Mitton

I will stand by the Garter and the Bath - very distinctive shape. Also, this was a 90th birthday - so I would expect him to wear at least the KG I will be interesting to see what others make of them - what I can't work out is the thing like a fern leaf on his right side ? Mervyn

COMMENT I was pleased to see a couple of friends have made comments - I was getting rather discouraged. There is no way of knowing if anyone is actually reading any of this - or, if any visitors are getting through. I intend at the end of today's post to show a number of wartime pictures. I was lucky enough to buy a bound volume of Picture Post - the main weekly magazine which showed the public pictures of what was happening. This covers part of 1940 - but, I have been promised the next five volumes, which will be most interesting. The Govt. placed great importance on this magazine - as can be seen from it having 65 pages - at a time when newspapers had just a double page. The illustrations will be back a little in the time scale of this article - but cover the Battle of Narvik and also show how the British 'faced-up' in a crisis. We have done this throughout our history - slow off the mark - but determined to fight for our way of life. With so many millions of immigrants in the UK I am by no means sure the same Spirit would prevail - but, in the Falklands I was surprised at the patriotism. Many immigrants are proud to now be British - unfortunately we do seem to have let in a 5th column that could cause many problems in the future. Enough waffling - what was this little 6 year boy up to ? ST. JOSEPH'S When I first went there I had to walk - usually with friends who lived around. Summer was fine - winter, very dodgy. London still experienced dreadful fogs in thos days - mainly from all the coal fires. I can remember us getting lost on many a freezing morning - and we would have to try and find a shop to take shelter. Sometimes people would see us and take us into their homes. Telephones were rare - and not a lot of people had them at home - this meant you could not easily call for help. I sometimes wonder if 6 year olds today would cope as well as we did ? There were some public telephones and my Father always made me keep tuppence (two pennies) in a separate pocket - that was the price of a public call. We were lucky and had inherites a fixed phone line. The other problem that faced us was slippery ice and snow. Salt was hard to get and it could be dangerous walking. Having reached school, there was very little heating - they did their best but it was heavily rationed and being an old school the windows were 18 feet high (6m). These poles were very dangerous - one or, two of the teachers would balance them on their desks - which were on platforms. When they asked you a question they moved the pole over you - get it wrong and they dropped it ! 6/7 years old and we had a heavy pole dropping some 25 feet onto our heads. Looking back, I realise that some of this was unnecessary brutality. One teacher - the maths - carried one of the old ebony rulers - make a mistake and he smashed it over your hands. I often wonder how many of my classmates suffer today with arthritis ? The worst was our Latin teacher - a small French refugee - he carried a long length of hosepipe in his robe. Make a mistake in a Latin declension and he would seize us by our necks and strike us all over our bodies. This came to a head when I was about 7 - I still used to wash in the kitchen sink - it was one of the warm rooms in the house. Naturally, we had just put up with this violence - however, my Mother saw the double welts a hosepipe leaves and called my Father. I had at least 12 serious double bruises. He was up to see the headmaster the next morning and ended up taking him by the throat to get action. Brother Polyanthus was quickly transferred and the bullying slowed down. This is why I said earlier I had mixed feelings about St. Joseph's. My family are High Church Protestant but, the school was Roman Catholic they did not want Protestants and we were exiled during the first period Religious study. Funnily enough - I have only good feelings about the Cathoilc Faith - I nearly converted at one time - I think it was just a lack of discipline and boredom that led to the ill treatment. When I was a Home Beat Police Officer (Community Constable) in the East End of London I always paid particular attention to the children and would question them if they had marks or, bruises. EVERDAY LIFE The Germans wern't bombing us every day - and we had adapted over the years. There was nothing untoward in running to a shelter when the sirens went off - we recognised the different bombers and we knew all of our planes and cheered them on. I have watched many egagements fromt he back garden. Food shortages were part of life and were rarely mentioned - usually only when we had a special treat. I eventually learned to ride a bicycle and had a kid's 1/2 size one. My friends had also learned and this gave us mobility to visit each others homes. One of my friend's from those days funnily enough a David Wolfe - owns one of the biggest clothing chains in Greenwich but, someone told me this - I haven't seen him since I was 12. We both collected Dinky toys and there was great competition between us - he got more pocket money then I did, so was usually ahead. The popular sport was Rugby and that was where I learned to play. I wasn't very good at it - I wore corrective glasses with prisms and they were difficult to focus. I do remember we were on the rugby field playing a knock-up game when bombers were spotted overhead - the sirens sounded after we saw them - which was not unusual. They were dropping their loads and all hell broke out. 40 or 50 kids had to be rounded up and dragged off to the school shelters. Whistles were blowing all over the place and all of the teachers had turned out to get us - we thought it was good fun ! That is what I mean when I say even the strangest events can become common place over time. Life - as it does, continued for us over the next year. THe British were preparing for the Invasion of France and , of course, the US had joined-us. Very welcome as I think we had begun to run out of steam and resources. Rationing had become more severe and it was a struggle to be fed and to have decent clothes. One advantage I had, was that near the school was an ABC Cafe. These were opened by the Govt. and were intended to help people have a decent meal at least once a day. Schoolchildren were particularly welcomed - along with pensioners and people doing manual labour. I don't remember the food being terribly good - but, it was nutritious and healthy - and if I remember cost 6 pennies. (six pence.) I will close for today - I need space to show the pictures from 1940. However, the next chapter will cover my experiences when the bombardment of London re-commenced with the V1 and V2 Rockets. This really was a terrifying time for everyone - civilian and service personnel - something those of us who went through it, have never forgotten. Whilst I have come to terms with the ordinary German people who were the prisoners of their own Government - I have never forgiven the deliberate attack on London and the lives that were lost so viciously - the perpetrators should have all been shot out of hand - but as seems to be the way of the West, most got off with small sentences and the Americans actually gave Walther Von Barun - the man who invented them - sanctuary in the US - he was never even brought to trial. This was one of the great pictures of the time. It showed we were still a powerful Nation. Winston Churchill when he was First Sea Lord and we had just fought the Battle of Narvik off Norway Some of the German ships we sank at Narvik This was the German Admiral at Narvik Winston Churchill the day he became Prime Minister A cartoon by the very famous cartoonist LOW. Showing all the members of the cabinet behind Churchill German paras - probably in Norway Their Majesties King George and Queen Elizabeth at a special service at Westminster Abbey

Close-up of one of the goblets - this shows the detail very well.

Venetian glassware has been famous for many hundreds of years - there are a number of top companies - however, the name that everyone knows is Murano. I must be honest and say that I find it rather ornate for my taste - always lots of gold leaf and fanciful designs. That doesn't detract from the fact that it is very collectable - and highly sought after. I am only showing this one decanter set today - hopefully, our members will be able to add pieces that have been in their families or, were brought back from trips to Italy years ago ? This elaborate set of decanter and four goblets is probably fairly modern - with-in the last 40 years but, it is copying much earlier designs. Everything is hand made and decorated. The glass is Cranberry, the gold is usually 22ct.gold leaf and all of the little flowers are made from paste and hand painted.

The Duke of Connaught was the 3rd son of Queen Victoria and this B&W photo was in Picture Post in 1940 - he had just reached 9o years of age. In 1910 he was in South Arica for our inaugeration ceremonies. I am showing this for his many Victorian Decorations - B&W I know, but quite a chestful He is wearing the Garter and the Bath - but what is that shape on his right chest ?

Captain Albert - I'm afraid that I do agree with Mike - there is a thinning of the edge from top to bottom. However, the medal has very nice patination - the bars have just come-up - two Provinces and 1902 - so he was a late joiner. You're asking about 120 pounds, which I wouldn't regard as unreasonable. Also, the ribbon is original. Mervyn

I hope that this newspaper report may be of some interest to Members. He is a young South African- stationed in Afghanistan - and everyone is very proud of his award.

A close-up

Father Anthony. I am attaching some additional photos of the Chaplain's stable belt. Please let me know if you are unable to download from the Forum. You mention all of the other stable belts - do you need me to re-photograph them - or, again, can you take them from the post ? I will be happy to have them re-taken - however, this may take a little time as I am unable these days to take my own photos. Please let me know. Mervyn

This is Ahmed Arabir - The Egyptian. An evil piece of work.

This picture show The Khedive of Egypt in 1882. He is holding one of his awards - the medal with blue and white ribbon is the Colonial Service Medal for the Campaign - there were a number of Bars for different Battles.

Here are a couple more prints from the Victorian magazine 'Vanity Fair'. They were famous for commissioning drawings of famous people - connected to events of the time. Stuart has already shown a couple. In the 1880's the Khedive of Egypt started to give problems over the ownership and running of the Suez Canal. With the importance this Canal had become to Britain by allowing much quicker links with overseas territories, there was no way we would part with control. The French had a lot to do with the problems - they resented us taking it over - since it was a Frenchman Ferdinand DeLessepes who had made the original design. (Doesn't sound French - but, they were in there somewhere ! ) The Khedive was actually quite pro-British - but his Prime Minister really held the power and was violently anti-British - he was Ahmed Arabir - shown on his print as " The Egyptian" Things detiorated and in 1882 we sent an expeditionary force - it took a number of years to bring peace and the problems in the Sudan were opportunistic once they saw we were having problems. We really should consider the Egyptian Campaign - Battles and Medals - as a full post. Meanwhile here are prints from July 1882.

Greg - don't waste that presious 11 days - post photos on the Comp. ! When I was in the Met. we used to have this time off problem. Extra time for Court - or, for overtime was on a card - you could take it as time, but at one time they would pay it as extra salary. I believe that has been stopped as too expensive.

This is the large tin - which was issued early in the War. Every year a small tin of cigarettes was given - these were dated and are quite collectible.

Chris - I've changed your deletions around as I think this one with the bottle is more interesting. Hope you don't mind - this should be +17 views. Mervyn

Mike - very interesting on the rocket apparatus medal - although it would now seem to be something different. I am assuming that the rockets were used to rescue men from shore shipwrecks - they would have been part of the Coastguard. I wonder if it will be possible to trace this bar - should be a possibility ?

A NEW START We must have moved to Blackheath towards the end of 1942 - a big thing to happen to a small boy. I had left all of my old friends behind and would be years before I saw some of them again. I think, initially, I was sent to a local prep school which was a short distance away in another part of the Heath. The English school system is quite different to most others. You start off at kindergarden - progress to your prep school and then enter your main school. There are no junior and senior schools as in the US - although, many major schools have a separate section for younger boys. I don't remember how long I attended the Prep. - probably not long as I have no clear memories. The War put a different complexion on nearly all activities and the school you went to had no bearing on your parents' wishes - you went to the one closest to where you lived. This turned out to be St. Joseph's - a Catholic school run by the De La Salle Brothers. They wore long black robes with a doubly white collar that hung over the front. Because Southern Ireland - or Eire , was neutral during WW2, many of our teachers were Irish citizens - and young ! This was something I was not used to seeing - most of the people you saw working were middle aged or, retired. Our young men were all fighting for their Country. I will talk on the school another time - I have both good and poor opinions of my time there. At this point in time I was learning new routines in a much bigger area then I was used to moving around-in. BLACKHEATH What a wonderful place to live-in - although I am sure it is much changed now. I said previously Mordern Road was all large houses in their own grounds - at the end of the road was - or, had been - one of the architectural gems of London - The Paragon . Completed in 1806 it was where Royalty and the aristocracy from all over Europe lived. Alas, by the time we moved it had been bombed heavily and was rubble. This applied to at least 2 - and probably 3, of the houses in our road. It was why my Father was able to buy so reasonably. I have always been an easy person to get on with - I make friends easily and work to maintain the friendships - I still regularly see - or, have contact with friends I have known for over 60 years. The most surprising was about 5 years ago when a boy at my school I had known when I was 8 found my website and tracked me down. Rather sadly we had little to talk about - too long a gap. The reason I mention this is because I soon made friends with the local children of my age - and , with the regulations - we were all , or would be, at the same school I will show some pictures of the Paragon at the end of this post - they have restored it exactly as it used to look. The whole area had suffered - the original Manor House - whose land this had all been hundreds of years ago , had been destroyed with a direct hit. Everywhere you looked houses were damaged or gone. Having bought this big old 29 room house, my Father had quick and serious decisions to make. With the number of homeless people the Councils would billet total strangers on you if you had spare rooms. We converted the top two flats into self contained flats and found two nice families who desperately needed a place of their own. The first floor were a couple with grownup children and I used to go and visit them. The elderley couple on the toip floor - the original children's floor - were retired senior civil servants from the old Indian administration. They would have been better staying in India and annoying the locals - they certainly annoyed my Father. Nothing was ever right , and if I had friends to play we had to make no noise. They never came to speak - but rather sent orders by notes - I suppose that was how they were used to living in India. No wonder we lost the Empire ! The Heath was magnificent - many square miles in size it was quite untouched in the central areas. Every year a circus would set-up camp and had a big fair with-it. When we first went there I was too young to wander - but later, with my new friends we would explore all of the woods and pits. BLACKHEATH VILLAGE Tucked away in a dip was the small village - and it was a village. There was one garage still running - a post office - the Railway Station , opened in the early 1900's - one butcher - one greengrocer and, one grocer. There were a few other shops selling women's clothing, hairdressers and- very importantly, a toy shop. I have no idea what he actually used for stock - but, I do remember adding to my Dinky cars there. When I described a grocer's shop in an earlier blog - I was actually thinking of the village one. The windows displayed no stock - and for the butcher - if my memory serves, there were plaster cast of bull's heads in the window. Very little meat was shown - they never had enough. Sausages, offal and birds could be sold without points - but there wasn't much of them. Thinking back it must have been dreadful for the butcher - everyone wanted to be his friend to try and get a little more Ours used to have a list of regular customers and allocated these extras in a fair way - I always remember one day when he said - your turn Mrs. Mitton to have a chicken. Everyone was so excited and were hugging and congratulating my Mother on her good fortune. We take the riches of life so easily these days - even now I will always try to avoid waste PETS All little boys have to have a pet - we had brought our black and white cat Sooty with us - and following my Grandmother's orders he had his paws covered with scarce butter and was kept indoors for two days. This was to make him remember where he lived - I think witchcraft was still in existence - and as for wasting butter ! Anyway , he lived a happy life and was much loved. However, my Father decided I should have a dog - but , a small one as food was difficult and we didn't leave much. So, one day a small rough coated Cairn Terrier - called Tess (we weren't very original in those days) appeared in my bedroom. Now, for those who don't know, a Cairn was bred to be carried in the saddle bags of the hunt master and was put in fox's lairs to drive them out - with the foxhounds outside - you will understand why a sensible fox stayed put and fought the cairn terrier. Ours was prone to false pregnancies and would prepare 'nests' for her non-existant pups. Unfortunately, this involved tearing strips off the wallpaper - which could not be replaced in the War. We had to keep her locked up wheh these phantoms happened. I should have mentioned earler that when the house was converted we kept the basement and ground floor. Bedrooms and bathroom were downstairs and on the ground floor, the kitchen, enormous lounge dining room and study. There was also a large entry hall and all the glass was 1/4 inch thick plate glass. This will come-up again. My Grandmother had decided to stay in her house - probably safer, but it caused a lot of worry and trips when petrol was almost non-existant. She was 69 at point in time. Whilst all of these happenings were going on, I have overlooked to tell you that the Germans were still bombing us on a nearly daily basis - daytime and at night. We had a re-inforced small room in the basemment - and hoped for the best. Next episode - I start 'big' school - I bet you can't wait ? The Paragon in about 1840 Some of the War Damage The Paragon as it is today

Dear Fr. Anthony - firstly, welcome to GMIC - you obviously have great knowledge and will be a welcome member. I will have the Chaplain's Stable belt photographed and will post a picture. You can probably take the images you require directly from my posts - if not please give me an email address. You will know that anything to do with Chaplain's is fairly rare - we do have access from time to time - I will let you know. With best wishes Mervyn

Timo - what dates do you have for the Rocket Apparatus Medal ? There was a Rocket Battery in action at Isandlawana in 1879. I must be honest and say that I have never heard of this medal.

Yes - you're very welcome. Look forward to seeing the different things. Mervyn

Obergrefeiter - we have a series on TV showing old US railroads that volunteers have restored and run. Would yours be one of these ? I do hope you will show us some of your memorabilia - anything to do with Railways is sought after and valuable. Mervyn

Lee - who knows why things are 'made-up' - sometimes for theatre productions , boy scouts - endless possibilities. I still think this has had - at the least, alterations made to it's appearance. Firstly, the leather band around the crown looks to be quite new - secondly, the inner head band does not look correct. I hope I am wrong and that you can establish a provenance for it's background. Mervyn

Brian and I - as the co-Mods. would like to thankyou both for making this such an interesting and seriously researched article. It will be pinned for two weeks - however, the title will remain. I think it will draw attention , which is well deserved - really, as we have said before, what GMIC is about.

One of the strange things that keeps coming to the surface with this article on my early War years - is the comparitive normalacy that existed with ordinary - day-to day life. Yes, we lived in fear of the bombings and everywhere you went were bombed out or, damaged buildings. Yes, we also had severe rationing and shortages. But ordinary life went on - schools opened, business' were run, shops opened and we found ways to get around. Just before we moved I developed a serious ear problem - something to do with the mastoid bone. I spent three months in hospital - for something today that would probably have you out in 3 or 4 days. They did not seem to have childrens' wards - at least I was in a general ward . Some civilians - but most were injured servicemen - some still in recuperation from Dunkirk. You can imagine - I was thoroughly spoilt by everyone - I suppose I reminded them of their children or, brothers. When I was well enough to walk I used to help the nurses take medicines and drinks around. When the airraid sirens went off, those that could walk had to go to the shelters in the basements. Those in beds had to take their chances with the nurses staying. Newspapers and magazines continued to be published and there was a great public demand for out of the ordinary items. My Father had a two acre site in Greenwich (on the River Thames) growing fruit trees and bushes. There was great demand for these by mail order - and the Post Office still delivered very quickly. A large Nursery in Greenwich came-up for sale and the Ministry of Food asked him to buy it and produce tomatoes for London. With the loss of the Channel Islands usual supplies were gone and they were a much needed part of a staple diet. My Father agreed and so he bacame the owner of a five acre (over 2 hectares) market nursery - which consisted of five enormous greenhouses and many smaller ones. We were on the bombers' path so for the next 4 years he had to battle with special glass allocations to have them repaired after raids. He eventually had a shop built and supplied green grocery to the surrounding areas. I can remember going with him to Covent Garden Market early in the mornings to get supplies. It is now a street market for general goods. We had a Ford 10 cwt van (1/2 ton) and a i ton Old Morris van to move things around - with a minute petrol allowance for the two. Every week the famous old Humber car that Sir Winston Churchill rode-in would come to the nursery for tomatoes for 10 Downing Street. My Father showed me the rear window that was covered in small scratches and almost impossible to see through. The chauffer explained that it was the diamond rings of the Society women who mobbed Churchill whenever he was out All of the above - and the difficulties of travelling - meant that we had to move closer to Greenwich. Blackheath is probably the most up-market area of London and indeed probably in the UK. It was developed in the mid 19th Century - although it is from when the Railway Station was built-in the early 20th. C. that it became so desireable. From Blackheath to Central London was less then 1/2 an hour - but, even with a horse and carriage it was probably under an hour. Surrounding the large Heath were the houses and Mordern Road and the adjoining Paragon - a curved matching row built in 1806. were the most sought after. On the corner facing the Paragon is the famous Mordern College - this was built-in the late 17th C as Alm Houses for retired sea captains - although I saw on one stupid estate agents list that it was for retired Turkey farmers ! Mordern Road had been bombed badley - there were at least two - or, more - totally destroyed houses. This had happened in the Blitz and the rubble had been removed to be re-cycled for building material. When Father was looking for a property he was offered this lovely Victorian house on 4 floors - 29 rooms in total. An elderly titled lady lived there and was desperate to go and live with relatives in the Country. Father made an offer of 1,000 pounds (I think the $ was on par then, so $2,000) and she accepted immediately - no-one was buying, everyone wanted to leave London. It had a large garden divided into two with trees in the middle - the far end was for greenhouses and vegs. and at the far end were the stables and staff housing. I see now that these have been separated and new houses built. I have found this on the net - I have no idea if it was ours - but, it looks the same. Now days they are all flats. Father had the two top floors made into independent flats to help people who needed accomodation and we lived in the Ground floor and basement. The house was a paradise for a small boy and she had left all the toys in the nursery - so I found myself with a four feet long pond yacht - which I could hardly carry. Well, in my usual way I seem to have 'rabbited ' on for pages - I do hope my one faithful reader had not become too despondent and jumped off a bridge. Next time - a different view of the War - and I start to grow-up.

Good post Brian. People tend to think that all old Police Truncheons are heraldically painted - however, from arould the 1880's this was phased out and the heavy imported ones were introduced. Initially there were three wood used - ebony - from Africa; Teak - from the Far East ; and Lignum Vitae from South America. All three are very dense and sink in water, Mine was Lignum Vitae and I remember breaking a car window as it tried to run us over - the truncheon was studded with glass. I rubbed it down - re-polished and it was like new. I still have it. The Rosewood that you show with the crack, was the last type made using wood. They were light and split very easily. I saw one that had been thrown at a car and it had split into two pieces. Useless. The ones you show - the Met. is Lignum - the other one teak , and of course the rosewood. You mention Tasers - invented by the Los Angeles Police to deal with P.C.P. users who when taking the drug became very strong. The other version - which does exactly the same, is the stun gun. The taser of course has the darts and wires - the stun gun has little prongs that you touch the person with. I gave a number out as Christmas presents two years ago - they are an ideal defence weapon. I have an excellent one that is a powerful torch and if used as as a stun gun has 1,000,000 volts dc. The noise and blue sparks when you touch the button would frighten anyone off. People bring them back to England from Continental holidays. I would caution that they are illegal under any circumstance and if you are caught with one you will undoubtedly appear in Court. Does the US and Canada have the same law ?